Lillian didn’t stay long at the old house.
She only sat in her father’s study for a bit before returning to her old room.
Perhaps because everything had changed, the heart-wrenching sorrow she once felt had faded with time.
What remained now was a quiet sense of loss, as if touching every inch of the house, feeling the traces of what once was.
When she returned to Taylor Mansion, Melissa still hadn’t come back. Lillian walked into the house, lost in thought, but before she could get very far, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
She stumbled into his arms.
A faint scent from Conrad drifted over to her, and the smell made her feel a little disoriented.
When had he started wearing perfume?
It seemed like it had been there since the last time he dragged her back.
The cool touch was pressed against her wrist.
She looked.
On her wrist was a black wolf bracelet, made of the same material as the necklace, with the same pattern.
“The necklace was embedded in it. If you’re ever in danger, you can press the wolf. It will electrocute the other person, but you can only use it once. The tracker on it can be turned off anytime, but if you’re in danger, you can turn it on.” Conrad said this and looked at her before kissing her forehead.
Lillian wondered how to describe this kiss.
It was lingering, gentle, even full of pity and admiration.
In his eyes, she saw something different.
“Are you worried I’ll get hurt? When did you design this?”
“When you lost the necklace the second time, I just had it made for you recently.” Conrad admitted honestly, “I was worried about you getting hurt, but I was also afraid you’d reject it.”
Lillian lowered her gaze, “I’m tired.”
She wanted to turn and go inside, but he stopped her. “In two days, everything will be resolved.”
Lillian knew- it was the day he would officially get engaged to Daisy. “Indeed, it will be resolved.”
After he left this time, there would be no future for them.
Conrad cupped her face and kissed her fiercely, as if trying to pour everything he wanted to say into their kiss.
A kiss without any lust.
It started as a deep kiss, then softened into gentle pecks.
She didn’t know why, but despite her intense resistance toward him, despite how tired she was of their relationship, in that moment, she suddenly wanted to hold him.
Maybe it was goodbye.
The man she had loved with all her heart and soul in this life, had only ever been him.
She slowly began to respond.
And every little bit of her response gave him boundless joy.
He held her, breathing in her scent, and they slowly entered the house, their clothes scattered all over the living room.
They had never looked at each other like this before, passionately giving their most authentic selves.
Their bodies intertwined, and it was a completely different experience from anything they’d had before.
She was like a queen, surveying wild horses in her domain.
And he lay beneath her, willingly submitting and seeking her approval.
He observed every little reaction of hers, hoping to receive some feedback from her.
When he left, it was just before dawn.
Lillian picked up the cigarette he had left behind and slowly smoked it, watching the sky gradually brighten.
She soaked in the bathtub, the suffocating water slowly swallowing her, before she slowly resurfaced.
She had a long, terrible nightmare.
The sound of water splashing in the bathroom echoed.
The room was dark, with the shadows of trees outside looking ghostly.
A pair of hands gripped her neck.
They forced her down into the bedding, choking her.
Lillian jolted awake. She glanced at the time on her watch- tomorrow Conrad would get engaged, and she only had five hours left.
Nancy woke suddenly from a dream, the room filled with steam, and the fire alarm blaring. Water poured down from the ceiling.
Nancy quickly threw off the blanket and got out of bed, noticing that the trees around the villa had caught fire.
The bodyguards living on both sides rushed in.
The second floor was the only place Nancy could go. She went upstairs, but the room was empty, with only the balcony window open. Sparks from the fire had rushed in.
“Miss Lillian is missing!!!”
******
When Conrad woke up, he was still sitting in the office chair.
He opened his eyes, and the silence was overwhelming. The entire office was empty except for him.
For a moment, he felt a sense of emptiness in his chest.
Ford pushed the door open. “Mr. Conrad, you need to go back to the old house to pick up Old Mrs. Brown, then head to White Family. The engagement ceremony will officially begin at 12 o’clock.”
Conrad couldn’t care less about the formalities. “How’s everything progressing?”
“If nothing unexpected happens, the White Family Group’s financial chain will collapse today. The evidence of Daisy hiring someone to commit murder was also submitted to the police just now.”
Conrad gave a low hum and stood up, feeling a little more cheerful.
Once Nelson officially signed the contract, he’d be able to give it to Lillian as a gift.
Conrad glanced at his watch and headed into the inner room to change into his engagement suit.
He didn’t like flashy designs, preferring simple black and gray suits that had always been his style. The outfit highlighted his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs.
He didn’t wear the bow tie Daisy had prepared for him. After all, it was just a formality.
As he got into the car to head to the old house, he received a call from Nancy.
“Mr. Conrad! Miss Lillian is missing! We woke up in the middle of the night and found there was a fire, and we felt disoriented and sick! But our food was thoroughly checked, and we don’t know how this happened!”
Conrad didn’t wait for her to finish and quickly turned the car around, slamming on the brakes so hard that the car behind him almost crashed into them.
“Mr. Conrad, what happened?”
Ford was in the car behind him, and Conrad immediately called him. “Lillian is missing.”
Ford’s expression tightened. Although he had expected something to go wrong, he couldn’t understand how Lillian managed to escape when Conrad had placed all the security at Taylor Mansion last night.
No matter how she did it, Conrad wasn’t going to let her go!
“Mr. Conrad, I’ll go look for Miss Lillian. We’ve been preparing for so long, we can’t let it all fall apart now.”
Conrad said firmly, “Ford, listen to me. No matter what you do, use my identity to buy some time. The contract must be signed, and the core chip must be obtained. That chip is definitely in Nelson’s hands.”
If it weren’t for the chip, Conrad wouldn’t have wasted so much time with the White Family!
Now that everything was nearly done and the chip was within reach, Conrad couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
Ford knew how important Lillian was, and there was no way Conrad would truly let her go.
“Mr. Conrad, I understand.”
A video call suddenly interrupted the conversation, and Conrad clicked to play it.
“Are you nervous? I guess you must be… on your way to the engagement ceremony, right?”
The distorted voice, altered by some kind of filter, came through ominously.
Conrad’s expression didn’t change as he kept driving, his other hand quickly operating his phone.
The screen quickly connected to the mobile signal, but the satellite location was on the sea.
Conrad narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”
“Who I am doesn’t matter. I think you’re more interested in knowing… how she is.”
As the voice spoke, the camera shook, and a disheveled woman, wearing only her pajamas, appeared before Conrad.