"Huh?" Lilia was so shocked at Jean's words that she forgot her sadness, "Does that mean… you've liked me for a long time, so you deliberately offered a marriage in return of financial assistance?"
Jean only smiled faintly, but that was enough of an answer for Lilia.
The woman frowned and touched her face, "... Am I really that attractive?" She muttered confused.
Lilia was sure that she had a pretty appearance, but that didn't mean that she could make other people fall for her that easily. In fact, Lilia had only dated William before marrying Jean, so she felt that she wasn't that attractive to be anyone's partner.
If Lilia had known of William and Jean's difficulty in keeping other men off her, she probably wouldn't have looked down on herself so low. Even after Lilia married Jean, that man still came across people who were trying to get close to Lilia.
Jean sighed, but he didn't say anything about the hardships he had been through all this time. The man landed a soft kiss on Lilia's forehead before saying, "In my eyes, you are very attractive. Since the first time we met, I was destined to fall in love with you."
"Since the first time ...?" Lilia turned around so quickly that her forehead bumped against Jean's chin, but she barely felt it, "Have we met before? Where?" Lilia urged.
She looked at Jean with anticipation. Lilia had asked this before, but that man had never answered it directly. She wondered if the answer was so hard to say, that Jean always avoided it.
The man lowered his face and their gazes collided. Lilia's hopeful face was reflected in Jean's dark blue eyes. The man was silent for a moment before finally saying, "... Many years ago."
Lilia waited for the man to continue his sentence, but Jean didn't say anything else. She scowled as she cast a critical gaze at the man. The answer didn't help at all! This was tantamount to avoiding the question!
"What ... hmph!" Lilia started to speak, but Jean leaned over and covered her mouth with an aggressive kiss.
Lilia tried to pull away from Jean, but the man's hand grabbed the back of her neck and prevented her from escaping. After putting up a pointless resistance for a while, Lilia finally gave up. She let Jean distract her with the kiss.
But Lilia didn't stop racking her brain and digging through her memories. Had she forgotten something important in her past? Had she really met Jean before? If so, how could she forget such a handsome and amazing man like him?
Suddenly, their kiss was interrupted by a notification sound from Lilia's cellphone.
Jean was tempted to ignore the notification and continue spending time with Lilia. But the woman protested to Jean through her eyes. That man had no choice but to let Lilia go. While his wife was checking her cell phone, Jean began to consider installing a signal scrambler in their room so there wouldn't be any kind of interruption in the future.
"Ah."
Lilia's voice brought Jean back to reality. He turned to Lilia and found her picking up her cellphone.
"All the film scenes in Jakarta are done, so I have to go to Magetan tomorrow morning." Lilia explained. This next shooting location was chosen because of its unique and natural beauty.
Jean ran his fingers through his hair and nodded, "We'd better head back to the Western Hotel so you can pack up your stuff."
When they arrived at the Hotel Western, it was six in the evening. Lilia packed things in her room with Jean's help. Then she went to bed early, because she needed to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow.
*****
At five in the next morning, Lilia was ready to leave. But her face looked gloomy as if it was covered by dark clouds. She didn't actually want to leave! After three days of always being with Jean, Lilia couldn't imagine being away from that man again. However, this was the risk of her current job.
Lilia closed her suitcase with a sigh. The film crew and actors were asked to gather at the film studio at six in the morning, so she still had a little time. Lilia walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back a little. The sky outside was dark and cloudy—the exact reflection of her current mood.
Then she slipped into the bedroom. Fortunately, Lilia's footsteps were muffled by the hotel slippers she was wearing. She slowly walked over to the bed, careful not to bump into something and wake Jean. The room was so dark that Lilia could only see the faint silhouette of the man.
Lilia crept over to Jean's side and watched the man's sleeping face. She faced a dilemma where she didn't want to disturb Jean's rest, but Lilia didn't want to leave without saying goodbye either. Finally, Lilia made a compromise by leaning over and kissing the man's lips gently.
But before Lilia could land her kiss, a pair of arms reached out from under the blanket and caught her body. When Lilia realized what was happening, she was lying on top of Jean. Their position was so close that she could feel Jean's chest rising and falling as he breathed.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Lilia asked in a half whisper. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure Jean could hear it.
"No…" Jean didn't explain that he had been awake since Lilia slipped into the room. The man closed his eyes while holding his wife tightly, "What time is it now?" He asked in his deep, hoarse voice.
"Ah… around past five. We have to gather at the studio at six o'clock." Lilia answered while placing her face against the man's chest.
The sound of Jean's steady heartbeat helped Lilia to calm down. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sound of their hearts beating in rhythm. Jean's big hands stroked Lilia's hair and back softly.
The two of them remained in that comfortable position until Lilia came to her senses. She glanced at the clock on the wall and found that it was nearly half past six. Lilia patted Jean's arm while saying, "I have to go right away, so can you let me go?"
Jean took a deep breath, 'What a cold woman.' Didn't Lilia know how hard it was for Jean to let her go? If possible, Jean just wanted to shut himself with Lilia in the room and enjoy some quality time with her, but reality couldn't be that cute.
The man kissed Lilia's forehead, "Do you remember our conversation last night? Try to reschedule the time with your director. We will go to the Sarangan area in three days." Jean reminded her.
Lilia nodded, "I still remember, really."
Lilia wondered what Jean's friend was like. If his friend lived in Sarangan, how could they meet? Was it a coincidence that Lilia also went to Sarangan 14 years ago?
After some coaxing and scolding from Lilia, Jean was finally willing to let his wife go. The man kissed her aggressively one last time before letting Lilia go.
Clifford had been waiting in the car for half an hour when Lilia finally showed up. As soon as he saw Lilia's figure, Clifford's gaze immediately fell on her lips, which were red and swollen. The personal bodyguard looked away and acted as if he didn't see anything.
Dina and Rini, Lilia's two new assistants, followed Clifford's directions and immediately looked away. They didn't dare tell Lilia that it sure looked like she'd been kissing!
Lilia got into the passenger seat and tried to stay calm.. As the car accelerated, her face slowly turned red as a tomato. She would definitely nag Jean when they met again!
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