After hearing everything, Lily couldn't help but sigh. Well, it seems Leopold and Zoya are mutually involved.
"What did you and Zoya talk about?"
Edmond took her hand, and the cold touch made him frown. Lily placed both her hands into his warm palms.
"We talked about her and Leopold."
Lily said this and then leaned in to kiss him, rubbing her nose against his cheek as she murmured, "Edmond, I can't swim."
The sudden change in topic nearly caught Edmond off guard. "Hmm?"
Lily continued, "I can't swim, which is why I fell in love with you."
Lily never learned to swim, always refusing because of her fear of drowning.
During a summer vacation when she was in her first year of middle school, her father finally found the time to take the whole family to the beach. Leopold offered to teach her how to swim, but Zoya wanted to learn too, so he taught Zoya first.
While Lily was swept into the sea by a large wave, she opened her mouth to scream for help, only to have it filled with the salty, bitter seawater. Her father was on the shore making a phone call, her mother didn't enter the water, and Leopold had his back to her as he taught Zoya from a distance.
Unable to grab onto the safety rope, and with her swimming ring abandoned, Lily thought she was doomed.
It was unbearable. The turbulent seawater engulfed her completely, her body sinking, her throat burning with pain, her eyes shut tight, and her ears filled with the muffled sounds of water.
That was the first time she experienced the terror and despair of suffocation.
Later, when Leopold pulled her out of the water and air rushed into her lungs, she swore she would never go into the water again.
She believed that as long as she stayed out of the water, she'd never have to face that suffocating terror and despair again.
However, that wasn't true. You can experience it even when you're not in the water.
Like the time when Royce first told her, "Lily, I'm sorry, but I've fallen for Nadia."
Or just now, when Zoya told her, "Selena celebrated Edmond's birthday—your husband's birthday."
The feelings of suffocation were different.
When Royce confessed his change of heart, it felt like the despair of sinking to the ocean floor.
Hearing that Edmond was Selena's benefactor was like the fear of just being pulled under by the waves.
She knew what this meant.
The reason she felt so much pain when Royce betrayed her was that she loved him deeply, which made the pain excruciating.
With Edmond, though it hurt, it wasn't suffocating, which indicated that she had indeed fallen for Edmond. There's pain because there's love, but the love hasn't gone so deep yet, so it doesn't suffocate.
Selena... she did care. She cared a lot, more than she wanted to admit.
But she wasn't stupid. If Edmond truly loved Selena, he wouldn't have married her. So for now, she wouldn't be foolish enough to lose her mind, or worse, push Edmond away.
Unless Edmond himself says he doesn't want her anymore.
The dinner between the Jian and Wang families was a disaster, with everyone taking a heavy hit.
Brooks' blood pressure spiked so high that he didn't even make it home; he was rushed to the hospital midway and ended up in the emergency room.
Layla, having witnessed her son kissing her adopted daughter, was already in emotional turmoil. With her son's head now bleeding and her husband in critical care, she passed out crying outside the emergency room.
Leopold hadn't anticipated things escalating this far. He sat alone in the cold hallway, his hand shaking as he smoked a cigarette.
If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have gone out with Zoya tonight. If he'd known, he would have agreed to one of the marriages his mother arranged for him long ago.
After talking with Lily, Zoya returned to her apartment. She knew Brooks had been hospitalized; Layla had called and scolded her.
She didn't go to the hospital because Leopold messaged her, telling her not to go, as her presence would only aggravate Layla further.
She knew in her heart that after tonight, her status in the Jian family would change drastically. The more Layla had favored her before, the more she would now despise her. Brooks would also start to distance himself.
But that didn't matter. It wasn't the worst-case scenario. Leopold wouldn't abandon her. As long as she had Leopold, she didn't fear anything.
What troubled her most was how deeply Leopold affected her, far beyond what she had anticipated.
This wasn't right.
Her ambitions couldn't be dictated by love. She didn't need love. She couldn't afford to have love. Love would only be a burden.
