Lillian hadn’t returned to the office. When George came to find her, she was still sitting in the sunlight.
“Is it okay if we talk for a bit?”
Lillian didn’t refuse.
George sat down, and Lillian casually handed him back his phone.
“How’s Melissa?” he asked.
“You know her well enough,” Lillian replied. “She always reports the good news, never the bad. Especially when it comes to me. Even though she suffered when she was with you, she still acted like everything was fine and there were no issues between you two. Before she truly realized that she couldn’t love you anymore, no matter what you did, she could always laugh it off.”
Even though he had already prepared himself for it, hearing Lillian say it brought a flood of regret over George that he couldn’t shake.
“After you disappeared without a word, Conrad first found the ring. Just that caused a huge uproar. Since your phone was with Melissa, he thought she must know where you were. No matter what Melissa said, he didn’t believe her. Whether or not he believed her didn’t really matter. The truth is, dealing with Melissa was just a way for him to make you come back because he thought you couldn’t let go of her. As long as he got you back, that was his only goal.”
Lillian clenched her hands tightly.
George continued, “Melissa’s family is fine, but they were indeed hurt. As long as Conrad stops, it’ll just be a false alarm. I just want to ask you one thing now. Do you really not want to be with Conrad anymore? Do you really want to leave, or do you just need some time to clear your head?”
“Does it matter?” Lillian replied. “From what I understand, Mr. Conrad doesn’t plan to let go, so whether I’m willing or not, the end result is still me staying in a cage, being his lifelong mistress.”
George stared off into the distance. “Conrad’s marriage isn’t just about him.”
“I know,” Lillian said. “As the heir to Brown Family Group, with so many people depending on him. The Brown family is an old family with a bunch of elders, and his maternal grandfather’s military connections. I know all of that. But it seems like no one ever asked me if I still wanted Conrad.”
Her daydreams had long since faded, and she didn’t even know how long it had been since she’d had such thoughts.
Back when she was lost and helpless, really in love with him, every time she thought about only having him for a limited time, she would throw herself at him with both despair and happiness.
She clung to him as her last hope in this world.
Her feelings weren’t any purer than those of the women around him.
Their relationship was full of money and transactions.
What kind of pure love could there be in that?
So she’d stopped thinking about it, cutting off that fantasy, and it felt better than holding on to a hopeless dream.
But once she had given up, he wouldn’t let go.
“What if he’s willing now?” George suddenly asked.
He wasn’t joking. Even he started to realize it.
Compared to losing Lillian, Conrad might really want her to stay with him forever.
And what better bargaining chip was there than marriage?
“Then it wouldn’t matter anymore.” Lillian’s reply was simple. “Take care of Melissa. I won’t let him touch her again.”
She stood up to leave.
But George’s voice came from behind her.
“Recently, it’s best not to provoke him.”
Lillian paused for a moment, then opened the door and left.
When she returned to the office, she found out that Conrad had gone down for a meeting.
Ford respectfully said, “Andrew is waiting for you in the elevator. He’ll take you home first.”
Lillian didn’t care about their arrangements.
She didn’t want to be around Conrad anyway.
But Ford still insisted on escorting her to the elevator, waiting to make sure she met up with Andrew before he would go back. It was as if he was worried she might cause trouble at the last minute.
Back at Hillside Villa, Nancy returned as usual, bringing things back inside.
But Lillian noticed that there were new additions to the house-things that hadn’t been there before.
The furniture had all been changed, and the floor-to-ceiling paintings had been taken down.
Nancy, laughing as she walked in, explained, “Ada is expecting a baby. Recently, Mr. Conrad has been preparing for the little one’s arrival. He even set up a teething rack in the yard. He wants to make sure everything is ready before bringing the baby inside.”
Lillian was surprised, gently touching Ada, who was playfully leaning against her leg.
“You’re at the age to be a father now.”
She still remembered when she first arrived, Ada was like a baby itself, with fur that hadn’t even fully shed.
Ada stuck out its soft pink tongue and licked Lillian’s hand. Its rough tongue scraped against Lillian’s hand like a small brush.
When Conrad returned from his meeting, he opened the surveillance footage and saw her in the special dog observation room, helping to set things up. She had hung up some cute collages.
Ford knocked and came in without lifting his head.
“Mr. Conrad, the psychologist is here.”
Conrad was about to say he didn’t want to meet, but then he remembered George’s words and waved for them to come in.
“Hello, Mr. Conrad. I’m your psychologist for today’s session. But you can treat me like an old friend. Everything we discuss will remain confidential.”
Conrad glanced at the person who entered and casually said, “Alright, go ahead.”
Half an hour later, George was waiting in the cafe, feeling a bit defeated by the woman.
“You sure set me up with a big challenge.”
“How come? Weren’t you confident before you came? Didn’t you say there was no patient you couldn’t handle?”
“Can I say he’s a very cunning person? His resistance is extremely strong, and he loves to ask me questions in return. It’s hard to understand the psychology of a patient who won’t cooperate.”
“His logic is so unique that it’s difficult to break through.”
“So you’re planning to give up?”
“Of course not!” The woman’s face showed determination. “I won’t give up. Although this session wasn’t successful, at least I’ve gained a basic understanding of him.”
“Is there a big chance to get him to act like a normal person and stop losing control of his emotions?”
“I can only say I’ll try my best. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to call in my mentor. But based on today’s conversation, it seems like he’s not as uncontrollable as you said?”
“That’s because he found his ‘medication’.”
The woman raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “He’s making me more and more curious.”
“Curious or not, don’t cross the line between patient and doctor. Don’t say I didn’t warn you-you’re not his type.”
The woman was speechless. “Am I really that unprofessional? Don’t worry, I’m interested in the story behind him.”
“By the way, has your relationship with your wife improved?”
“That seems to have nothing to do with you. Just focus on solving Conrad’s issue for now.”
“You sure keep your lips tight. Alright, I got it! Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to guide him. But how far we can go depends on his willingness to cooperate. I’ve dealt with similar patients before, and some of them managed to get through it on their own. They need a belief to rely on, but he already has that, so I think he’s definitely worth studying.”
When Conrad opened his eyes in the lounge, it was already dark outside.
He was a bit disoriented.
The medication prescribed by the doctor always made him feel light-headed whenever he woke up. It took him a while to adjust to his current state.
However, his emotions had certainly stabilized much more.
He glanced at his missed calls.
“What’s the update?”
“We can arrange for Evelyn to have her physical examination now.”
“Got it.”
Conrad hung up the phone and immediately called Ford in. After giving him some instructions, he stood up to head home.
The thought of going home to find Lillian there, that urgent desire to hold her, excited him even more than making a big sum of money.
It was clear that behind every successful man, there truly needed to be a woman-one who could share his joy with him.