"Lilian, I promised you I would be with you. Don’t worry, I won’t go back on my word," I said softly.

"But you’re already married," she said, her voice trembling. "You’re not mine anymore. What do you take me for? If I had known you were already married, I would never have contacted you."

My eyes widened slightly.

I had tried so hard to shield her from the truth.because I knew very well what would happen if she found out, but it was all in vain.

"Why are you so surprised?" she continued. "Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? How am I supposed to face Alicia?"

"Lilian, don’t worry. This isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I’ll solve everything."

"How?" she cried. "You and Alicia..."

"Alicia and I will divorce soon," I said firmly. "So don’t worry."

"Lilian... will you trust me one more time? I swear I won’t break my promise."

"Really?" she asked weakly.

"Really."

Without warning, she threw herself into my arms and cried.

I held her gently, patting her back to comfort her.

"CEO Hawthorne, I need to remind you of something."

Kendra’s voice suddenly came from beside us.

"Lilian is a star. If your marriage becomes public, she’ll be labeled a mistress and her career will be ruined."

She looked at me seriously.

"If you can’t guarantee her safety, don’t get involved with her."

"Don’t worry," I said solemnly. "I won’t let anything happen to Lilian."

"Good."

Kendra’s phone suddenly rang and she stepped outside to answer it.

A moment later, she returned and handed me her iPad.

"I hope CEO Blackwood can explain this to Lilian," she said. "Otherwise people will think she’s using this for publicity."

I looked down at the screen.

It was a statement released by Arclarie Entertainment clarifying that the announcement about the interaction show had nothing to do with any specific star and had been planned since last year.

I was shocked.

I had never ordered such a statement to be released.

Quickly browsing the comments, I called Jane.

First, we needed to suppress the trending topic. Many clickbait accounts were already reposting it with their own speculation.

Then I called the head of Arclarie Entertainment.

"I’m sorry, CEO Blackwood," he said nervously. "It was a direct order from the Chairwoman. I couldn’t disobey. If you have a problem, you’ll have to speak with her."

Grandma.

I immediately hung up and called her.

The phone was answered quickly.

"Nana."

"Alexander? Why are you calling so early?"

"Nana... did you ask Arclarie Entertainment to release that clarification?"

"Yes," she replied calmly.

"Since you took over the company, I haven’t interfered much. But this time it’s different. If I didn’t step in, you might have created another mess."

Her voice turned stern.

"Look at what you’re doing now! You didn’t even eat breakfast. I thought you went to the company, but you ran off to see Lilian instead."

"In these two years of marriage, Alicia has never wronged you."

"If you didn’t want responsibility from the beginning, you shouldn’t have married her."

"When I handed Alicia over to you, I expected you to give her happiness. Now tell me—how am I supposed to face her?"

I fell silent.

After a moment I said quietly,

"Nana... I promise it won’t happen again."

But the line had already gone dead.

She had hung up.

Grandmother had always been like this whenever it came to Alicia.

Alicia’s POV

Nana, Nadia, and I were having breakfast when Nana suddenly spoke up.

"Alicia dear, I’ve planned to celebrate my 80th birthday this Friday."

I looked up in surprise. I couldn’t believe it had completely slipped my mind. In the past, I was always the one who remembered Nana’s birthday before anyone else did.

Yet here I was , How did I even let it slip my mind?.