Men are only good for being stepping stones to her success.
She needed to cool off, to rid herself of her impulsive feelings for Leopold.
She also had to think about how to help Leopold navigate this crisis. She didn't know what exactly Wang Niannian had said, but Leopold had certainly offended Mr. Wang.
Mr. and Mrs. Wang weren't easy people—petty and vengeful. She needed to help Leopold.
The Wang household was indeed brightly lit all night. Mr. Wang, having been humiliated by a junior in front of Edmond, was fuming and spent the night making phone calls.
Wang Niannian, though she had gotten her wish to avoid marrying a stranger, still had to pay a price.
Ignored by her father on the way home, and scolded by her stepmother until midnight, the implication was clear: the reason the Jian family agreed to marry her, a sickly girl, was something everyone understood without saying. Why the two families were forming an alliance was also clear. But now, by eavesdropping and forcing Leopold to lay things bare, she had disrupted the balance and ruined everything.
Wang Niannian felt calm about it all. No matter what, her engagement was called off. She didn't have to marry.
After kneeling in the study until the middle of the night, she dragged her exhausted body back to her room and sent Lily a message.
[Thank you for today. I'd like to treat you to a meal. When are you free?]
Lily didn't see her message.
When she returned home that evening, she was exhausted, her mind filled with Zoya's words, with thoughts of Selena, a jumbled mess, and she still had to deal with Edmond's excitement.
Yes, while everyone else was reeling from the night's events, Edmond was also struck.
But his blow was different. While others were hit with icy hailstones and blunt force, Edmond was knocked out by Lily's words: "Edmond, I've fallen in love with you."
While others wept and bled, he was basking in a cloud of pink love.
The moment he heard "I've fallen in love with you," he froze, his arms tightening around her so much that it hurt. He insisted he hadn't heard clearly and made her repeat it several times.
She indulged him, saying it eight times in a row.
He then picked her up in his arms without a word and got into the car, instructing the driver to drive as fast as possible, his expression deadly serious.
The driver, thinking something was wrong, pushed the car to its limits without breaking any traffic rules, covering a twenty-minute journey in just thirteen.
Lily was nervous the whole way because Edmond was so serious. He didn't even hold her hand, only giving curt responses when she spoke.
Lily felt hurt too. I confessed, and this is how you react? she thought. With the driver there, she couldn't say much. When they got back to the bedroom, she wanted to ask him what he meant, but before she could even turn on the lights, a strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind, spinning her around as his lips claimed hers.
From gentle and slow to urgent and demanding, he didn't leave her any space, didn't give her a chance to breathe, fully taking her breath away.
His practical experience was extensive, and by now his skills were nearly perfect.
At least, that's what Lily thought.
By the time she came to her senses, she was already like a peeled lychee, lying on the soft bed beneath her.
That was his skill, his ability to entice, to subdue you quietly, with those deep, dark eyes that seemed to ignite like a lighter.
First, restrained, then unhidden, and finally, boiling over.
The process of boiling was like making tea.
Lily was usually lazy, satisfied with just a bottle of mineral water, but Edmond was different. He liked drinking tea.
Whenever he was home, he'd often make tea for her. Lily loved watching him make tea.
His hands were exceptionally beautiful, the kind often described as "piano-playing hands"—long, slender, and elegant.
When he prepared tea, the way he delicately handled the tea leaves was graceful and pleasing to the eye. A light tap of his finger, and the tender leaves would fall gently into the water.
Even as Lily felt herself melting like water, she still remembered how cold he had been on the way home. Despite trembling under him, she couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you say anything in the car? I confessed to you, but you didn't say a word, you had no reaction at all. What were you thinking? Can you just give me a straight answer?"
She still remembered how his hand had let go of hers, holding a grudge, and even scratched his back with that same hand.
Edmond raised his head slightly, returned her breath to her, listened to her accusation and defended himself.