Rona Muir looked confused. "Huh?"
She truly had no idea about Lucas Lin's feelings for her.
Because she had never considered the possibility.
As a thirty-something career woman—with a husband, a son, a thriving career, and good friends—everything in her life was going smoothly. She really never thought about keeping a mistress or anything like that.
So when Lucas Lin suddenly confessed, she was completely stunned.
"Maybe you'll say I'm fake, or insincere, for saying this. But it's the truth—I've always liked women like you," Lucas Lin took a deep breath, looked away, steadied his emotions, and continued, "When we were abroad and you pulled me aside to make Mr. Henry Hirayama jealous, I was secretly delighted. But I knew you weren't interested in me, so I forced myself to suppress those feelings."
"But I never expected Zoey Chow would suddenly come to me and offer to let me leave her side," Lucas Lin went on. "I've told you before—ever since I was a trainee, I've always wanted a chance to climb higher. Zoey gave me that chance. She liked my looks, I liked her power, so I became one of her many lovers. I know I'm dirty, not good enough for you, so I never planned to let you know how I felt. But then Zoey proposed a deal. Her brother, Marcus Chow, gave me some resources so I could compete for an award, and in exchange, they wanted me to get close to you and steal your business secrets."
Rona Muir's brows furrowed, but she didn't say anything.
"I agreed. When I said yes to her, I can't even describe how I felt—nervous, uneasy, guilty, maybe even a little secretly happy. It was complicated. Since I had Zoey Chow's backing, it was only natural for me to get close to you. When I officially broke things off with Zoey, it was like buying my freedom. I thought you'd look down on me, think I'm dirty and not want anything to do with me. But you didn't. You treated me like a friend—no lies, no hiding, no judgement."
"So I started to waver. Should I really go through with it? If I did, wouldn't I be betraying your kindness? When we were at the Daoist temple, I overheard your conversation. At that moment, I just couldn't go through with my mission. I knew for sure—I couldn't hurt you."
"I don't really know what this bidding is all about, but if Marcus Chow is willing to trade resources with me just to get me to steal something, it can't be anything minor. Maybe it's something that could cripple a company, maybe it's something that could destroy its foundation. When I secretly downloaded your email, I suddenly realized something. In this life, there are things you can do and things you can't. Since I decided I couldn't betray you, I couldn't leak your company's bid proposal. So I copied your format and made a fake file, and sent that to Zoey Chow as if it were the real thing."
"Zoey Chow didn't know if it was real or not, but she trusted I wouldn't betray her. So she paid me right away. After that, Zoey and I were officially done. I knew this bid would blow up sooner or later, and I've been waiting for that day. I just didn't expect it to happen so fast."
"What I really didn't expect was Marcus Chow would go after Miss Cecilia Gu, and expose the whole deal in front of everyone. With so many people here today, there's no way to keep this a secret. The Chow Family will blacklist me—it's only a matter of time. I can't survive in showbiz anymore. But I don't regret it. After thinking it over for a whole day and night, I finally understood—if I can't protect someone properly in this life, then maybe I'll never really know how to love anyone at all."
"Protecting you, protecting Miss Cecilia Gu. Even though I'm weak, even though I'm not that capable, I'll do everything I can." Lucas Lin gripped his hands tightly, his long fingers twisting together, making him look even more tormented and pained. "I've already had my agent tally up all my assets. Selling my house, car, and luxury items, plus my savings and investments, and the pay I got from my last film—it's just enough to cover the penalty for breaking my endorsement contract."
"Years of hard work, all gone. I'm back to being broke, but I don't regret it at all! If I hadn't stood up for you and Miss Cecilia Gu today, I know I would've regretted it for the rest of my life." Lucas Lin smiled with relief. "I know Miss Cecilia Gu means a lot to you. If you love someone, you care about what matters to them, so of course I couldn't sell out Miss Cecilia Gu to Marcus Chow. Turns out I made the right choice—if I'd really betrayed Miss Cecilia Gu, I doubt Mr. Yin would've let me live past today."
"Alright, I've told you everything. There's nothing left I'm hiding from you." Lucas Lin gave a bitter laugh. "I know you don't see my feelings. I didn't deserve you before, and now that I'm broke, I definitely don't. Rona, I won't bother you. I just wanted you to know—I really like you. It's the first time I've ever truly fallen for someone, and I don't expect anything in return."
Rona Muir was at a loss for words.
She wanted to get angry, wanted to blame Lucas Lin, but when she tried to speak, nothing came out.
Lucas Lin may have stolen her bid proposal, but that bid proposal... was wrong.
