30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 85: A Tangled Web

"Say what?" Ethan raised his eyes, meeting Lily’s as she leaned against the edge of his desk. "What exactly occupies your thoughts? An interest in Carter Group? Or perhaps a desire to oppose them?"

Ethan could discern with a single glance that she was disconcerted. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"No, it’s nothing." Lily offered a wry smile.

Had Uncle Bill been so imprudent as to mention nothing upon seeing her image? Had her appearance changed so drastically from childhood that Uncle Bill failed to recognize her?

Then Alex was still in the dark?

"Come here." Ethan set down his coffee cup, reached out to draw her into his embrace, and lowered his head to kiss her. "Go watch TV and retire for the night. I have some work to attend to here for a while."

"What kind of work?" Lily glanced towards the stack of A4 papers on the table and continued without waiting for Ethan to respond, "It’s already late. Why don’t we turn in early and resume our tasks tomorrow?"

"I do prefer to retire early." Ethan chuckled, his fingers tracing a warm path down her neck, circling the curves of her figure. His voice was laced with a lustful rasp. "It’s just that.... I fear I might not be able to restrain myself."

He gently nudged Lily, compelling her to sit on his lap. Then, she rose and made her way outside.

"After I review the plan, you begin implementing it immediately—"

Lily could hear Ethan say as much to the laptop when she closed the study door.

Leaning against the bed, she paid no mind to the television program. The stack of A4 paper consumed her thoughts in the study.

With the might of Blackwood Enterprise behind him, if Ethan deliberately targeted them, Carter Group would stand no chance....

What could she do to assist Alex?

She couldn’t allow Carter Group to crumble. It would be Alex’s future business empire, and she had to help safeguard it.

After pondering, Lily rose from the bed and headed downstairs. The Nanny and several maids were tidying up, preparing to retire for the night. Lily approached with a smile and inquired, "Nanny, do you have any sleeping pills? I have a headache and can’t seem to fall asleep."

"What sort of sleeping pills would a young lady like you need? Just lie down, and you’ll drift off." The Nanny chided disapprovingly.

"I won’t take more, just one pill." Lily clasped the Nanny’s arm, pleading earnestly. "I’ll only take it tonight. I won’t touch it if you allow me in the future."

The Nanny, helpless against her persistent tugging, could only nod. "Alright, it’s in the second cabinet in the kitchen. I’ll fetch it for you, Miss Anderson."

"No, no, no. You go to sleep. I’ll get it myself."

"Only one capsule is allowed, mind."

"I know, Nanny."

After bidding the Nanny goodnight, Lily entered the kitchen, prepared a cup of hot milk, located the sleeping pills, and dropped four into it, stirring them away with a spoon.

Fearing Ethan might consume something else, Lily added a piece of milk candy to the milk.

Gazing at the milk in her hand, Lily felt guilty. Recalling the scene during the day when Ethan rushed back to the mall to save her only intensified the guilt.

But for Alex, she couldn’t afford to care.

Resolving herself, Lily ascended the stairs and entered the bedroom, knocking on the study door. "May I come in?"

"Come in," Ethan responded nonchalantly.

Lily pushed the door open and entered. Ethan sat at the desk, scrutinizing the stack of A4 paper, a pair of black-framed glasses perched on his nose. An air of scholarly concentration softened his usually flamboyant features.

The laptop was open, displaying a voice chat window.

"Why are you still awake?" Ethan didn’t lift his head immediately, and his right hand held a pen to circulate information occasionally.

"Can’t sleep." Lily placed the glass of milk on the desk. "I poured you a glass of milk."

Ethan looked up at her with some surprise. The eyes behind his black-framed glasses were profound, a wicked smile tugging at his lips. "Milk?"

The sun must have risen in the west.

This woman would pour milk for him to drink?

"Yes." Under his gaze, Lily felt slightly ill at ease, almost tempted to recoil and reclaim the milk.

Ethan leaned back in his chair, awkwardly twirling the pen in his hand while lifting the milk and drinking it in one go. His brows furrowed deeply. "How much sugar did you add?"

It’s just a piece of milk candy.

Lily suddenly remembered his hands carrying her in the mall today.

"Isn’t it sweet enough? I’ll get you another cup." Lily sprang back and reached for the cup in his hand.

Before she could take it, Ethan had already drained it in one gulp.

"Finished drinking."

"Well, then, I won’t disturb your work." Lily forced a smile and took the empty cup from his hand.

"Good girl." Ethan gazed at her appreciatively, smiled lowly, and caressed her around the waist, allowing her to leave.

As she reached the door, Lily overheard Ethan say into the computer, "The third step is ineffective. The intensity must increase to catch Carter Group off guard."

In the span of a moment, Ethan, who had just been conversing with her with a smile, suddenly turned cold.

His voice was laced with frost.

The fate of an international company was merely a cold business strategy in his eyes.

"It’s tough and costly. Even if Carter Group is eventually swallowed, we, Blackwood Enterprise, will still be at a financial loss." The voice of the man from before emanated from the computer.

"My goal is Carter Group, not profit and loss!" Ethan declared coldly.

Alex had crossed him, and naturally, he had to pay the appropriate price.

No one could insult his woman.

No one could.

Watching Ethan’s cold profile, Lily lowered her gaze and exited, scrubbing the empty milk cup in the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Lily gently pushed open the study door.

