Lilia's gaze followed Jean's movements as the man fixed her slumping sleeves. A look of frustration flashed across his face. Her tactic of teasing Jean by deliberately letting her dress fall off failed. But it didn't matter, she still had other tactics.
After they finished dinner, Lilia was still sitting at the dining table thinking about the next step. Then, she felt someone staring at her. When Lilia looked up, she met with Jean's dark blue eyes. The man had just finished clearing the table and sat back across from Lilia.
The woman gave a small cough before starting to play with the strands of hair tucked behind her ear. Then Lilia asked softly, "I'm going to Jakarta for a month. Are you going to miss me?"
Even though Lilia put on an innocent and pitiful face when she asked that, her eyes flashed with temptation. This time, she would shake Jean's composure and bring down the man's self-control!
But Jean just smiled warmly as he replied, "Of course."
Hearing that, Lilia couldn't hide her smile. She nodded and said, "I'll miss you too. Then ..."
In the middle of her sentence, the night breeze blew in through the open kitchen window. The wind made Lilia's dress skirt flutter. Jean's gaze fixed on Lilia's thin dress and he automatically frowned. The man got up from his chair and headed into the kitchen to close the window.
Jean said, "Come into the living room. It's too cold in here for you."
Lilia then stood up and caught up with Jean with a panicked expression because her plan fell apart, "I'm fine, it's just a passing wind. Jean…"
Before Lilia could continue her sentence, the man stopped walking and turned around. Jean reached out to her and Lilia immediately closed her eyes.
But nothing happened.
She opened her eyes lightly and saw Jean staring at her with amusement mixed with annoyance. The man flicked her forehead saying, "Whatever you imagine, I will not do that."
Lilia's cheeks turned red when she heard that.
"Besides, you are still injured." Jean's gaze fell on Lilia's bandaged left hand, "Go back to your room and change your clothes. These clothes are too thin, you might catch a cold."
Even though Lilia tried to protest, Jean didn't listen to a word she said. The man took Lilia to the room and told her to change into the knitted sweater and long skirt he chose. The sweater was made of thick and warm material, but it had no appeal at all.
Lilia looked at her appearance in the mirror and let out a long sigh. Tonight's strategy to seduce Jean failed miserably.
*****
The full moon shone brightly in the night sky, its light slipped into the bedroom through the cracks of the curtains. The atmosphere in the room was quiet and peaceful.
Lilia was reading Louis's script on the bed when Jean got a call. The man went to his study to continue the conversation further. When the door closed behind the man, Lilia sighed while lying on her back. She wondered why her plan had not worked. Maybe she should have done that after the wound healed, but what if the result remained the same? Didn't Jean actually find her attractive?
The sound of the front doorbell interrupted Lilia's reverie. The silence of the house made the bell sound louder than it should be. She sat up and immediately got out of bed. When Lilia left the room, she ran into Jean in the hallway.
"Who's visiting late at night like this?" Lilia protested while glancing at the clock. It was almost ten at night.
Jean raised his eyebrows and stroked Lilia's long hair, "Come back to the room. I'll check it out."
Lilia held Jean's arm tightly, "I'll come with you." She said firmly.
The two of them together descended downstairs and headed for the front door. The bell was ringing incessantly, as if telling them to speed up their steps. Whoever the guest was, they didn't seem to have the patience to wait.
As the two of them passed the living room, Jean paused and turned on the light. Lilia squinted while blinking, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright light. After her sight returned to normal, Lilia walked to the front door with Jean.
Lilia turned on the monitor screen connected to the CCTV camera outside the front door. The figure that appeared on the screen made Lilia's eyes widen. She tugged at Jean's arm and pointed at the monitor screen.
A familiar female figure stood outside the door with an expression of frustration and worry—Sasha Hiroshi. She was supposed to be enjoying her birthday party, so why was that woman here?
Lilia turned to face Jean, who looked just as confused, "Should we open the door? Could she be in trouble?" She asked.
Actually, she was just wondering what had got into Sasha tonight that she came all the way here.
After Jean nodded, Lilia unlocked the front door. The cold night breeze blew in, accompanied by the faint aroma of wine.
