“Yes, pretend you didn’t see it.” Lily turned around and looked at the standing wooden crane sculpture, “You can consider it a break. There’s not much time for you to relax as the new work is about to start.”“We have a new project?” Olivia was eager. She had not worked in a while, and her hands were beginning to itch. Even though working in a lab might be exhausting, it was gratifying.“Soon!”…It shocked Alexander when he saw the wooden crane sculpture in the living room as soon as he got home. It stood out!“This is…” He said hesitantly.Lily had just cleared up some space and was about to move the sculpture when she saw him return. She waved at him, “You came back just in time. Come help me move it.”‘Do you still need help moving this?’ He took off his coat, rolled up his sleeve, and waved her away. He lifted the sculpture and moved it to the spot she cleared up.“You bought it?”“Someone gave it to me.” Lily shook her head and looked at it carefully. The artistry wa
When Alexander noticed the change in her face, he understood it might be a sensitive topic and immediately said, "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." Lily was grateful for how considerate he was. His thoughtfulness had shown in the past few days that they spent together, and she allowed herself to let her guard down completely.Now that she thought about it, Nathaniel had never shared his life before, and it was the same for her. Although the two of them had been together for so long, there was no proper bond between them. They hid secrets from each other while having their walls up. Therefore, it was inevitable that they became what they are now."I've never told you about my family," Lily said as she warmly took his hand and led him to the sofa.Seeing how gentle she was, Alexander quickly quieted down and took her hand, nodding slightly. “Yes." "I was born in Brown City," she said slowly. "I'm from the Lodge family of Brown City.""The Lodge family?""
"I didn't even say anything!" Alexander puffed his cheek arrogantly. "Even if the birthday gift is here, I still haven't figured out how to send it to him." Lily sighed as she rubbed her temples. Even thinking about it bothered her."Aren't you going to go back?" Alexander asked. It did not seem like she was planning to personally send the gift over from what she said. Lily shook her head and sighed again. "I didn't consider that." "Why not?" After a pause, he questioned again, "Is there anyone back there that makes you not want to go back? Or is it something else? What about your parents?"Alexander had never heard Lily mention her parents before. Back when he looked into her background, he did not find any information on them either. It seemed that she had covered her tracks."They’re no longer around," she said calmly. "They passed away together in a plane crash." Alexander did not know what to say. Her calmness bothered him. How could she say such terrible things so casua
However, his dreams were about to come crashing down.Nathaniel had never imagined that instead of being greeted by a doubling in sales or profit, he would get shot down, bullet after bullet.At 9:00 AM, a famous verified account posted three videos. The first video was nothing serious. It was a financial interview that Nathaniel did a long time ago. In the video, he proudly talked about his perfume with his head held high.He told the host about his optimistic view on the prospects of the perfume industry and lamented the lack of top-tier perfumers in this country. He also emphasized developing and researching new products, stating that perfumers could discuss with him whenever they have a new idea.Nathaniel mentioned that if the perfumers were keen to proceed with their fragrance, he would personally supervise the development and preparation of the perfume throughout the entire process. Before he ended, he also brought up the difficulty of being a perfumer in this time and space
Lily did not need to take a stand as she had already won everyone’s recognition.Those who had doubted her came forward to apologize, and it quickly began to trend on the Internet.On the other hand, this morning had been a nightmare for Nathaniel. Just when he thought it was over, another wave crashed over him. Just as it was about time to get off work, a few more pieces of news popped up. This news was about whether he and Lily had really been together or entangled in unrequited love.In the video, Nathaniel and Melanie's classmates from universities—be they their friends or classmates who did not know much about the relationship or despised Lily's introverted personality—had no idea of Nathaniel and Lily's relationship. They all felt that he and Melanie were a natural pair.However, the tides had turned.The video continued, and one of their tutors, who was a professor, showed up on the screen.It was an honorable thing to be Lily's tutor, so he happily participated in the inter
Lily once had too much alcohol when hanging out with Jenny and Olivia, and since then, she did not allow herself to get drunk again. So, right now, she only drank sparingly."Why wouldn’t you have a drink on such a happy occasion?!" Olivia reached out to take Lily's glass. "Have a drink! I'll send you back if you're drunk.""Forget it. I'd rather rely on myself." Lily barely reached the door the last time Olivia sent her home, but fortunately, she bumped into Alexander.Olivia immediately knew what Lily meant and explained, "It'll be different this time! If I can't get in this time, I'll call someone to get you."Jenny, who stood aside listening, shook her head and intervened. "Stop trying to get her to drink. It's not a good thing, you know? Right, Lily, I'm curious. What were you waiting for? I'm sure you didn't collect all these pieces of evidence today; why did you have to wait until now before publishing it?"Was it so that sc*mbag would have a few days of pride, only for him
He picked up the phone in befuddlement and wanted to call his mother. However, on the verge of pressing the dial button, he remembered her stern warning, "Don’t call me!"That was right. Eloise was a busy woman. How could she have time to answer his phone calls? Even if she had answered, it was useless as there was nothing she could do. After a brief pause, he exited the call interface, opened a text messenger, and typed, “I lost, sorry, and goodbye.”"Mr. Hall..." His secretary was waiting for him at the door, a box in her hands. Nathaniel motioned for her to leave with a feeble wave of his hand. “Leave. You should leave!” He forced himself to stand up, walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, and looked out. This city still had plenty of life, prosperity, and glimmering beauty, but none of it belonged to him.He vaguely remembered the first time he moved into the office. It had just been established, but the sales from the perfumes developed by Lily were doing very well. I
The temperature dropped every day until it started snowing at night. Since it did not snow very often in Sapphine City, when it did, it only covered a thin layer on the tree and melted before more snow could build up.Heading toward Brown City, the scenery along the way changed visibly. Snowfall in Sapphine was more akin to sleet fall. It was a rain that contained some ice and looked like crystal droplets.Brown City was different. The further you went toward Brown City, the heavier the snowfall. It was not tiny droplets but large snowflakes. The snow on the ground also grew thicker. By the time they got to the Lodge house, the snow by the road was already ankle-deep.“Sapphine City is not far from Brown City. I didn’t expect such a big difference. It snowed heavily here.” Lily got out of the car and reached out to catch a snowflake. She was soon covered in a layer of snow stuck to her head, shoulder, and palm that did not melt away immediately. It had been years since she last saw