After leaving the villa, Lily calls Harry and Bree on the road to assure them that everything is okay. The
driver soon takes them back to Abby’s apartment.
The paleness in Lily’s face gives Abby a shock when Lily comes back. “What’s wrong?”
Lily slams the door behind her, walking towards the couch. She wraps her arms around the kid,
breathing unsteadily. “Adair, it’s alright. We are home. Everything is fine.”
Abby has no clue about what happened and feels anxious. But it’s obviously not an appropriate time to
ask Lily with the kid around. Therefore, Abby comforts him gently, “Adair, you must be tired, right? How
about Auntie taking you to bed to rest and having delicious food when you wake up?”
Adair is indeed exhausted after a whole day being out. “Okay.”
“Good boy, sweetie.” Abby takes him to get washed up. This four-year-old kid is able to brush his teeth
and wash his face all on his own, more independent than other kids his age.
Worried that he might get scared alone, Abby gives him a plush rabbit toy to sleep with him. She then
retreats from the room after he tucks himself in.
Lily is still sitting on the couch, her hands put against the knees and face burying in the palms, looking
terrible.
Abby walks to her side, patting her back tenderly. She asks with a concerned voice, “What on earth is
going on?”
She ducks her head for a while, then straightens up, answering slowly, “Rex’s family took Adair to have
a paternity testing.”
Even though she has an inkling of something went wrong, this answer is still beyond her imagination.
“What the hell?! And the kid…”
“Yes, Adair knows.”
Abby’s eyes are wide open, and she heaves a sigh of shock. “Oh, my goodness…”
Lily smiles bitterly, “Unbelievable, isn’t it?”
It’s something that any normal person would find it shockingly inappropriate, while Rex’s grandparents
consider it an ordinary procedure. Worst still, they tried to have Adair back to them after the stupid
testing as if they were kidding.
“How could they do this to you? Don’t they care about the kid’s feeling even if they don’t care of yours?
How could they do this without even a little warning?” Abby splutters, too stunned to make further
comments in the next few minutes, “What did they mean? Did they suspect that Adair isn’t Rex’s son?”
“At first, they did. But they confirmed after the testing. They wanted to take Adair back to them, and I
refused.”
“They wish!” Abby says, enraged, “They are ridiculous, showing no respect for you at all!”
Abby wishes she could take up the cudgel for her. Then Abby worries, “What are you going to do?”
Lily’s gaze fixes on the tea table in front of her, but in fact she isn’t really looking at anything, her mind
spinning, and she looks glum. She has to be wary when it comes to her child.
“I’m thinking of asking Ryan to come over.”
Abby rises her eyebrows the instant Lily mentions the man’s name. “Are you sure? Rex’s not
emotionally stable now. He might go extreme if you have Ryan come.”
“That’s not my plan initially. But now I don’t care that much.” Lily panics when she recalls what
happened during the day. “It’s bad enough that Rex’s family took the kid without my permission today;
who knows what worse would they do in the future? I have to make a move.”
“What about Rex? What are you going to do with him?” Abby asks about the relationship between
them. As an old friend of Lily’s, she could feel Lily still has feelings for Rex, strong feelings.
As an onlooker of their relationship, even she feels heartrending watching the lovers torture each other.
Lily chuckles gloomily, her eyes full of loneliness and sorrow. “Abby, a relationship is a luxury I can no
longer afford.”
…
Ryan is working overtime and having a meeting in his company when he receives a call from Lily. He
pauses a moment when his assistant hands him the phone, noticing the name of the caller.
It is the first call from her, since she went back to City J. And Ryan has refrained from calling her in fear
of bothering her life. He has waited for a long time, for this call.
The next thing in the meeting room astonishes everyone — the boss takes a brisk walk out of the room
holding his phone, with a cold and hard face.
It is totally weird and shocking for literally everyone presenting in the meeting since Ryan has never
answered a call during a meeting.
Then the assistant clears his throat, explaining, “It’s business call. Please wait a minute.”
Ryan slams closed the door behind him. He puts the phone up near his ear the moment the door is
closed, “Lily?”
“Yes, it’s me,” a familiar soft voice comes from the other end of the phone. It sweeps away all his gloom
and anxiety of these days just by hearing her voice.
“Are you convenient to talk?”
Ryan walks to the French windows, putting the whole meeting thing behind. “Sure. What’s wrong?”
Lily stands in a quiet room, her back lying against a cold wall which conveys coolness to her body. She
closes her eyes, sorrowfully. “You’re right. I shouldn’t come back here.”
Ryan’s good mood ends upon hearing the sentence. The serenity in his face freezes immediately,
sensing that something has gone wrong with Lily.
When he speaks again, his voice becomes lower, “What happened?”
“Rex’s family knows about the kid. They took him to do a paternity testing secretly today. And the kid
knows that Rex is his father.” Bringing up all these still makes Lily very uncomfortable, “They tried to
take Adair with them.”
Ryan could even imagine the situation by just listening to her. Though the kid is not his son, he has a
close bond with him throughout the years looking after him since he was a baby. “What can I do for
you?”
Without further ado, he offers to be her back-up directly.
Lily says with a guilt-ridden voice, “Ryan, I’m sorry…
“It’s fine,” he cuts her off without letting her finish, “I said you never have to apologize to me. I’m not
doing this for you. I’m doing this for Adair.”
He says that only to reduce her sense of guilt. But in fact, it’s counter-productive, she feels guiltier for
him.
“I’m so bad … rejecting your love while asking you to do things for me. I really don’t want you to get
involved. But Adair is all I have; I can’t lose him…”
“I know. I understand.” Hearing her trembling voice with sobs, Ryan clenches his fist in his pocket. He
wishes he could be with her right away, “I’m glad you call, Lily. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of everything.
Later I’ll book a flight to City J. Just wait for me, okay?”
Lily hunkers down against the wall, choking with sobs, “Okay.”
He says that only to reduce her sense of guilt. But in fact, it's counter-productive, she feels guiltier for
him.
“I’m so bad ... rejecting your love while asking you to do things for me. | really don’t want you to get
involved. But Adair is all | have; | can’t lose him...”
“| know. | understand.” Hearing her trembling voice with sobs, Ryan clenches his fist in his pocket. He
wishes he could be with her right away, “I’m glad you call, Lily. Don’t worry; I'll take care of everything.
Later I'll book a flight to City J. Just wait for me, okay?”
Lily hunkers down against the wall, choking with sobs, “Okay.”
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