Chapter 98 The Message That Changed Nothing
Seeing that he was willing to chat with her, Lily perked up immediately.
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She hugged her phone–which had miraculously stayed dry–and burrowed under the covers as she typed, I had a fever tonight, but today I was really happy”
She had a fever tonight?
Lily had a fever tonight.
What a coincidence… Leila. Lily.
Could it be… Leila was Lily?
As soon as the thought hit him. James jumped out of bed and threw open the study door.
Lily was startled by the loud noise.
Worried that James had come to settle the score over what happened earlier, she quickly pulled the covers over her head and pretended to be asleep.
Seeing her lying there, sleeping quietly with her face tucked against the pillow, James’s eyes slowly cooled. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Lily and Leila were clearly two completely different people–how had he even thought Lily could be Leila?
He had to be out of his mind.
Besides, Leila said she was especially happy today.
But Lily had been condemned from all sides, publicly shamed, and had ended up clinging to her parents gravestone in tears, nearly passing out. How could she possibly be happy?
Leila couldn’t be Lily.
Remembering that he’d be meeting Leila again after the new year, he stopped trying to guess her identity.
He returned quickly to the study. After locking the door, his usually cool expression carried a rare trace of nervousness as he typed, “You had a fever? What was your temperature? Is your throat sore? Does your head hurt? Did you see a doctor? Did you take medicine?”
Lily stared at the stream
of questions, stunned.
In her memory. James was always concise with his words. Even when they got along well during chats, his replies had never been more than a few words.
She never expected him to suddenly ask so many things at once.
And the only reason he would ask all that was because he cared. That thought warmed her a little more.
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Chapter 98 The Message That Changed Nothing
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She wasn’t alone in this world. Not only did Grace and the others care about her–James genuinely saw her as a friend too.
She was already luckier than many people.
She didn’t want him to worry, so she quickly replied, “I already took medicine. I’m fine now, I should recover by tomorrow. James, you haven’t even asked me why I was so happy today!”
James was still a little concerned.
He stood by the window, gazing out at the lights in the distance, wishing he could sprout wings and fly to her side just to make sure she really was okay.
But she didn’t want to see him right now. No matter how badly he missed her, he had to hold back.
He typed carefully, almost reverently. “Why were you so happy today? Did you beat up your ex’s new crush again?”
“Not this time, Lily replied, rolling in bed with a silly grin. “But I definitely will next time.”
“I got treated like a kid by the elders today, and it made me so happy.”
Lily truly had been overjoyed tonight.
She wanted to share that joy with James,
But since she couldn’t tell him they were married, she could only express it another way–by sending him red envelopes.
Just as James was about to say that if she wanted, he could help her beat up her scumbag ex–boyfriend too. his phone buzzed again with a stream of notifications.
She’d sent ten money packs.
All of them were for 8.88–a very lucky number.
James opened each one, and as he did, the icy edge of his expression slowly gave way to a soft spring warmth.
-He could feel her happiness, as if it had reached him through the screen.
Lily knew–nobody disliked receiving red envelopes.
By nature, she was cheerful and optimistic, like a little sun that could shine brightly from the tiniest spark of warmth. The thought of making her good friend happy too made her mood even better.
She glanced at the time–it was already past eleven.
She didn’t want to keep him up, so she quickly typed. James, I’m going to sleep now. You should get some rest too. Good night!”
James didn’t want the conversation to end.
Even if he barely typed anything, just seeing her messages made his heart feel full.
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Chapter 98 The Message That Changed Nothing
But it really was late, and she was still recovering. He hoped she’d get proper rest, so–reluctantly–he typed back those two words.
“Good night.”
May every year and every day, every morning and every night, bring her joy and peace….
They say that joyful conversations before bed lead to sweeter dreams.
Lily thought of how surprised James must’ve looked getting all those red envelopes, and with that happy thought in mind, she drifted off to sleep.
But on the other side of town, lying on a luxurious bed in a villa, John couldn’t sleep at all.
He was sure that as the bullying scandal continued to blow up, Lily would eventually come crawling back to him for help.
He was waiting for her to return to their marital home, to bow her head and sweetly try to win him over
again.
He knew Elsa had been feeling insecure ever since she returned from abroad, especially since there was still no marriage certificate.
If Lily could just promise to stop getting jealous, stop causing drama, and stop hitting Elsa–then even if she had bullied someone in the past, he’d be willing to go with her to the civil office and get that certificate
tomorrow.
But from the moment the sun had set to the time night
She still hadn’t come home.
fully settled in-