When Lilia walked out, she saw Sasha still pressing the doorbell. The woman turned towards Lilia with eyes widened in shock.
"Miss Sasha, what are you doing here?" Lilia asked while frowning.
The woman was wearing a gold colored party dress which looked expensive. Her shoulders were covered by a black coat that was half sagged. The coat was too big for Sasha and the dress looked wrinkled. The make-up on her face started to wear off and her cheeks were red with alcohol.
Lilia wondered what made Sasha come here with such a chaotic and hasty appearance. She looked like she ran away from her own birthday party.
Meanwhile, Sasha took a deep breath before looking at the two people. Sasha's gaze fixed for a moment on Jean who appeared behind Lilia, then her gaze shifted to the model. The two of them were dressed in casual home clothes and both looked at Sasha with suspicion, as if she had gone mad.
She really might have gone crazy. Normally, Sasha wouldn't visit anyone else's house this late, let alone Jean's. But when she heard that Jean wasn't coming, all her senses disappeared. The only thing on her mind was to find out what happened. When she realized, Sasha was standing in front of Jean's house and pressing the doorbell repeatedly.
"Sasha." Jean's deep voice shattered the woman's thoughts, "Why are you here?"
Sasha looked at Jean, "I-I… I'm sorry for bothering you this late." She started talking.
Lilia felt that this would be a long conversation. The night wind was starting to get too cold for her, so she raised her hand to interrupt Sasha, "Shall we continue inside?"
"Ah… alright." Sasha nodded and followed Lilia into the house.
When she passed Jean, her gaze was briefly fixed on the man. But her childhood friend stared back at her and made Sasha hurriedly look away.
As Jean closed the door behind them, Sasha turned to observe Lilia. Her gaze fell on the woman's bandaged left hand.
"Miss Lilia, are you okay?" Sasha asked.
Lilia turned to the older woman with a confused look. Sasha came to her house this late with a messy appearance and suddenly she asked Lilia's condition. What did she want?
Sasha realized that her question sounded sudden and immediately explained, "Ah, sorry if I wasn't clear. I just heard the news that you were seriously injured. I didn't have your phone number, so I rushed over here to confirm your condition. I didn't mean to disturb you and your rest."
Sasha's words sounded so sincere that they amazed Lilia. If she didn't know that woman was trying to snatch Jean, she would have believed Sasha's words.
Lilia smiled while shaking her head. She didn't say anything and just turned around, then continued her steps into the living room. Her smile immediately vanished, replaced by a suspicious expression.
Tonight was Sasha's birthday party and Lilia was sure that Jean's three friends attended the event. However, because the man Sasha was most waiting for didn't appear, so she left the party and looked for Jean. That woman only used Lilia's condition as an excuse. There's no way a daughter from a respectable family like Sasha couldn't find Lilia's phone number.
Arriving in the living room, Lilia and Jean sat side by side on one of the sofas, while Sasha took the sofa opposite them. As they sat down, Sasha's gaze swept across Jean's figure again. The woman's eyes focused on Jean's hand, which was gripping his wife's hand tightly. Jealousy and hatred was clearly reflected in the woman's gaze.
Lilia noticed that gaze and pulled her hand away from Jean. She had a feeling that Sasha wouldn't say anything while Lilia was in the room.
"I'll make tea. You can chat first." Lilia said as Jean glanced at her with a questioning expression. The sooner Sasha told her why she came here, the sooner she would go.
Jean watched Lilia get up from the sofa and walk towards the kitchen. His gaze remained fixed on the woman's back, as if he was afraid that his wife would disappear if he didn't look at her even for a second.
The expression on Jean's gentle face while observing Lilia lit a flame of jealousy in Sasha's heart. As soon as Lilia left the room, Sasha straightened her back and started speaking.
"Jean…" Sasha said in a choked and pitiful voice, "Why don't you come to my birthday party tonight?"
All of them— Jean, Chris, Tom, Alex, and Sasha— promised to always attend each other's birthday parties. It had become their tradition. In previous years, Jean had never violated this unwritten rule.. The man always came home early, but he was always there.
Read 𝓁atest chapters at fr(e)ewebnov𝒆l.com Only