Chapter 119 You Are Wonderful
Lillian sneered inwardly. 'Now, you blatantly want a shop. How bold of you to ask! Do you even know how much a shop costs? You open their mouths and ask for it!'
"Aunt Lisa, I think my brother should find a job first. He has never done business before. What if he loses money? We don't have extra money to spare," Lillian advised kindly.
But Lisa persisted on the phone, "You won't know if it works unless you try! Lillian, talk to Alexander. We don't need a big shop. Just about 430 square feet will do."
"Aunt Lisa, we already gave you the gift money. Use that first," Lillian said, growing impatient.
Lisa sighed. "We can't touch that money! It's for your brother's wedding."
Lillian frowned, suppressing her anger. "We'll talk about this later. I'll call you back."
Not wanting to hear Lisa's nagging anymore, she hung up before Lisa could say another word.
Returning to her seat, Lillian glanced awkwardly at Alexander. Seeing that he was busy and hadn't noticed her, she let out a sigh of relief.
Although she tried to focus on her homework, Lisa's demands had completely disrupted her mood, leaving her very upset. She thought, 'Why isn't Aunt Lisa satisfied? She has already taken the money and now wants a shop. How could she be so shameless?'
After struggling to finish her essay, Lillian handed her paper to Alexander for review, feeling anxious as she sat across from him. Alexander looked over the paper, making corrections. With quite a few mistakes, his mood was complicated.
"I'm so stupid," Lillian said, feeling self-critical as she saw his expression darken.
Alexander sneered. "At least you know."
He then tossed the paper back to her and said, "Review the mistakes carefully and bring it back to me after correcting them. And that short essay at the end—how could you mess up a simple report like that? I'll send you a sample later. Study it well. That's it for today. Your mind isn't here, so there's no point in teaching you anything. Go back and correct your mistakes."
Lillian felt quite guilty. She could tell that Alexander genuinely wanted to help her improve her language skills, but she had been distracted, and anyone would be upset to see that.
"Mr. Sinclair, I'm sorry. I'll focus now and correct my mistakes for you to check," she said, pulling herself together and setting aside the troubles brought by Aunt Lisa to concentrate on her studies.
Alexander said, "Then do as you say. Correct the paper."
This time, Lillian threw herself into the work, not fearing the difficulty of the questions. She carefully considered each one, referring to her notes, and realized that some questions were actually within her grasp. She had made mistakes before because she needed to read the questions carefully or had been too lazy to review them properly.
After more than half an hour, she handed the corrected paper to Alexander. This time, with significantly fewer mistakes, Alexander's expression softened.
"I really don't know how to answer these few questions. Can you explain them to me?" Lillian asked humbly.
Alexander looked at the paper and said, "Come sit over here, and I'll explain."
Lillian sat next to him, looking down at the paper as he marked it with a red pen. She listened intently and took notes on the key points and difficulties.
Seeing her writing hastily, Alexander slowed down his pace. Noticing her messy notes, he leaned in and asked, "With your notes so messy, do you even know what you're writing?"
Lillian suddenly looked up at him. They were so close that her lips lightly brushed against his face.
She covered her mouth and quickly turned her head, flustered. "Mr. Sinclair, I don't mean to."
Seeing her panic, Alexander found it amusing and teased her, "Don't you really mean to? Being this close, you should have known that lifting your head would lead to a kiss, right?"
"I really don't mean to! How am I supposed to know you'd suddenly lean in?" Lillian turned back abruptly, shouting at him in frustration.
Alexander shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Why are you so worked up? It's not the first time you've thrown yourself at me. I'm used to it."
"I do not throw myself at you!" Lillian was furious, her face turning red all the way to her neck.
Seeing her embarrassed expression, Alexander found her inexplicably adorable. Not wanting to go too far, he quickly raised his hands in surrender and smiled, "Alright, you don't throw yourself at me. I misunderstand you. I'm sorry."
"What's so funny? I really don't mean to!" Lillian was so upset that tears were welling up in her eyes.
"Okay, I won't laugh," Alexander said, noticing her bad mood. "If you don't like this kind of joke, I won't tease you anymore."
"It's not funny at all. It just makes me feel like you think I'm shameless," Lillian's eyes reddened, and tears started streaming down her face.
Alexander hadn't expected his joke to make her cry. He handed her a tissue to wipe her tears and comforted her, "If at first, I didn't understand you and mistakenly thought you were like your Aunt Lisa, after these past few months, I know what kind of person you are. In my eyes, you are wonderful."
"Am I wonderful?" Lillian was astonished by his choice of words and stared at him in a daze.
Alexander smiled slightly and said sincerely, "Yes, you are a wonderful girl."
Lillian's big eyes blinked, and tears flowed out like a flood.
"You finally admit that I'm a good person! Do you know how long I've waited for this moment? I feel scolded every day, and you criticize me and punish me. I really hated you! I am not wrong, but you blamed everything on me. I feel so wrong, do you know that?" Lillian cried, venting all her grievances.
"I never wanted to marry you! Do you think I was trying to seduce you? You ended up sleeping with me, and you don't even blame yourself! You're arrogant and conceited, and you hurt me!" Lillian wiped her tears with a tissue, continuously voicing her complaints.
Alexander looked at her with a pained expression. Initially, he hadn't intended to say these things to her, preferring to keep them to himself. But somehow, the words just came out. He knew he had hurt her, but he hadn't realized the extent of the damage. He felt deeply regretful.
"No matter what I say, you don't believe me. I genuinely want to return the gift money, but you said I was acting. I have nothing with Leo or Mr. Martin, but you misunderstood me and scolded me in front of everyone. I've been very obedient, but you still keep finding faults with me—"
Lillian's crying was suddenly interrupted as she was pulled into a familiar, warm embrace.
Alexander stroked her head and gently comforted her, "Don't cry anymore. It was my fault before. I won't treat you like that again."
