Chapter 15 Watch Out or I'll Break Your Leg
"What did you say?" Lillian asked, her voice rising in mortified anger, "I did not! Since when can't a married woman interact with other men? We're not living in the Dark Ages!"
Alexander glared at her, warning her, "Don't forget who you are. Even though our marriage isn't public, it's still a fact. If I catch you with another man again, I'll break your legs!"
"Why? I can have friends!" Lillian was much shorter than him. She looked up defiantly, arguing back, "Leo is my neighbor, he's my friend. Why can't we stay in touch?"
After her outburst, her heart began pounding with fear, really afraid he might slap her into unconsciousness right then and there.
Alexander's face darkened even more. He stepped forward, causing Lillian to take a step back in alarm.
"You're part of the Sinclair family now, do nothing that would bring shame to the Sinclair name!" he said, frowning deeply, "I do not want to have to speak of this again. Be a proper Mrs. Sinclair and stop causing trouble!"
"You came home late today, so your punishment is to clean all the floors in the house, by hand!" After making his point, Alexander turned and went upstairs.
Lillian was furious, not because he ordered her to clean, but because of his words.
"I haven't done anything to disgrace the Sinclair family, and I haven't caused you any trouble. I'm simply interacting with friends as normal. Why don't you agree? Why do you have to be so domineering? Without love, you can't control me!"
Alexander continued upstairs, coldly dropping a final line, "Then see if I can control you or not."
Deflated, Lillian slumped onto the sofa, took out her cellphone, and messaged Leo that she got home. He quickly replied, telling her to get some rest.
Kelly came over, offering words of comfort, "Lillian, Mr. Sinclair means well. He was worried because you came home late."
Lillian scoffed internally. She wasn't naive enough to think Alexander was worried about her; he was worried about her embarrassing the Sinclair family!
"Kelly, go to sleep, I still have to clean," Lillian said, grabbing her coat and bag and heading to her room.
Kelly followed, saying, "Mr. Sinclair said that in the heat of the moment. Just wipe down the hall and that's it. I'll clean up first thing in the morning. He won't even know."
"Kelly, thank you," Lillian said as she placed her hands on Kelly's shoulders. "I really should not slack off. We have home security cameras, and if he catches me, you'll get in trouble because of me."
Since Lillian insisted, Kelly didn't press further. She just reminded her, "The house isn't that dirty and you don't need to clean until too late."
"Goodnight, Kelly."
Lillian went back to her room, got ready for bed, tied her hair up, changed into her loungewear, and started to mop the floors.
The Sinclair Villa was enormous, and hand-cleaning the floors of several levels required a lot of labor. Lillian was furious. Initially, she channeled her anger into her mopping, vigorously scrubbing the floors. However, it didn't take long for her to run out of steam, gasping for air from exhaustion.
She worked during the day, visited the hospital in the evening, and did chores late into the night—how could she possibly have any energy left? Lillian collapsed on the floor in frustration, leaned against a column, angrily threw the mop into the bucket, and started cursing Alexander.
Her curses were tame, nothing more than "jerk," "bad guy," "inhuman"—they were like the tame insults of a child squabbling.
"It looks like you're not tired yet, still have the energy to curse me," Alexander suddenly spoke from behind her, startling her. She quickly got up to see.
"You..." Lillian, caught in the act, was so nervous she didn't know what to say.
"Since you're not too tired, why don't you go ahead and clear all the snow from the yard as well?" Alexander said.
Lillian watched him walk away, grinding her teeth in anger, "You're too much!"
After she finished mopping the floors, it was almost 2 a.m. Lillian changed her clothes, put on a hat and gloves, and with a broom in hand, started to sweep the snow in the yard.
Quentin, Kelly's husband, had been suffering from back pain, so he hadn't managed to clear the snow. Lillian hadn't expected it to be her turn now. The cold night wind whipped around her, chilling her to the bone. Lillian bit down hard, sweeping the snow with vigorous strokes. In just five or six minutes, she was sweating, which made her feel not as cold as before.
When Lillian grew tired, she would stop to rest, looking up at the night sky. The dark canvas above was adorned with a bright moon that seemed to keep her company and watch over her.
