Chapter 151
[ 504 words ]
Chapter 151:
She was smiling with such pure happiness, the kind of bright, sincere smile I had not seen from her even once in the last three years.
She looked back at me. There was no hatred there at all, only the quiet detachment someone reserved for a stranger.
Each time, I came awake drenched in cold sweat, my chest clenched so hard the pain left me struggling for air.
I never managed to fall asleep again for the rest of the night. I sat by myself on the darkened balcony, smoking, yet not even nicotine’s harsh bite could keep down the violence rising inside me.
That was when I understood how thoroughly Lianne had already worked her way into everything I did.
In the daytime, I tried to deaden myself by throwing myself into an overwhelming amount of work.
But my attention would not stay on it at all.
I had always been demanding, but I almost never gave my subordinates a hard time without cause. If an error could still be fixed in time, I usually only let them off with a warning.
𝘐𝘯𝘀𝘵a𝗇𝘵 𝘢сс𝖾ѕs o𝘯 g𝖺𝘭𝗇o𝘷𝘦l𝘀.com
But over these last two days, I felt myself hovering at the edge of losing control.
“So this is the kind of plan you think is acceptable, even though it falls apart the moment anyone uses common sense?” I threw the proposal down on the desk, my tone icy. “Do it again. If it isn’t on my desk by midnight, pack your things.”
I watched the employee hurry out in alarm, then yanked at my tie, annoyed.
Even I knew I wasn’t acting right. The agitation and hollowness gnawing at me from somewhere deep inside made every little thing feel intolerable.
That afternoon, Noah came in to back up my call history and important audio files.
He hooked my phone up to the computer, then left the office briefly to handle something urgent.
At that moment, the wireless speaker in the office gave a light click. It linked itself to my phone’s media player.
I knit my brows and was about to shut it off when an audio file suddenly began to play.
Two women’s voices came through.
“Ethan’s a little busy right now, so he can’t answer your call. He’s in the kitchen making lunch for me. He said filming has worn me out lately and insisted on cooking something nutritious for me.”
Ivy’s voice rang out from the speaker, thin and harsh, carrying a taunting edge I had never heard from her before.
“Ethan specially learned how to cook just to match my taste. He’s especially good at red wine braised beef. He used to make it for me all the time. He said in this life, I’m the only one he wants to cook for.”
My hand stopped in midair before I could turn it off.
Then Lianne’s voice came next, steady, yet weighed down by a kind of weariness that made my chest hurt.
“Ivy, let me remind you, I’m recording right now. Unless you want everything you just said to reach Harold, hand the phone to Ethan right now.”
The recording ended without warning.
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