Chapter 27: Don't Look
1503 Words
The commotion between Sophie and Dr. Harrington drew everyone's attention.
At this moment, Olivia keenly spotted Willow in the crowd.
Willow? Why was she here? She definitely wasn't brought by Adrian, Olivia thought. After all, at events big and small, Adrian never brought Willow along.
Damn it, she actually dressed up today? She had to admit, Willow in a qipao really did look beautiful. Thinking this, Olivia gritted her teeth.
Seeing that Adrian was about to look over too.
"Mr. Adrian, the Harrington family's bid for next quarter is already on your desk, just waiting for your signature." Olivia captured Adrian's attention, keeping him facing away from Willow so he didn't see her.
"I know. Are you sure you're ready to start working?" Adrian glanced at her leg.
"Don't worry, the doctor said I'm fine now." Olivia nodded.
Adrian nodded and said nothing more.
"Ahem, thank you all for attending tonight's dinner party. The opening dance will be led by Mr. Adrian. We hope for a pleasant collaboration between the Ashford Group and the Harrington family." Ethan Harrington, the current head of the Harrington family, came out at the right moment to redirect everyone's surprised gazes and put an end to the drama.
The music started. Adrian sighed. He would get through this boring obligatory performance and then leave.
Like a gentleman, he invited Olivia onto the dance floor.
Elegant music played, and the well-matched pair danced gracefully in the center of the floor.
Feeling the various envious gazes from below, Olivia held her head higher. She always enjoyed moments like this.
Willow watched the stage blankly, unable to tear her eyes away.
He... so he had found Olivia to be his dance partner. They really did look perfect together, Willow thought.
But how was Olivia out of the hospital? Sure enough, bad people live forever, Willow thought, lowering her head.
Seeing Willow looking at the stage, Olivia deliberately leaned closer to Adrian, making the two of them look exceptionally intimate.
"Adrian, the company has been so busy lately. Are you and Willow okay?" Olivia leaned close to Adrian's ear, using it as a test.
Thinking of Willow, Adrian furrowed his brow and didn't answer.
They hadn't seen each other for another week. Didn't she miss him at all? Not a single message all week. Was this what it meant when women were heartless? Adrian thought.
And from the audience's perspective, the two people on stage looked like they were in their own world, intimately close.
"Wow, is that Mr. Adrian's wife? They look so perfect together."
"What? No, that's the eldest daughter of the Sterling family. But I heard they used to have something going on."
"Huh? Being this intimate, are you sure it's in the past? I'd say the old feelings are still there. Poor Mrs. Adrian, having an ex-girlfriend like that hanging around is so disgusting."
"Who knows, but it's not like anyone's ever seen Mr. Adrian's wife around."
"She definitely can't compare to Miss Sterling. Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare bring her out? Men, it's all about saving face."
The surrounding gossip buzzed around.
"Willow, would you like to go see the garden? My mother planted some very beautiful flowers. You can't see them just anywhere." Lucas found an excuse to kindly shield Willow from the people gossiping around her.
Willow didn't look well. She had heard every word of that gossip.
"No thanks, Lucas. It's about time, I should go." Willow lowered her eyes.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise came from below the stage.
It turned out Olivia on stage had accidentally tripped, and Adrian had caught her in his arms.
From Willow's angle, she could perfectly see the two of them embracing.
She had clearly agreed to let go, but damn it, when she saw it with her own eyes, her heart still hurt.
So all those countless nights he hadn't come home before, was this what he was doing—dancing with Olivia in his arms?
Although she didn't want to admit it, she felt like her heart was truly shattering. She simply couldn't accept another woman standing by Adrian's side.
"Don't look. If you don't want to see it, don't look."
Suddenly, a pair of warm, large hands covered her eyes.
The men and women before her disappeared. The stinging scene was gone too.
Willow finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She bit her lip hard as silent tears streamed down.
Feeling the dampness on his palm, Lucas sighed.
"Let me take you out, okay?" Lucas asked Willow gently.
