Chapter 153
Lisbeth panicked, trying to pull her hand free, but Sebastian gripped it tightly.
She deliberately played weak. "You're hurting me... It's too tight."
He loosened his grip.
Lisbeth immediately reached for the car door handle, wanting to get out, but was suddenly pulled back by an arm wrapping around her waist from behind. She found herself trapped in the cramped passenger seat, his heated breath washing over her shoulder as her heartbeat began to race.
She pressed against his chest, whispering, "Don't do this..."
Sebastian's voice was low. "Why are you avoiding me? Don't you plan on taking responsibility?"
"Taking... responsibility for what?"
Sebastian pressed a kiss near her ear, feeling Lisbeth tremble slightly in his arms. He chuckled softly. "You were the one who made the first move last night. Of course, you should take responsibility."
He turned Lisbeth to face him and casually pulled open his collar.
A clear bite mark was visible on his neck.
Lisbeth glanced at it, then quickly looked away. She honestly didn't know what had gotten into her last night—maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was being tempted by his looks.
One moment of weakness... and she'd gone for it.
Though she hadn't broken the skin, she'd definitely left her mark.
His voice dropped even lower. "If you don't want to take responsibility, that's fine too."
She looked up quickly.
"Really?"
The hope in her eyes was way too obvious, as if taking responsibility for him would be some kind of burden.
His gaze darkened. "Really."
But the next second, he leaned close to Lisbeth's ear. "If you don't want to take responsibility, then let me bite you once. We'll call it even, and I won't mention this again."
Lisbeth actually considered it seriously.
Though it was kind of intimate, getting bitten once to solve this whole mess didn't seem like such a bad deal.
"Just one bite, and you can't break the skin."
She was afraid of pain.
Sebastian was amused and frustrated. She'd rather get bitten than agree to take responsibility. He pulled her into his arms, looking down at her, completely baffled.
"What exactly is it about me that you don't like?"
"Nothing. You're wonderful..."
Sebastian saw no lies or deception in her eyes, only sincerity.
"Then why do you keep rejecting me?"
He tilted her chin up. "When you know... how long I've been waiting for this day."
His gaze was too intense, as if all his suppressed emotions were about to spill over.
Lisbeth's heart began racing, and suddenly the words of rejection became impossible to say.
"It's not rejection..."
Sebastian sighed, pressing her spine to make her rest her head against his shoulder, his voice low and patient. "Then tell me why. As long as you can convince me, or..."
He lowered his head to whisper in Lisbeth's ear. "As long as you say you don't like me, that you hate me, I won't bother you anymore."
What followed was a long silence.
After waiting forever without hearing those words of hatred, Sebastian's tense heart gradually relaxed. "You don't hate me, do you?"
He was no longer forcing her to say she liked him.
Lisbeth nodded.
He cupped her face, meeting her eyes. "Tell me why you keep rejecting me. What are you worried about? Let's figure it out together."
But some things couldn't be said.
Lisbeth pushed away his hands, escaping his embrace. When they were too close, she could barely think. Only with some distance could she calm down.
"I really can't... I'm sorry..."
Sebastian frowned, deflating for a moment, but the word 'give up' had never existed in his vocabulary.
"If you won't tell me, that's okay. I'll wait for you until the day you're willing to talk."
Lisbeth bit her lip, struggling for a moment before speaking. "Don't waste your time on me."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's get divorced."
She closed her eyes after saying it, waiting for his anger.
But after waiting a long time for an explosion that never came, Lisbeth opened her eyes in confusion, only to meet a pair of somewhat dim eyes.
"And you said you didn't hate me. That was all lies."
His voice was quiet.
She'd never seen Sebastian look so defeated. In her memory, he was always confident and in control, someone who could handle anything.
Lisbeth felt awful inside. "I really don't have a choice... I don't hate you, never have, but I can't be with you either."
Sebastian looked down, thinking for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Looks like I was too impatient."
"...What?"
"Never mind. If you don't want to talk, I won't force you." He ruffled Lisbeth's hair, returning to his usual gentle demeanor. "I'll stick to what I said before—I'm Anne and Dennis's father, and we'll always be family. If there's something you don't want to say or do, I won't force you. When you're ready to talk, I'll listen."
Lisbeth couldn't identify what she was feeling—touched, guilty, and mostly confused.
"Why?"
After being rejected like this, why wouldn't he give up?
Sebastian thought about it. "Probably because it's the first time I've met someone who makes my heart skip. I don't want to give up easily. Besides, if I could fall for someone else, I wouldn't have spent these three years waiting for you."
Lisbeth was speechless, finally managing to say after a long silence, "I'm not worth all this."
"Whether you're worth it isn't your call."
He was the one choosing to wait, so he was the judge of whether it was worthwhile.
"You'll regret this."
"I won't."
"You will."
Sebastian said firmly, "I won't. If I gave up now, I'd regret it the next second."
She was stumped.
For a moment, she didn't know how to argue back.
Seeing her at a loss, Sebastian actually laughed. "Don't overthink it. Don't think about anything else. I just need to know you don't hate me—that's enough."
As for liking him...
He wasn't in a rush. He was confident he could make her like him eventually.
Lisbeth shot him a glare, too lazy to argue with this stubborn man.
His phone suddenly rang.
The screen showed a word, 'Mother.'
Lisbeth caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye—she really wasn't trying to spy, just instinctively looked when she heard the sound. After seeing that word, her previously fluttering heart sank.
Right.
She had to remember that someone didn't want them together.
Sebastian didn't notice her expression change as he answered the call. She couldn't hear what the person on the other end said.
His face grew serious, and after a moment, he hung up.
"Lisbeth, my mother is sick. I need to go back. Do you..."
He'd been about to ask if she wanted to come with him.
But Lisbeth cut him off first. "Just drop me off downtown. I need to go to the office today anyway—lots of work piling up."
"Okay."
If she didn't want to go, he wouldn't pressure her.
After dropping her off downtown, Sebastian drove back to the York Manor.
As soon as he walked in, he saw David sitting on the sofa. "So you did come back after all."
Sebastian frowned slightly. "How's my mother?"
David pointed upstairs.
"Go see for yourself."
His attitude... was this serious or not?
Sebastian went upstairs and found his mother lying in the bedroom.