Chapter 298
Chapter 298
Lisbeth didn't say anything. She just put down the phone, picked up an orange from the coffee table, and slowly began to peel it.
Sebastian was a little surprised. "You…"
"Want some?"
Lisbeth held the peeled orange to his lips. Sebastian looked at her deeply, then slowly lowered his head and took a bite.
"Is it good?" Lisbeth asked.
Sebastian nodded, slowly chewing the sweet-tart fruit in his mouth. "It's good."
This was the sweetest orange he'd ever tasted.
After finishing the orange, Sebastian pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned the lingering orange scent from her hands. "Go rest. You had a long day."
He tossed the wipe away, then pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Taking her hand, he led her toward the bedroom.
Lisbeth didn't resist. As for the phone left on the coffee table—it could stay there.
There was nothing important anyway.
---
Night.
Lisbeth lay on her side in bed, the blanket draped over her waist. Sebastian held her from behind—not too tightly, but their body heat mingled together.
Sebastian's arm squeezed gently.
Lisbeth instinctively patted his forearm, already half-asleep, her words slightly slurred. "What is it…"
"Nothing. Go to sleep."
His voice was low.
Lisbeth was truly exhausted. She drifted off.
After she fell asleep, the person behind her quietly opened his eyes. In the darkness of the night, he watched her. For a long, long time. Only then did he slowly close his eyes and fall asleep behind her.
---
Morning came.
When Sebastian woke, he found himself alone in bed. The person in his arms had left—he didn't know how long ago. The other side of the bed was already cold.
He frowned slightly, propped himself up on his bare upper body, grabbed the robe draped over the nearby chair, and slipped it on. He stepped into his slippers and left the room.
Lisbeth wasn't in the living room. Only Anne and Dennis were there.
"Where's your mom?"
Dennis was eating breakfast with Anne. Hearing the question, he first greeted Sebastian, then answered, "Mom made us breakfast this morning. She was going to eat with us, but she got a phone call and left in a hurry."
"Do you know who called?"
Dennis shook his head. "No. It was a woman's voice."
Sebastian nodded thoughtfully. "Dad has to go to work soon. Is it okay if the driver takes you to school?"
"Okay."
Both children nodded obediently.
---
Sebastian drove to the office. This morning, there was a three-hour meeting. By the time it ended, it was already noon.
The company executives filtered out of the conference room one by one. Sebastian walked at the back.
"Guess who I saw at the hospital this morning?"
"How should I know?"
"I ran into Ms. Whitaker!"
"Which Ms. Whitaker?"
"Oh, come on, don't be dense! Lisbeth! Our CEO's wife!"
"What was she doing at the hospital?"
"Not only was she at the hospital—she was with a man."
Two employees whispered to each other.
They had no idea that the other person they were talking about was right behind them.
"With who?"
Hearing that voice, the employee didn't notice anything wrong at first. He continued enthusiastically, "Some guy. I don't know who he was, though. Pretty handsome. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't place him."
Only after he finished speaking did he notice his colleague staring at him with a look of absolute horror.
The employee felt a chill. He slowly turned around.
He met Sebastian's eyes. In that instant, he wanted to slap himself.
Why did you have to gossip?
And now the boss heard it!
But Sebastian wasn't angry or furious or scolding, as he'd imagined. Instead, he asked again, "You said the person looked familiar. Think harder. Where have you seen him?"
The boss was so calm and pleasant—he didn't seem angry at all. But when the boss asked a question, you couldn't not answer. A lie definitely wouldn't work. The truth…
The employee closed his eyes and frantically searched his brain. Where had he seen that person…
Thinking, thinking—suddenly, it came to him.
"I remember now! I saw him at a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the Hearst Group!"
Hearing that company name, Sebastian's heart sank.
"Leopold!"
The employee finally remembered the name.
Only after saying it did he realize why the man had looked familiar. It wasn't just from the ribbon-cutting—he'd specifically searched for information about this person before.
But he didn't dare say that now.
Both employees stood with their heads bowed, trembling, neither daring to make a sound, afraid of being punished. But the boss didn't punish them. He just gave them a brief glance and left.
Both were still in shock.
Noah came over and scolded them. "The boss didn't blame you, but that doesn't mean your gossip was okay. Especially in front of Mr. York."
Both bowed their heads and took the reprimand.
After Noah left, the colleague who'd stayed silent the whole time asked, "How did you know about that guy?"
The other answered, "I was curious. I wanted to know what kind of woman could fascinate Mr. York so much. So I looked up Lisbeth. Turns out she used to be a celebrity, got disfigured, was married before, and had kids!"
Out of curiosity, he'd investigated the ex-husband at the time.
He hadn't expected it to come in handy today.
"Either way, we shouldn't gossip anymore. Work hours are for working."
"I know, I know. I was scared out of my mind…"
Their voices faded as they walked away.
Shortly after they left, Sebastian emerged from around the corner on the other side of the hallway. He'd never left. He'd been standing behind that wall the whole time.
Noah watched with his heart in his throat. When had Mr. York ever done something so undignified? Eavesdropping!
"Mr. York, this might be a misunderstanding. Mrs. York didn't go yesterday. She wouldn't go today either."
"She wasn't here this morning." Sebastian said.
Noah was at a loss. Of course she knew her own business better than he did. "Well… maybe she went for a checkup by herself…"
Sebastian just watched him fumble.
Finally, Noah couldn't keep it up. "I'll get back to work."
Sebastian pulled out his phone, his fingertip brushing the screen. He found the number saved as "Beth." Even without the label, he could still find the number he knew by heart.
But his finger hovered over the call button, hesitating. In the end, he didn't press it.
He didn't want distrust to grow between them. He didn't want to interrogate her.
Thinking this, he was about to put the phone down when the screen suddenly lit up with an incoming call from that very number.
Beth. Those two words flashed wildly on the screen.
As if afraid he wouldn't see.
The ringtone seemed louder than usual, grating on his nerves. An inexplicable fear rose—as if he didn't answer now, she'd hang up.
Finally, one second before the ringing stopped, Sebastian answered.
"I'm heading home and want to pick up some groceries. Is there anything you'd like to eat?" Lisbeth's voice was perfectly normal. As if everything had been just a dream on Sebastian's part.
She hadn't left early in the morning. Leopold hadn't been injured and hospitalized because of her.
"I'm fine with anything. Whatever you want."
"You're as easy to feed as a pet." Never picky. And no matter how the food turned out, he always gave amazing emotional support. Lisbeth had to admit—she loved that about him.