“You lost again. Why don’t you ever listen to me? I told you to stay out of it.”
“Sorry, I’ll listen to you next time,” Evelyn pouted sweetly.
Booth rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. But when we start again, you better listen to me.”
Recently, Conrad had been so busy searching for Lillian that things in City N had been in chaos. Taking advantage of the situation, his parents had told him to stay home and avoid going abroad. Besides, his second uncle was too busy to deal with him. Booth, thinking about the food abroad, felt uneasy and decided he never wanted to go back.
So, he spent his days holed up at home with Evelyn, playing games.
Evelyn, looking at this guy who only cared about gaming, felt like she was babysitting a high schooler.
She gently asked, “Do you want me to get you a glass of milk?”
Just then, her phone rang. When Evelyn saw “Ford” on the screen, she quickly went to answer it.
Booth, irritated, muttered, “Didn’t you say you’d focus on gaming with me? Why are you on the phone again?”
Evelyn had once thought the guy was cute, willing to spend money on her, and because he was Conrad’s younger relative, and she enjoyed indulging him.
But now that they were together, she realized being with a childish man was exhausting.
He wasn’t like Conrad, with the maturity and charm of a grown man.
It was more like she was raising a son!
Evelyn wasn’t about to miss Ford’s call. She forced a smile. “It’s important. I’ll be right back.”
She quickly grabbed her phone and stepped outside.
Booth paused, tossed the game controller aside, and followed her.
“Assistant Ford, I’m here. Sorry, I was busy earlier.”
“What? You want me to have a physical check-up? Is Conrad the one who asked you to contact me? I… I don’t have any problems with my health.” Evelyn felt a bit guilty.
“It’s just the normal process, Miss Evelyn. Are you unwilling to cooperate?”
“Oh, so Conrad’s worried about me? I’m happy to cooperate! But Assistant Ford, if I go for the check-up now, will I get to see Conrad?”
“I can’t promise that, Miss Evelyn. Just cooperate with the doctor for the check-up. There may be more tests, but it’s for your health in the long run.”
“Alright, I’ll definitely go.”
“I’ll send you the address and contact number. Just go at the scheduled time.”
Evelyn hung up the phone and looked at the information Ford had sent, feeling so thrilled she could almost fly.
When she turned around, she saw Booth staring at her expressionlessly.
Evelyn didn’t feel like indulging him anymore.
She grabbed her things and was ready to leave.
She couldn’t make Ford’s arrangements wait. This was an opportunity she had worked hard to get.
“You’re not worried about my second uncle finding out about us?”
Evelyn’s expression changed completely. “Booth, what kind of relationship could we possibly have? Once you go abroad, no one will know about this, and of course, you don’t want your second uncle to find out.”
Booth furrowed his brow. “Are you crazy? Do you think my second uncle is an idiot?! You want to fool him? Do you really think you’re in a position to do that? You better tell my uncle what your relationship with me really is.”
“What relationship could we have?” Evelyn looked at him with innocence and naivety. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but… there’s no way we could have any kind of relationship.”
Booth frowned. “What happened to you?”
“What’s happened? Oh, you want me to be like Lillian?” Evelyn didn’t want to argue with him. She grabbed her things and started to leave.
“If you leave now, don’t even think about coming back for the rest of your life.”
Evelyn sighed, thinking of him as just a kid throwing a tantrum. She stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “Good boy. You were a lot cuter before.”
Booth sized her up. “I’ll remind you one last time: don’t think that your little tricks will fool my second uncle.”
If Conrad really cared about her, he wouldn’t let her act like this. He treated Lillian differently, and that was what made the difference.
Booth didn’t want Evelyn to end up in a dead-end situation. Anyway, Conrad was his uncle, and Conrad wouldn’t really want him dead, unless it had something to do with Lillian.
He didn’t know where Lillian had gone.
Just then, the door closed. Evelyn had left.
Booth ran his hand through his hair, feeling like something was off. There was something he just couldn’t figure out.
******
When Conrad came home, he asked immediately, “Where is she?”
Nancy smiled. “he’s still arranging the little puppy’s room.”
“Has she eaten?”
“She had a little bit.”
As Conrad undid his coat buttons, he made his way to the pet room.
Lillian was asleep with her long hair spread out on the floor next to Ada, who was still sleeping soundly.
Conrad instinctively lightened his movements as he walked closer to Lillian.
Ada had already woken up and was watching him with wide eyes.
As soon as Conrad got close, Lillian seemed to sense him, but she chose to keep her eyes closed, not wanting to engage with him.
Conrad glanced around the room at the unfinished decorations-some large pieces hadn’t been put together yet, and the scratching post for the kitten still needed the rope. He could find time later to finish it with her.
He got into bed and immediately wanted to undress her.
Finally, Lillian spoke. “I’ll do it myself.”
Conrad retracted his hand and watched her stand up and head for the dressing room. He said, “You really like decorating the nursery, huh? How about I clear out the guest room on the second floor and you can decorate it yourself?”
“You want to use the second floor?”
“Our future child is going to need the second floor, don’t you think?” Conrad asked matter-of-factly.
Lillian froze for a moment, then a chilling sensation ran through her.
“I never planned on having a son for you.”
“Then when are you planning to have one?”
“Never.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Lillian knew he wasn’t easy to communicate with, but she never expected things to be this difficult.
She decided to stop talking altogether.
But at the same time, she couldn’t stop worrying about something else.
She hadn’t had time to go out and buy birth control pills.
If she happened to be in her ovulation period those days, it was very possible that she was already pregnant.
Just thinking about that made Lillian’s scalp tingle with anxiety.
“Why aren’t you out yet?” He stood up and moved closer.
Lillian quickly grabbed her pajamas from the wardrobe, changed into them, and then lay down on the bed, refusing to speak to him again.
However, he simply stared at the back of her head for a long time before stubbornly pulling her into his arms again.
“Conrad, I don’t want to be held by you.”
“I do.”
“It’s too hot.”
“I’ll lower the air conditioning.”
“Even so, it’s still hot. Stay away from me.”
“I can’t do that.”
Lillian refused to engage in conversation. She shouldn’t have wasted her time trying to communicate with this man-every conversation always ended up going according to his wishes.
It seemed like she could never accept that fact and kept trying to achieve her own goals.
She ended up in a tug-of-war with him.
The time wasn’t even late; it wasn’t even 10 p. m. yet. It certainly wasn’t Conrad’s usual bedtime.
The two of them shared the same bed but were separated by an invisible divide-physically close but mentally far apart.
Lillian didn’t understand what he was so obsessed with.
She had no idea where she had gone wrong this time.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” His voice was low and calm, and his body’s response was telling.
Lillian had long gotten used to his strong physique, but she still instinctively resisted.
Because of her resistance, the words slipped out.
“Conrad, why do you insist on pulling me back?”