In other words, Lucas Lin went to all that trouble to steal a fake bid proposal, even edited the fake document, and then sent it to Zoey Chow.
Even though Lucas Lin got close to her with such intentions, Rona Muir still couldn't bring herself to blame him.
Rona Muir could only pretend nothing happened, smoothing her hair as she said, "Actually, the bid proposal you stole was wrong. My assistant sent me the wrong email."
Lucas Lin's mouth fell open, then he gave a bitter smile. "I guess that's fate. No matter what I did, I couldn't hurt you."
This chapter isn't over yet~.~ Click 'Next Page' to keep reading!
When he finished, Lucas Lin straightened up and bowed to Rona Muir. "I'm sorry."
"Forget it, I don't want to pursue this anymore." Rona Muir shook her head and gave a bitter smile. "It's just... we probably can't be friends now. It's not about who you are, or your money. I just can't accept your feelings, Lucas Lin. You're still young, you have a whole future ahead of you—there's no need to waste time on me. Jiro Hirayama and I may argue a lot, but our marriage is solid."
"If Jiro Hirayama really did something with Amy, would you still say that?" Lucas Lin pressed her.
"I..." Rona Muir didn't know how to answer, her gaze growing more and more flustered.
"I remember the moment you saw Amy walk out of Jiro Hirayama's room—you broke down, you were angry, you couldn't accept it." Lucas Lin said, "Rona, you're not a forgiving person. You're actually pretty petty. So, if Jiro Hirayama ever does something to hurt you, can I take care of you then?"
"That day will never come." Rona Muir insisted, though her voice was weak.
It's true—if Jiro Hirayama had really done something with Amy that day, she wouldn't have been able to swallow it.
Divorce would have been her only option.
But Jiro Hirayama didn't!
So there's no 'what if.'
She wouldn't get a divorce.
"Rona, whether that day ever comes or not, I'll wait for you," Lucas Lin said softly. "As long as you need me, as long as you want to find me, as long as I can do it—I'll always be there for you, waiting in the background."
Rona Muir immediately walked away, her expression uneasy and evasive. "Don't say things like that. I'm not interested in you, Lucas Lin."
A trace of disappointment flashed in Lucas Lin's eyes. "Is that so."
"Alright, that's everything. You can go now." Rona Muir grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "Don't contact me again, don't wait for me, don't pay attention to me. Let's just pretend we never met! Lucas Lin, you stole Danni Cosmetics' bid proposal—I can't forgive you. But you protected me and Cici, so I can't blame you either."
"So the best outcome is that we don't acknowledge each other and don't interfere in each other's lives." Rona Muir reached the door of the venue, her back to Lucas Lin, and said firmly, "I'll let them know—no one will blacklist you. I'll stay in my business circle, you stay in your entertainment circle. From now on, we'll never meet again."
After saying those words, Rona Muir's figure disappeared completely through the door.
Lucas Lin's tears fell all at once.
It had finally come to this.
Hadn't he expected this all along?
Why did it hurt so much? Why did it hurt so much!
It hurt even more than he'd imagined!
Lucas Lin leaned against the wall, crying silently.
In twenty-six years of living, he'd never loved anyone like this before.
It was also the first time he'd been hurt by love, the first time he'd ever felt true despair.
Rona Muir was someone he'd never be able to reach in this life—he didn't even have a chance to try.
With just a single sentence, she could sentence him to death.
Never seeing each other again.
Rona, how ruthless you are!
With one sentence, you shattered all my dreams, cut off all my possibilities, and severed every hope for the future.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry—this is all my fault.
I, Lucas Lin, will never love again in this lifetime.
Maybe that's for the best.
Only by being cold-hearted can you survive in the entertainment industry.
Lucas Lin wiped away his tears and turned to leave the Livingston Hotel.
His agent came to pick him up. Watching Lucas Lin remain silent the whole time, the agent wanted to ask what happened but didn't dare, so he tried tentatively, "The company just booked you for a variety show—do you want to do it?"
"Alright, whatever you arrange is fine. I'll do what the company says," Lucas Lin replied blandly.
His agent was overjoyed.
He hadn't expected Lucas Lin to be so agreeable.
Lucas Lin had never agreed to variety shows before.
So what happened at this resort to suddenly change Lucas Lin's mind?
After stumbling back to her own room, Rona Muir yanked open the window and watched as Lucas Lin left the resort, turning back to look three times with every step.
Her heart ached along with him.
She really hadn't expected Lucas Lin to have such feelings for her. If she'd known earlier...
She probably wouldn't have gotten involved with this boy.