Chapter 5 Do You Even Have a Conscience?
Alexander was already heading toward the door, but he stopped when he heard her and turned around to look at her. After a moment, he said, "Come with me."
"Huh?" Lillian didn't catch his meaning right away. "Come with you? Where to?"
"Lillian, with your smarts and reaction time, how did you ever manage to get hired as my secretary?" Alexander asked displeasedly and then mockingly said, "Even a dog would understand me better than you!"
Those words were borderline insulting. Lillian glanced at him unhappily behind his back and asked directly, "Do you mean you will take me back home?"
"What else?" Alexander said disdainfully, then walked out the door ahead of her.
Seeing this, Lillian quickly followed him, grabbed her down coat and bag from her workstation, and hurried into the elevator with him.
It was a snowy winter night. The West Side district was a mixed area where she had lived for twenty years. She navigated the narrow paths with ease and ascended the dark stairway to the third floor.
Upon entering, her uncle Harry Hill and his family were having dinner. Hearing the door, they all looked over.
"Lillian? What are you doing back here?" Adam asked in surprise, setting down his fork and walking over with concern. "Did Mr. Sinclair send you home?"
Lillian harbored some resentment toward Adam, gave him a cold look, and ignored him as she walked straight to her room.
Adam became annoyed, grabbed the strap of her backpack, and pulled her back, demanding in a harsh tone, "I'm talking to you. Have you gone mute?"
"Let go of me!" Lillian raised her voice with a choke, filled with endless sorrow, as tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
Although Adam wasn't exactly a straight arrow, he had looked after her and her younger brother since they were young. In middle school, when she was bullied by a classmate, he even went with a group to confront that girl on her behalf. And when Lillian started earning money, he would ask for it now and then. She could accept all that; it was within her threshold. However, what he did today was simply beyond her limits and left her heart cold.
Adam forcefully shook his hand, tossing Lillian's bag onto the couch, then planted his hands on his hips and demanded, "I'm asking you, did he give you permission to come back?"
Lillian stood her ground, looking back at him as tears streamed down her face. She yelled, both angry and hurt, "Adam, are you even human? All you care about is whether he allows it or not!"
The sound of their quarrel disturbed several people who were eating in the kitchen. They all came out to see what was happening.
Adam's mother, Lisa Coleman, was leading the pack with a furious expression. She marched forward, pointing a finger fiercely at Lillian's forehead and scolded, "You're here crying and screaming, what's the big deal? Adam's doing this for your own good—trying to make some money for you to spend. You think just anyone can sleep with a wealthy man? If someone like that takes an interest in you, consider it your lucky day!"
Lillian cradled her forehead where Lisa had jabbed her, too shocked to speak.
She knew Lisa had never liked her and her brother, always calling them burdens. She also knew Lisa was greedy to the core, always shamelessly chasing after money. However, even so, she couldn't believe such shameful words could come from an elder.
Fuming, Lillian turned and stormed back to her room to pack her things.
With everyone's appetites ruined by the disturbance, Harry looked at his good-for-nothing son with contempt and said, "Look what you've done. How is this right? You've ruined Lillian. How is she supposed to live after this?"
Adam, legs crossed nonchalantly, reached for Lillian's bag and, without a care, said, "Dad, if I hadn't pushed Lillian out, would I be here tonight having dinner and drinks with you? Mr. Sinclair would have thrown me into the sea to feed the sharks by now!" He then unceremoniously opened Lillian's bag.
Lisa chimed in, "It's fine. In a couple of days, I'll take her shopping for some new clothes, and she'll be all happy again. Times are different now, not like when we were young. Everyone's more open. I bet she just came back feeling a little bashful that's why she's making such a fuss."
"Damn!" Adam suddenly shouted, jolting upright.
In her room, Lillian quickly finished packing her belongings, then took one last look around the space where she had lived for twenty years, silently bidding it goodbye.
Dragging her suitcase, she walked out only to see Lisa approaching her with an obsequiously sweet smile, instantly changing her tune and asking with cheerfulness, "Lillian, where are you off to with your luggage in the middle of the night?"
Lillian avoided looking at Lisa's repellent face and replied indifferently, "I've been assigned to a work trip. I have to catch the nine o'clock flight. I'm leaving now."
Adam came over with a cheeky grin and said, "Come on, cut the act. What business trip? You've just married the CEO, and you're trying to keep this great news from us, not letting us know?"
"Hm?" Lillian was caught off guard, her eyes immediately landing on the open bag before watching Adam flaunt the marriage license in her face, shaking it back and forth in his hand. Overcome with shame and anger, she lunged forward to snatch it, crying out, "Give it back to me!"
Adam deftly dodged her attempt, causing Lillian to miss.
"Lillian," Lisa said, her smile beaming as she affectionately pulled her to the sofa, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Adam just stumbled upon it. It’s lucky he did; otherwise, our family would still be in the dark. Delaying the marriage would have been such a shame."
Before this moment, Lisa only knew about Lillian sleeping with a wealthy man. However, after Adam found the marriage license, she learned from Adam the extraordinary status of Alexander and visions of money raining from the sky filled her thoughts. Naturally, her attitude toward Lillian shifted rapidly.
Adam sat down beside Lillian, draping an arm around her shoulders with a teasing grin. "Lillian, I must admit I underestimated you. In just one day, you managed to marry the renowned Mr. Sinclair. I'm truly impressed!"
Lillian, disgusted, glanced at him scornfully and shrugged his arm off her shoulder.
Unfazed, Adam shamelessly probed, "Lillian, how much money did Mr. Sinclair give you?"
"Yeah, how much?" Lisa chimed in eagerly.
Lillian took a deep breath and said, "I did register to marry Mr. Sinclair, but he also proposed a secret marriage, no wedding ceremony, no money, and asked not to announce it publicly."
"A secret marriage?" Lisa's immediate joy turned to disapproval, her voice rising in pitch. "I took so much trouble to raise you, and he takes you away without giving a dime? His family is wealthy; how can they not understand such basic etiquettes?"
