Lilia handed her suitcase to one of the maids and headed for the stairs. Her feet were just stepping on the bottom step when Sylvia suddenly said, "Wait a minute. How are your wedding plans with Jean Widjaya?"
Hearing that, Lilia was tempted to ignore her mother and immediately ran up to the second floor. But if she did, Sylvia would tell Robert and start a new round of fighting. With a heavy heart, Lilia turned towards Sylvia.
"I will sign our marriage certificate in the near future." Lilia replied. She was not lying— that's what she agreed with Jean yesterday. She just didn't say that she intended to postpone this marriage for a while.
Thinking about that man made Lilia miss the time they spent in Milan. To be precise, the time before Lilia read that damned text from William. Since then, Lilia hadn't opened a single message from William and deleted it right away. She didn't have the courage to read the contents.
Hearing Lilia's answer, Sylvia's face turned grim. She glared at Lilia as she said coldly, "Looks like you really refuse to listen to me. Do you want to destroy the reputation of the Pangestu Family?!"
"Mother, this is my wedding." Lilia said in a tired voice, "I believe I have the right to make my own decisions."
"You…"
"Mother."
Lilia interrupted her mother's sentence. Even though Sylvia's expression was filled with anger, Lilia gave a big smile as if she didn't care about her anger.
"Instead of worrying about my marriage, it is better for Mother to continue your conversation on the phone with that girl. Isn't that girl's health much more important than me, your own daughter?"
Sylvia's face turned pale when she heard that. This was the first time Lilia saw her always calm and controlled mother look shaken. Contentment filled Lilia's heart, but only for a moment. Soon that satisfaction was replaced by feelings of hurt and jealousy.
Lilia hurriedly turned her body so that Sylvia couldn't see her pained expression. She climbed upstairs with unsteady steps trying not to think about the girl her mother was calling. Even so, Sylvia's warm voice filled with affection and concern when she was talking on the phone kept ringing in Lilia's ears.
All that Lilia never got from her mother.
As Lilia closed the door to her room, she again questioned her identity. Was she really Sylvia's daughter?
Lilia had considered doing a DNA test, but she immediately pushed the thought away. Lilia came out to the balcony of her room carrying her cellphone. She opened a social media app to calm her chaotic mind.
"Hm?" Lilia was shocked when she saw that her last post received more than 10 thousand comments.
The post was a selfie of Lilia set in the Milan Cathedral. Most of the comments contained requests that Lilia be more active in posting her activities lately.
Lilia decided to post about the fashion magazine cover photo shoot that she would be participating in tomorrow. She opened the magazine's official website and found an announcement regarding Lilia's participation in the photo shoot.
When Lilia posted the announcement, her fans immediately made a scene in the comment section. They all seemed more excited than Lilia herself to see tomorrow's shoot.
She skimmed through the comments before closing the screen of her cell phone. Lilia's bad mood made her lose the motivation to do anything. She just wanted to sleep and forget everything that happened today.
When Lilia returned to her room, her gaze fell on her open bag. Lilia looked at her work schedule and picked it up. She started to check back on what work she would do this week.
The phrase 'Ricardo Family birthday party' caught Lilia's attention again. She thought about the party well and got a strong urge not to attend. Lilia didn't know anyone from the Ricardo family apart from Alfred, plus the party location was in Yogyakarta. Thinking of the long journey she had to take made Lilia's spirit even lower.
The woman picked up her phone and intended to contact Harold. Lilia would like to cancel the invitation with the excuse that she was tired after her trip to Milan.
But before Lilia could do that, an SMS came in. She checked the sender's name warily and was relieved to see a familiar name on the screen.
Lilia immediately opened the SMS sent by Alfred.
"Lilia, I'll be waiting for your attendance at my family party in two days."
She laughed when she read the SMS. Alfred seemed to be able to read her mind and send the message right before Lilia refused his invitation. Before she could reply to the message, her cell phone rang.
The name of the caller on the screen was Alfred Ricardo. Lilia hesitated for a moment before finally picking up the phone.
"Hello, Brother Alfred!" Lilia greeted.
She could hear the man's warm voice from the other end of the line, "Hello, sorry to interrupt your time, Lilia. Have you received my message?" Alfred's voice felt calmer than usual, maybe because Lilia's mind was in chaos right now.
"Yes." Lilia's gaze fell on her work schedule, "Did you send me the invitation to the party?" Lilia tried to confirm her guess.
That was the only explanation that made sense, since Lilia had never met any of the other members of the Ricardo Family.
"Right. I wanted to surprise you, but it looks like you already guessed it." Alfred laughed as he said that.
"Don't worry, I was quite surprised when I received the invitation." Lilia joked to lighten the mood, "If I may know, why did you invite me?"
"Hmm ... do you remember when we met in Milan?" Alfred asked back.
"Yes, you said you were accompanying your family on vacation there." Lilia replied
"My grandmother's 80th birthday is coming up. She went to Milan with me at that time. And she was so impressed with how you looked at fashion week." Alfred explained, "Since it's her birthday, I want to invite you too. I know you are still tired after coming from Milan, but I hope you can come."
Hearing that, Lilia felt reluctant to decline Alfred's invitation. Plus, that man had helped her solve Daniel's case and also when she was kidnapped in Milan.