Willow nodded.
Lucas chivalrously took off his coat and draped it over Willow's shoulders.
The two of them prepared to leave.
When Adrian and Olivia came off the stage, he vaguely caught a glimpse of what seemed to be Willow's figure.
Did he see wrong? How could Willow be here?
Thinking this, Adrian wanted to step forward to get a better look.
"Ah—" Seeing that Adrian was about to catch up to Willow, Olivia deliberately crashed into a waiter.
A whole tray of glasses and wine fell on Olivia, and she collapsed onto the floor in disgrace.
Adrian turned back and looked. His good upbringing made him have no choice but to help Olivia up.
However.
"Adrian..."
"Assistant Yan is on his way." The two of them spoke at the same time.
But Adrian didn't bother with Olivia anymore. He dropped those words and hurriedly left.
Pointing and whispering surrounded them, and Olivia's face flushed red.
He had actually just left like that!
Watching Adrian leave her behind, Olivia clenched her fist in hatred.
Willow, you won't be happy for long.
On the other side, Adrian chased after Willow's figure. When he reached the entrance, the first person he saw was Lucas.
Then he saw that familiar figure wrapped in Lucas's coat.
It really was Willow.
Why was she here?
Lucas invited Willow to the ball? As his date?
Didn't she hate these kinds of occasions?
All these years, he had known she didn't like these kinds of events, so he never let Willow come along.
The false pleasantries, the meaningless socializing, all the questionable characters present—not to mention the various flies always buzzing around him. He never wanted Willow to be exposed to the vulgarity of the business world. Someone as innocent and pure as Willow shouldn't be tainted by these worldly things.
But now? Lucas had actually invited her to the ball, and she had even agreed!
Thinking of this, Adrian felt like he was burning with anger.
He took three steps in two and rushed to catch up, but unfortunately, he couldn't keep up with them. He watched as Willow got into Lucas's car and sped away.
Adrian couldn't wait for his driver. He directly hailed a taxi on the side of the road and chased after Lucas's car.
"Follow that car." Adrian said to the driver with a dark face.
Looking at Adrian's deadly expression, the driver couldn't help but step on the gas hard.
"Bro, what's going on, catching a cheater?" The driver gossiped, looking at Adrian in the rearview mirror.
The word "cheater" made Adrian's anger surge.
Even the taxi driver could tell there was something going on between the two of them? Adrian gritted his teeth.
He loosened his tie fiercely and opened the window to get some air.
Under Adrian's extremely dark expression.
The driver used every skill he had, closely following the car ahead.
In Lucas's car on the other side.
Willow was wrapped in Lucas's coat, her head lowered, not saying a word. Only the drops of tears falling one after another betrayed her.
"Little Willow, there's no one else here. You can cry," Lucas said helplessly.
Willow shook her head, but the sobs made her shoulders tremble.
"Don't punish yourself." Looking at Willow biting her lip tightly, Lucas furrowed his brow.
"I, I'm not, I don't want to cry, but... it must be the pregnancy hormones, you know?" Willow spoke between hiccups. The more she wiped away her tears, the more tears came. Damn it, why wouldn't they stop?
Grievance, bitterness, jealousy—countless emotions swallowed Willow whole.
Speaking of pregnancy hormones, she thought of how she was carrying that bastard's child, and he was out there dancing with someone else. Willow felt like she was about to lose control and burst into tears.
But remembering that the baby was her own unilateral decision, he didn't know, and they were in the middle of a divorce agreement.
Willow forced back her sobs.
"Alright, you know you're pregnant. Don't affect the baby." Lucas comforted her while driving.
"Will crying affect the baby?" Willow asked between sobs.
"Yes, it will affect their personality in the future," Lucas said with a straight face.
Willow tried hard to calm herself down.
She didn't want her child to be a crybaby like her, unable to hold back tears.
Lucas kept comforting Willow off and on like this, and before long, they arrived at Willow's apartment building.
- Writer