Ethan had fallen asleep at the desk, just as she had anticipated.

The laptop’s voice window was still open. Lily approached and deliberately spoke loudly. "Ethan is asleep. Let’s discuss any business tomorrow."

Ethan lay on the table, showing no signs of waking.

It seemed he was genuinely asleep.

"Oh! Is Mr. Blackwood asleep? No wonder he hasn’t ordered anything for such a long time. I’ll hang up then." The male voice on the other end of the computer expressed surprise.

"Good."

The voice call was disconnected, and after nudging Ethan, he remained unresponsive.

Lily left the study and retrieved the cell phone she had previously hidden in a vase, tiptoeing to Ethan’s side. She nervously photographed and filmed a sheet of A4 paper for this project.

The phone’s camera was obvious.

Upon zooming in, the text was legible.

Alex’s cell phone number was etched in her memory. All the information would be sent to Alex via WhatsApp.

Once such information was sent, Alex must have realized that she and Ethan had some relationship.

But she couldn’t afford to care.

Sooner or later, this layer of window paper would be pierced. Alice Johnson knew she was Ethan’s woman, and Uncle Bill might also know that Alex finding out was just a matter of time.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch Carter Group be crushed and annexed because of her pride....

If you know, then you know.

As long as she doesn’t discover that she is Ethan’s kept mistress, she still retains a semblance of self-respect in Alex’s eyes.

Lily was still trying to be solid and conflicted.

After sending out the information, a string of numbers appeared silently on the cell phone screen.

It was Alex.

Her heart was suddenly in her throat.

Exiting the study, Lily picked up the phone and whispered, "Hello, this is Lily."

"Lily, what’s with the information you just passed over?" Alex’s worried and anxious voice immediately came through the phone.

"You can read it."

"Lily, I know Blackwood Enterprise is dealing with Carter Group, but such a detailed plan is confidential. How did you get it?"

"Can you not ask?"

He would find out sooner or later.

".... Lily, are you okay?"

Listening to his gentle tone, Lily felt inexplicably emotional, her eyes welling up with tears.

"With this confidential document, I know what to do."

"Well, that’s good, I’m hanging up."

"....."

Alex still wanted to say something, but Lily had already hung up the phone and was about to turn it off when she suddenly realized that there were many more text messages and missed calls on this phone.

All of them were from Alex, and the fewer numbers needed to be more familiar. They should be from people who didn’t know Ethan had changed his number.

Lily’s eyes widened in shock as she flipped through the text messages.

They were all text messages from Alex, and each one had a lot of words written on it.

Almost two or three text messages a day were sent, never stopping since she had called him on this cell phone.

[When I turned twenty-two, Lily, why didn’t anyone tell me I would finally find you?]

[Lily, if I wait a little longer, isn’t everything different?]

[A tumultuous storm has swept through Carter Group recently, Lily. I’ve been burning the midnight oil at the office, wrestling with the fallout. Exhaustion is etching itself into my bones.]

[My father pretended to be sick and went into the hospital and asked me to do PR in front of the media. I know hypocrisy is the first step of a businessman, but it’s still a bad feeling.]

[Fireworks explode on the rooftop outside as I sit in the hospital room. Lily, do you recall how every year on my birthday, we would ignite fireworks together?]

[Lily, your birthday is coming soon, right? Are you and your boyfriend together? Can you find a time for me to give you a gift?]

[I’ve been thinking about you; I miss you.]

These scattered text messages, somewhat like diary entries, recounted to her every big and small thing he had experienced.

Alex, I miss you too.

The bitter sting in her eyes prompted Lily to hastily switch off her cell phone, tucking it away within the confines of a nearby vase. She dared not allow herself to entertain even the slightest thought of Alex, for each fleeting memory was potent enough to inflict a painful twinge in her heart.

Returning to the study room, Lily pushed Ethan, who was sleeping heavily, and shouted, "Ethan? Ethan? Return to sleep; you’ll catch a cold if you sleep here!"

I don’t know if it’s because of the heavy dosage of medicine she gave, but Ethan didn’t wake up even after she pushed and shoved him.

It was only four sleeping pills, so it should be fine.

After thinking about it, Lily bent down, hung one of Ethan’s arms on her shoulder, and carried his weight with all her strength....

His five-foot-eight frame pressed against her slender body, almost crushing her.

"Ethan? Ethan?"

After shouting twice more and getting no response, Lily had to laboriously carry him towards the bedroom outside the study, one hobbling step at a time.

Her foot was still sprained, and walking like this instantly caused pain that tore through her heart.

Lily gritted her teeth and dragged Ethan to the bed. After throwing him onto the bed, Lily panted and gasped, exhausted.

In her vision, Ethan was a lean and robust man; how could she not expect that he would be so heavy, almost crushing her to death?

After resting briefly, Lily bent down to remove Ethan’s shoes and moved his slender legs onto the bed.

Ethan slept deeply. Lily removed his glasses and put them aside. His long eyelashes brushed a shadow under his tightly closed eyes. His sleeping face was still handsome and perfect.

His sleeping face was still handsome and perfect. The sleeping man had less of his usual unbearable temper and was so quiet that he didn’t have a trace of violence in him.

I do not know why Lily always thinks about the way he suddenly rushed back to the mall today when he stood with his back to the fleeing crowds and shouted her name.

That look, standing against Ethan’s flow, gave her a great shock.

"I’m sorry...."