"What are you doing?" Arriving in front of the fence, Jean turned off the car's engine and looked at his wife with soft eyes.
Lilia ignored what was happening on the internet, she smiled and looked into her husband's eyes. "It's okay, I'm just announcing to the world how handsome my husband is."
Hearing those words, Jean almost skipped a beat and before long, he stretched out his palms to embrace the back of his wife's neck and pulled her aside. Then he kissed her earlobe and muttered, "You sure did!"
"Hey, I'm just kidding! Let go!" Lilia didn't want to get fed up with Jean's teasing, she quickly made a distance between them then looked out the window. The woman suddenly realized that the Lakeside Villa's gate was already open. Her eyes stared at a black Porsche parked inside.
That was... Robert Pangestu's car!
When Lilia noticed the car, the smile on her cheeks gradually faded.
Even though it was only seven o'clock in the evening, it was already completely dark.
As their car approached, Robert got out of his car.
Dressed in a light jacket, he stood in the bright moonlight, facing them while rubbing his hands and looking hopeful.
Even though they weren't standing face to face, Lilia still saw that Robert was different from before. He looked lethargic and tired.
Their car stopped and Robert immediately walked toward their car. He looked at Lilia through the window and saw Jean in the driver's seat. The man then smiled kindly.
After parking their car, Lilia and Jean got out of the car at the same time.
The two of them walked around the front of the car and stood next to each other. They seemed to close their mouths tightly and had cold expressions on their faces.
At this time, the weather was cold and the wind was blowing hard.
The cold night wind blew past them from all directions. Robert's palms that were hanging beside him instantly clenched into a fist. Seeing Jean's cold and indifferent gaze, he shifted his gaze and turned to Lilia. "Lilia, I..."
"Come in first, then we'll talk."
The man cut him off with a faint expression on his face, then he took a step forward and walked in.
Robert was forced to stop speaking, he could only surrender at Jean's words. He turned his head to see Jean and Lilia's backs leaving him. After making up his mind and letting out a soft breath, he slowly followed.
......
The living room was warm as a spring, the lights were already shining brightly.
At this time, Robert was sitting with a worried face. While he was thinking about how to break the tense atmosphere, Lilia walked back from the kitchen carrying two glasses of water.
As the water glass was gently placed in front of him, Robert heard his daughter say, "Mr. Robert, why do you come here so late?"
The phrase 'Mr Robert' immediately confirmed the relationship between them.
Robert's eyes twitched a little, he looked at Lilia who was sitting next to Jean. The middle aged man pursed his lips and said in a difficult tone, "Daughter, I called you today and you didn't answer. I haven't seen you in a while, so ... I wanted to come to see how you've been doing,"
Hearing his voice, Lilia blinked and answered softly, "Sorry, I didn't realize you called. Is that why you came all the way? I'm really sorry!"
When Lilia said that, there was a hint of foreignness mixed with politeness between her beautiful and clear eyebrows.
Deep down, she hoped that this was exactly what Robert wanted to tell her, but Lilia was not stupid. How could her father's coincidental visit be possible? Wasn't the timing too good for him to come and see her after his company's funds were suffering?
Lilia didn't reveal her father's hypocrisy. After speaking nonchalantly, she took a glass of water from the table and handed it to Jean beside her. "Drink this water, you ate too much popcorn earlier, right? Don't let your throat hurt because of it."
She spoke confidently. The man lowered his head to hold the glass of water his wife gave him. After taking a sip, he touched his fingertips. "Why don't you bring one for yourself? Would you like to take a shower now?"
"No problem, I'm not thirsty. Besides, we still have a guest at home so how could I leave you!"
The brief conversation between them made Robert feel a little awkward.
He could feel Lilia's coldness. His eyes were now fixed on the glass of water in front of him, he immediately drank almost half of it to calm his emotions.
After drinking enough, Robert seemed to have calmed down. He rubbed the corner of his mouth with the palm of his hand. Then he sighed softly and said, "Daughter, now that we have met each other, I want to talk about..."
This time, Lilia couldn't help it. She shook her head politely and interrupted Robert's words, "Mr. Robert, please call me by my name. Why do you call me as if I am your daughter? Aren't we members of different families?"
Lilia's words immediately reminded Robert that he had asked his daughter to move out of his room and hand it over to Leila.
Robert lowered his head with mixed feelings, his hand holding his glass tightly. "You blame me..."
For some reason, Lilia was a little unaware of Robert's appearance in front of her.
The more she remembered, the more she remembered how the man had used her though he seemed to genuinely love her.
She used to think that it was a form of parental affection that she got from Robert, but it turned out to be an illusion.
Lilia leaned on Jean's arm, wiping her eyebrows with one hand. She watched Robert lower his head with both elbows on his knees. Even if her father seemed hesitant, Lilia did not hesitate and asked, "Did you come here just to reminisce about the past, Mr. Robert?"
From start to finish, Lilia's attitude was very clear.
Perhaps because Robert and Sylvia had given her enough painful lessons, Lilia would instinctively be wary of him now that the two of them met again.
Lilia and Robert's conversation was defined by two— clear boundaries and indifference
Robert himself was not a fool, how could he not see Lilia's indifference towards him? However... The reason why he came tonight was because he was really stuck.
He hoped to find a gold mine here.
Even if it was considered as a return of gratitude from years of caring for Lilia, Robert could only bet and beg the Widjaya family to forgive the Pangestu family.
His mind kept fluctuating. After he put his water glass on the table, he looked at Lilia. Those two eyes also looked at Jean. After pondering for a moment, he said hesitantly, "Lilia, do you know what happened to the Pangestu family company recently?"
In his impression, Lilia wasn't a disobedient child.
His company received many notices containing cessation of cooperation from investors and companies managed by the Widjaya family in just a week. He knew that this was Jean's doing, but there was nothing he could do but to give in and get angry.
Amidst of his despair, all he could think about was Lilia.
Lilia rarely participated in business endeavors when she was still living with him. Now that she was married to Jean, Robert believed that the man might not have told her everything.
For all the efforts that he had done to raise Lilia with love, he wished to get a glimmer of hope for his family.
At this time, right after Robert's words were spoken, Lilia stared at him with an unfamiliar expression. "What happened to the Pangestu family?"
Robert looked pleased, he thought his guess was correct.
He could feel his eyes burning in heat as he said in an excited tone. "Lilia, didn't your husband tell you that the Widjaya family had cut off cooperation with our Pangestu family?"
If Lilia knew about this problem, then she should have understood what impact this termination of cooperation would have on the Pangestu family.
But she didn't rush to answer.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