"Okay, I'll come." Lilia said, "I promised that I would return your help, right? After all, this invitation came at the right time. I'm in need of a distraction right now."
"Hmm? Did something happen?" Alfred was worried, "Are you in trouble?"
"Why are you talking like I'm always in trouble?" Lilia protested with a chuckle, "No, I'm fine. I just thought about something."
"I just love it when you get into trouble." Alfred said in a joking tone, "That way, I can be the white knight who saves you."
This time Lilia laughed out loud at his joke, "Are you trying to increase my debt to you, Brother Alfred? If you keep saving me, I won't be able to repay my debt."
"And I've said that you don't need to repay, but you never listened to me." Alfred chuckled, "Then, see you in two days, Lilia."
After Alfred hung up, Lilia sent a message to Harold regarding the party invitation. Just as she finished pressing the 'Send' button, her cellphone rang again.
When she saw the name that appeared on the screen, Lilia's chest immediately felt tight. The joy she felt when chatting with Alfred disappeared. She went to the balcony before picking up the phone. Lilia didn't say anything and waited for Jean to speak first.
"Why are you silent? Are you busy?" Jean's deep voice broke the silence.
The woman tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before answering, "I'm not busy, I just want to hear your voice first."
"Hmm ..." Replied Jean in a flat voice, "Are you with your friends?"
"Not. I just got back from the agency office." Lilia answered while playing with the ends of her hair.
"Do you have free time tonight?"
Lilia was silent for a moment when she heard that question. When a man asked like that, there was usually only one possibility. However, Lilia felt unprepared for that possibility.
"Um… tonight…" Lilia muttered, trying to find an excuse to refuse the date.
"You don't have work for tonight, right?" Jean immediately eliminated one of the reasons that Lilia could use.
"N-No, really ... but how do you know?" Lilia asked in surprise.
"I'm sure your manager didn't have the heart to immediately give you a job the day after you returned from Milan." Jean replied calmly.
Lilia had to admit that Jean was right. Even so, this didn't mean she was willing to go out with that guy!
"I really don't have work for tonight, but…" Lilia started, but Jean interrupted her again.
"Did your family ask you out for dinner?" Jean guessed.
Lilia remembered Sylvia's cold attitude earlier and her mood got worse, "…Not." She replied in a voice lower than usual, "They didn't say anything about it. But I-"
"Or are you still tired after returning from Milan?" Again Jean cut her off.
Lilia felt a little weird because Jean sounded more aggressive than usual. Normally, if Lilia showed the slightest sign of rejection, Jean would immediately abandon the plan. However this time the man acted like he didn't accept any rejection at all. Lilia didn't know what had caused this change.
"Sorry, I should just let you rest today." Jean continued in an apologetic tone, "But we haven't had the chance to spend quality time together back from Milan, and I..."
Jean was silent for a moment, as if looking for the right words.
"…I miss you."
Hearing Jean admit that made Lilia's heart suddenly melt. If Jean said that, he must really miss Lilia. The woman also canceled her plan to refuse Jean's invitation.
"Okay, I want to go on a date with you." Lilia said with a faint smile.
She always felt awkward and pressured whenever she met Jean lately, but it didn't mean that Lilia didn't miss him. She was just as longing as Jean.
"Oh, by the way…" Lilia was about to tell Jean about the Ricardo family party, but she suddenly realized something.
Maybe this trip to Yogyakarta would give Lilia the distance and time she needed to make decisions about her marriage. If Jean had found out, the man would have appeared there just like when she went to Milan. Because of that, Lilia decided to keep her going a secret this time.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Jean asked, he sounded confused when Lilia suddenly stopped talking.
"Ah… nothing. When are you going to pick me up?" Lilia immediately changed the subject.
"I'll pick you up in a moment. Get ready." Jean answered before hanging up the phone.
Inside the president's room at the Genesis Company, Jean turned to Kenny who was standing next to him.
"This is the information on Alfred Ricardo that you asked for, President." Kenny handed over the document without prompting.
Jean scanned the contents of the document quickly. His gaze turned cold as he read Alfred's personal data. And when Jean read about Alfred and Lilia's meeting in Milan, the temperature in the room plummeted.
The fact that Alfred invited Lilia to his family party in Yogyakarta also did not help improve the atmosphere. Jean wondered why Lilia kept this matter a secret. Could it be… Lilia was secretly having an affair with Alfred, so she didn't tell Jean about her departure?
Kenny automatically stepped back when he felt Jean's murderous force. He still had some information to pass on, but he was afraid that this room would freeze up when Jean heard about it.
"Um… President…" Kenny spoke carefully after gathering all his courage, "We also got the news that Alfred investigated Miss Lilia's background."
Kenny felt an icy cold wind blow through the room right after he finished talking. He hastily added, "But he doesn't know about Miss Lilia's marriage to you yet. Do we need to leak the news to the public?"
Hearing that, the room temperature finally returned to normal. Jean placed the document on the table, the corner of his mouth raised in a satisfied smile. Lilia was his fiancée, and that would never change.
"No need. I want to see his expression when that man realizes his defeat!" Jean said coldly.
Note:
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