Under the streetlamp, the air swirled with tiny particles, and a few moths fluttered toward the light.
Conrad leaned against the iron gate, looking down at her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Are you happy that he’s back?” He watched her reaction.
“What do you want me to say?”
“You’re pretending not to know.” Conrad turned his face away. “You know what I want to hear.”
Lillian stood on tiptoe. “Don’t overthink it.”
Conrad instinctively pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. “Then let me hug you. I need to recharge my energy.”
Lillian raised both her hands to her sides and, hearing this, helplessly said, “What are you, a little dog who needs encouragement every day?”
“Pretty much.” He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent.
“I’m leaving.” He said as he turned to go, but Lillian grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back.
“Don’t overthink things. If you’re not busy, help me find an apartment. A two-bedroom is fine, nothing too big. It should be convenient for Jasmine to stay with me, a community with not too many people, simple living floors, good management, and kid-friendly.”
She listed a lot of things, and Conrad only focused on two points.
She wasn’t staying with Ethan anymore!
But she wasn’t staying with him either.
“You and he…”
“We’re not getting engaged. We’re back to where we were before. He is my friend, so you need to be nice to him. After all, he’s helped me a lot these past five years. It doesn’t feel right when you’re always picking on him.”
At that moment, Conrad wanted nothing more than to pick Ethan up and kiss him, let alone pick on him.
“Of course not. I’m not that petty. If he’s happy, I’ll even throw him a wedding with his ex-wife right now.”
Lillian just stared at him, speechless. “Alright, you can go now.”
He still wouldn’t leave.
“What now?”
“Is it for me?” He looked down. “Is it really for me?”
Lillian sighed and said, “Guess for yourself.”
She shoved him and then shut the door.
She didn’t want him to keep pestering her.
Conrad stood there grinning foolishly at the iron door before finally walking toward Ethan.
“Mr. Conrad, you seem in a good mood.”
“When are you going home? I’ll help Lillian move.”
Quincy sat up straight, sensing the tension.
Conrad raised an eyebrow and ruffled Quincy’s hair. “Quincy, do you want to come over to my house to play?”
“Can I?”
“Always open for you. Forget calling me Mr. Conrad, it feels distant. How about calling me Dad? I’ll take you to play with some guns.”
“Mr. Conrad, stop trying to tempt minors,” Ethan warned seriously.
Conrad, in a good mood, decided not to argue with him.
There was a small hotel at the entrance of the alley.
Of course, it wasn’t anywhere near as big as the one in City N.
But Conrad felt incredibly refreshed staying in this place.
Forget sleeping, he almost wanted to drag Ethan up the mountain for a few laps.
And tell everyone in Boyd Town.
His wife was single again.
Ford was about to go to sleep when he received a call from Conrad. He put on his glasses and waited seriously.
“Mr. Conrad, is there anything you need?”
“Go find two apartments for me, preferably on the same floor, a two-unit per elevator kind of place. It shouldn’t be too crowded, the security should be good, and it should be close to Jasmine’s kindergarten. The transportation needs to be convenient, and it should be easy for the crew to commute. As for the other one, just find something simple. I don’t think it will be needed for long.”
Ford picked up on the key information. “Mr. Conrad, are you planning to help Miss Lillian move?”
“She is definitely moving.” After giving the instructions, Conrad sat on the windowsill and looked at the moon.
The moon in Boyd Town was truly beautiful.
The girl was also refreshing.
The daughter she gave birth to was adorable.
He liked this place.
******
Conrad had been so excited the night before that he hadn’t slept well. He even remembered that he needed to buy breakfast for Lillian and her daughter in the morning. Afraid he might not wake up on time, he decided to call Hogan and the others.
“What’s up, did you mess something up again?” Hogan answered.
“Shut up. Say something positive for once. Get up and start gaming.”
“What game? How old are you, and you’re still playing games?”
“I can’t sleep tonight. I need to get up early to buy fresh burger, so hurry up and wake the others up.”
Hogan was seriously frustrated. “Man, I’m done for. You go find someone else.”
“What are you so busy with? You’re the most free one here, you’ve been living off others for decades. Now that you’re needed, you’re useless? What are you even alive for?”
Hogan replied sarcastically, “I do have something to do, you know? I’ve got some sketches to work on.”
“Aren’t all the artistic genes in your family passed down from your mom? What sketches are you doing?”
Hogan glanced at the scattered women’s underwear around the room and dryly said, “You wouldn’t understand, you’re a straight-up metal man.”
“Quit talking, are you joining the game or not?”
“I’m coming! Just wait.” Hogan planned to go into the game and kill Conrad.
Since he couldn’t sleep, he didn’t want anyone else to sleep either. Unfortunately, only the two of them were online. He called Lionel, but Lionel said his rich boss had already fallen asleep and told them to entertain themselves. He was under the eaves at the time, too busy to treat it like his own home.
Gordon was still out, and when they called him, all they got was a creepy reply saying he was out “catching people.”
Fine. In the end, they could only target George, who surely didn’t have anything else to do. But George stubbornly ignored the call, saying Melissa’s grandfather had a bad heart and had to stay at her family’s house.
Hogan stretched out his arms. “Come on, whoever falls asleep first tonight is the loser.”
Conrad wasn’t about to let him off the hook. He spent the entire night trying to crush Hogan.
Hogan, not so kindly, thought that even with his hands injured, this guy was still so aggressive. If he weren’t injured, he could still dominate the e-sports scene at 33.
The game went on all night. By morning, Hogan had thrown his phone aside and crawled into bed to sleep.
Conrad was about to curse him for being useless, but then he remembered it was almost time to get breakfast. He got up to take a quick shower.
When he heard the doorbell, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went straight to open the door.
A tall, cool-looking woman stood outside.
She was wearing a long cotton-linen dress, her long hair flowing like a waterfall, sticking to her body. The first impression was that her hair was in great condition, and the second impression was that her face looked somewhat familiar.
Conrad sized her up.
The woman was looking at him too.
“You’ve got the wrong door,” Conrad said, starting to close the door, but the woman was quick, blocking it.
“I’m looking for you,” she said.
Conrad glared down at her. “Go pester someone else. I’m not interested in your type.”
Times had changed. Back in the day, when women threw themselves at him, he would’ve tossed them out immediately. Now, they were sizing him up, thinking they could come to Boyd Town and deliver themselves to his door.
“Not interested in me? What about Lillian?” she asked.
Conrad suddenly turned around, frowning, about to ask who this woman was. But before he could say anything, she rose onto her toes and hooked her arms around his neck. He tried to throw her off, but she clung to him like a slippery eel, her legs wrapped around his waist, and she asked, “Are you happy to see me?”
Conrad yanked her off and threw her aside with a violent force, his face full of anger. That’s when he saw Lillian standing at the end of the hallway, holding her daughter.
Conrad’s mind was consumed with thoughts of how to make this woman regret ever crossing him.
“Lillian!” he shouted.
“It’s not what you think!” he quickly explained.