Chapter 278 Ambiguity
Lily left with Leopold, and in the elevator, Lily said, "Isn't sending a girl to the police station a bit too much?"
Leopold's indifferent gaze shifted toward her, and Lily instantly realized she'd said the wrong thing.
She explained, "I didn't mean anything by it. I just think she's still young, maybe we should give her another chance."
Leopold lowered his eyes and said, "You can't judge people just by their appearance. From a distance, everyone seems kind, but once you really get to know them, you'll find that's not the case. Her first lie could be seen as self-protection out of fear, but what about the second and third times? Lying is human instinct. Many times, we can't even be honest with ourselves. She's told so many lies, repeatedly trying to deceive us with new ones. The reason isn't that she feels guilty about recognizing her mistakes, it's to get out of her current predicament."
Lily nodded, "You already gave her a chance. She's the one who didn't take it."
Leopold said, "Change Ryan's room immediately. Make sure to check everything thoroughly and ensure it's safe before letting the guest move in."
"Got it."
Having learned from Eve's incident, they became much stricter and more careful about security for the artists. They increased the staff monitoring the surveillance room to ensure there were no blind spots, with someone watching each screen in real time.
After arranging everything and waiting for the show recording to finish, Leopold finally returned to his room.
He leaned back in his chair, exhausted, pinching the bridge of his nose. After recovering a bit, he opened his laptop, put on his headphones, and connected to a video call.
Lily knew Leopold was so busy he hadn't even eaten dinner, so she had the kitchen prepare some easily digestible food and personally brought it to Leopold's office.
She knocked on the door. No response from inside.
Lily pushed the door open and saw that Leopold was on a video call. She placed the dinner on the table, signaling him to remember to eat after he finished.
Leopold glanced back, then continued with his video conference.
He smiled and said, "Been waiting long?"
Lily's steps froze. In her casual glance just now, she'd actually seen that the person on the screen was Allegra. She looked at Leopold in confusion, but he raised his hand, making it very clear he was shooing her away.
Was he actually shooing her away?
If it was work-related, what couldn't she hear?
Over the years, Leopold had trusted her completely with work matters and never hidden anything from her. He'd even assigned her to handle important affairs.
So now, shooing her away meant they weren't talking about work?
The more Lily thought about it, the more something felt off, so she just stood outside the door waiting. Until Leopold took off his headphones, opened the door, and said, "Come in."
"You knew I was outside the door?" Lily asked.
Leopold acknowledged with a sound and began eating the now-cold dinner in an unhurried manner.
Lily stood to the side, silent.
"If you have something to say, just say it." Leopold chewed his food slowly.
Lily said, "Mr. Wipere, I've worked with you for many years, and you know my personality and principles. I'm pretty stubborn about relationship matters, everything's black and white to me. I especially care about the distance that should be maintained between opposite sex."
This was basically accusing him of not maintaining a proper distance.
Leopold pulled out a tissue and wiped the corner of his mouth, "Just get to the point."
Lily said, "But what I'm about to say, you might not like hearing, but I have to stick my nose in this once. We no longer have any business dealings with Allegra's company. You're still contacting her behind Caroline's back, isn't that inappropriate?"
Leopold chuckled lightly, pushed his plate aside, tilted his head, and scrutinized Lily, "I never realized, when did you become Caroline's spy?"
Lily's expression looked unpleasant, somewhat cold. She really hated unfaithful men. The reason she'd initially felt Leopold was a trustworthy boss wasn't just because of his abilities, but because of his character.
But now, Leopold was secretly contacting his first love, acting intimate, does he want to cheat on his wife?
"Don't change the subject. Was that Allegra in the video or not?"
Leopold slowly leaned back in his chair, hands resting naturally on the table, "Are you helping Caroline catch me in the act?"
Lily lowered her eyes, "No, I'm just asking."
"Just asking?" Leopold said, "Your attitude doesn't seem like 'just asking.' Why don't you go look in a mirror right now, your face is so dark it's almost as black as the sky outside."
The more he avoided the question, the more suspicious Lily became. "Mr. Wipere."
Leopold nodded, "I really never thought that one day I'd be caught red-handed, and the person catching me wouldn't be Caroline, but my secretary."
Lily said, "You just need to answer yes or no. It's not a difficult question."
Leopold said, "Why should I answer you? First, this is my private life. Second, in what capacity are you asking me?"
Lily took a deep breath, "Mr. Wipere, if you think I'm not a qualified secretary, you can fire me immediately. Second, I'm questioning your behavior just now as Caroline's friend. For my friend's happiness, I need to remind you that past people and things should stay in the past. Cherishing what you have now is more important."
Leopold said, "I'm done eating. Take it away."
Lily said, "If you don't explain clearly, I'm not leaving."
Leopold frowned, "Lily, that's enough."
Lily reminded him, "A happy relationship doesn't come easy. Don't let down the happiness you worked so hard to get."
Leopold finally understood, if he didn't explain things clearly to Lily today, he wasn't getting past this.
"I really can't deal with you," Leopold got up and walked to the computer desk to sit down, "Come here."
Lily walked over, watching him warily. Leopold opened his laptop, "I was indeed on video with Allegra just now, but it's not what you think. We were working, having a video conference."
Lily was skeptical, "Does a video conference require smiling so intimately?"
"Intimately?" Leopold frowned, his expression somewhat speechless, "Lily, is your eyesight bad? You call that intimate?"
Lily said, "My vision is fine."
"Stop. It's not what you think." Leopold clicked on a file and said, "This matter was originally still confidential. Besides me, only Allegra knew. Now it looks like I have to add you to that list."
Lily blinked, then saw Leopold open a password-protected folder and then a document. He turned the laptop toward Lily, "See for yourself. After you read it, you'll understand."
She leaned down to look at the document skeptically, her eyes growing wider. When she saw the project name on the document, Lily turned her face in astonishment, "Is this real?"
Leopold glanced at her sideways, "I've shown you the document, and you're still asking me if it's real? If you think it's real, then it's real. If you think it's fake, then stop looking."
With that, he made a move to take the laptop back, but Lily hugged it and dodged away.
"I haven't finished reading yet."
Leopold propped his head with his hand, "You still want to finish reading? That's my confidential file, related to my career for the rest of my life. If you leak it..."
Before he could finish, Lily immediately said, "If I leak it, let me go blind."