Chapter 43 Waking Him Up in the Middle of the Night
Staring at the disconnected phone, Lillian was so irritated that she threw it onto the bed. It was typical of Lisa to never consider her feelings. Sinclair Villa—did she think she could just show up unannounced without the host's consent?
“Lillian?” Lucas suddenly pushed open the door, peeking his head in with a grin. “Can you come upstairs now?”
Lillian quickly plastered on a smile and grabbed a pillow, saying, "Let's go."
Every night she climbed the stairs to bed, wondering when it would end—probably the day Lucas left, right? Tonight, Alexander wasn't around, and Lucas had mentioned, "Alexander's in the study; he said we should go to sleep first."
Lillian nodded, laying beside him somewhat distractedly, gently patting him, and said, "Lucas, you're another year older now. It's time for you to start sleeping on your own."
"Do you have a room here?" Lillian asked.
Lucas, eyes shut and lips puckered in reluctance, murmured an unwilling "yes."
"Don't be upset, brave kids sleep by themselves."
"I'm not brave."
Guiding a child to sleep alone takes time, especially for one as insecure as Lucas.
"Sleep now, goodnight."
"Lillian, goodnight," Lucas turned over in bed.
In the darkness, Lillian lay on the bed, restless, dreading how she would bring up Lisa's upcoming visit to Alexander. A barrage of sarcasm and scolding was inevitable. As she mulled over it, her eyes gradually closed, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep. Upon waking, the room was still pitch-black, but now she sensed someone beside her.
Slowly sitting up, she glanced over; Alexander was facing away. Irritated with herself for dozing off, she grabbed her phone to check the time—it was past one in the morning. She had slept for quite a while.
What to do? Should she dare wake him up and talk now? Lisa would surely arrive early the next morning, and it would be too late by then. Even knowing he'd disagree, she felt the need to speak up. She was in a tough spot, getting it from both ends.
After a moment's thought, Lillian decided to speak up tonight. She wasn't one to harbor secrets or play games; her approach was straightforward—just say what needed to be said.
Carefully lifting the blankets, she tiptoed out of bed, circled around to his side, and slowly crouched down to look at him. She extended her hand a few times, unsure of how to wake him.
"Mr. Sinclair," Lillian whispered, gently tapping him.
"Mr. Sinclair, please wake up for a moment. I have something to tell you," Lillian said a bit more boldly.
Crouched beside the bed, resting her chin on her hand with a forlorn look, she continued to call out, "Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Sinclair..."
"Lillian, what are you doing up this late?" Alexander, now awake and glaring at her with irritation, asked through gritted teeth.
"Mr. Sinclair, please don't be angry. I didn't mean to wake you."
She wouldn't have disturbed his sleep unless she absolutely felt backed into a corner.
"Are you saying this wasn't on purpose? Why are you lurking by my bed in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" Alexander glanced at her, then lay back flat.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," Lillian mumbled, her gaze downward, her fingers nervously tracing the pattern on her slippers, afraid to meet his eyes.
"Hit the hay and we can talk tomorrow!" Alexander had no patience for whatever she had to say. He spoke in a hushed voice, cautious not to wake the child.
His sleep was always troubled; once awakened, he found it hard to drift off again. With his temper flaring, how could he be expected to listen to trivial matters?
"Tomorrow, My uncle and aunt are planning to come over to see us," Lillian said, still crouching, ignoring his command, and sharing the news with him.
"Lillian, do you think too highly of yourself? Do you even know your place?" Alexander asked angrily, sitting up and saying in a stern, low voice, "Get up and let's go talk in the study."
He got out of bed, bent down to slip his feet into slippers. Lillian slowly rose—her legs numb from squatting for so long, she wasn't quite steady on her feet, and stumbled forward, collapsing heavily onto him.
"Mr. Sinclair—" Lillian began, her face against his chest, looking miserable, as she tried to explain.
"Zip it! Don't wake Lucas! Get up, now!" Alexander whispered sharply.
With her legs still numb, Lillian struggled, the numbness intensifying with each movement. Yet she couldn't wait it out and slowly, through gritted teeth, she stood.
Alexander straightened his clothes and watched as she stood there in pain, frozen and scared to move. He quickly stood up, grabbed her by the shoulder of her garment, and dragged her out of the room.
Lillian's soft groans filled the space until they reached the study, where finally, the numbness subsided.
Alexander, arms crossed, leaned against the desk with an icy stare and asked sarcastically, "Lillian, got a lot of tricks up your sleeve, huh? Always finding ways to get my attention?"
"I didn't mean to, my leg really did go numb, and I fell on you unintentionally. I'm sorry, Mr. Sinclair."
She couldn't understand why she always ended up in physical contact with him, but it truly was never intentional!
"Don't apologize to me, I'm tired of it!" Alexander retorted with a scoff. "Let me guess, you're going to say 'sorry' again because your aunt is coming tomorrow?"
"I didn't want them to come. I tried making the excuse that you were going out of town tomorrow, but Lisa insisted on visiting, said you could just change their plane tickets. I knew you wouldn't want them to, but I couldn't stop them. So, what do you think we should do?" Lillian explained in one breath, leaving the problem for Alexander to solve.
"And what's your take on it? Because it sounds like you're just informing me that they're coming tomorrow. I either have to be at home or pretend I'm out of town. Is that my choice?" Alexander's anger turned into a mocking laughter, teasingly probing her intentions.
Lillian shook her head. "No, that's not it."
"You wake me up in the middle of the night to talk about these trivial matters? Who do you think you are? Don't you know whose house this is?" Fuming with anger, Alexander said, "This is my house; you have nothing to do with it. Don’t bring just anyone home! Don't think that just because Lucas is nicer to you, you can do whatever you want here. You are merely a lodger, with no say in this place. Do you understand?"
Lillian took his scolding. To her, it seemed more like she had been summoned to the study to be yelled at rather than to talk. She had anticipated his response, expecting a simple "No," but she still managed to anger him.
"I understand," Lillian said vigorously nodding, "I won't bother you with this kind of thing again."
He was right, after all. It was his house, and she was simply staying there. She resolved to keep to her small room and avoid causing any trouble.
"Leave," Alexander said, turning to sit behind his desk, speaking to her coldly.
