Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

Costil possessed the classic Italian look of a Renaissance painting—high features, curly black hair, bronzed skin, and charming dark eyes.Seeing him for the first time, that dazzling smile and dark handsomeness immediately took Lily's breath away. They met unexpectedly in social occasions several times, and Shidi began to pursue her passionately. Lily's only lover, Xin Hanli, has a stable personality and a very British style, which is enough to please her parents.She originally thought that Han Li's rigidity was enough to affect her to save her, but her wild indulgence prompted him to abandon her instead.

Yet Costie seemed to appreciate any wildness in her—calling her provocative and glamorous.She seemed to have finally found a man who could make her drop all pretense and be herself, and now this stupid memory made her sick with disgust. Over the past few years, Shidi's appearance seems to have grown rough—perhaps because his own opinion of him has changed.It pained her to see his eyes wander greedily over her, even if she had felt flattered before.Seeing him now made her stomach churn, thinking again of the night they had spent together.Afterwards, he also asked for a gift, which stunned and humiliated her as if she were some aging spinster who had to pay to get a man to sleep with her.

Shi Di stretched out his hand to touch her cheek, and she immediately patted it away, making him laugh. "Ah, still with sharp claws, my dear little wild cat... I'm here to ask for money, you're here for news about Nicole, give me the money now, and I'll tell you the news." "Don't even think about it!" Lily took a trembling breath. "Slick bastard, I don't even know if she is still alive, why should I give you more money?" "I promise she's safe, she lives—" "How can she be happy without a mother?" "Our little girl is so pretty, Lily, always smiling, with beautiful hair..." He stroked his curls. "It's as beautiful as mine. She calls me daddy, and occasionally asks where my mom is."

It broke her heart, and Lily stared at him without blinking, swallowing hard at the painful lump, tears welling up in her eyes. "I am her mother," she said plaintively. "She needs me, I want her back, Shidi, you know she belongs to me!" He smiled sympathetically. "Perhaps I'll give Nicole back to you, miss. But you've made so many mistakes, you've sent people around, you've asked people around, you've played tricks on me, you've had people stalking me, and I'm mad at you, and now I want to give Nicole Stay for a few more years." "I told you I knew nothing about it," Lily cried.This was a lie of course, she knew that Rick had sent his men to look for Nicole, and she asked Lily to identify four little girls with black hair last year, but none of them were her daughters, none of them.

She looked at Shidi with hatred. "I've given you a great fortune," she said hoarsely. "There's nothing left, Shidi, and I've got nothing left!" " "Then go earn it!" He replied softly. "Or I'll go - there are a lot of guys out there wanting to buy a girl as beautiful as Nicole!" "What?" Lily put her hand over her mouth. "How could you do that to your own flesh and blood? You wouldn't sell her, that would kill her—and me—oh my God! You haven't done that yet, have you?" "Not yet, but soon, sweetheart," he held out his empty hand. "Give me the money now."

"How long is this going to take?" she murmured. "When will it be enough?" He turned a deaf ear and shook his empty hand. "Now." She let the tears slide down her face. "I don't." "I'll give you three days, Lily, and bring five thousand pounds...or Nicole will disappear forever." Hearing his footsteps go away, she lowered her head, trembling with despair.money.Her account was dry and empty, and she hadn't made her usual profit at the Koch Club this past month.Well, her luck must improve immediately, and quickly.She had to gamble even bigger, if she couldn't win five thousand pounds in three days... God, what would she do?

She could borrow money from Rick... No, she made the same mistake a year and a half ago, thinking he wouldn't mind lending her a thousand or two, especially if she promised to repay it with interest.To her surprise, Rick became cold and cruel and made her swear never to ask him for money again. It took him a full two weeks to recover, and Lily never understood why he was so angry.It's not that he is stingy, on the contrary, he is very generous in many ways!Give her gifts, let her use his property, let her borrow things from his kitchen and wine cellar, help her find Nicole...but never give her a dime.Now she knows she can't make the same mistake again.

She thought of the few rich and famous people she had known, whom she had flirted with, gambled with, and maintained good friendships with, who had hinted in a gentlemanly way that they were attracted to her.She could accept one of them as a protector, and she would no doubt be well treated and generously provided for.But it would change her life forever, and the door that was still open to her would be closed forever, and she would become a high-priced whore—and that was lucky for her.If her experience with Shidi was any indication that she was not satisfying in bed, no one would support her.

Lily rested her head on the warm neck of the horse. "I'm so tired," she said to herself. Tired and cynical, she doesn't really have much reason to expect Nicole back at the moment, her life is meaningless except for the endless pursuit of money.She shouldn't have wasted so much time waving her hands over Penny, Red, and Lealie, it might cost her Nicole.But if she hadn't been distracted by him for the past week, she might have gone crazy. The drizzle was falling, dripping on her hair.Lily closed her eyes and turned her face up to let the cold rain slide down her face. She suddenly remembered that when Nicole was in the shower, she found that she could wet her little hands, wave them in the air, and splash the water out of the tub.

"Look what you've done!" Lily exclaimed, laughing. "How dare you splash your mother, you clever duckling... water is for bathing, not splashing on the ground..." Lily stubbornly wiped the rain and tears from her face, and straightened her shoulders. "It's just money," she muttered. "I could get it before, and I can find a way now!" The clock struck nine, and Alex had been staring at the clock for nearly an hour.It's a sensuous brass bell adorned with roses and a shy shepherdess looking back at a nobleman holding a bouquet.Lily's bedroom was similarly feminine—rose-screened windows, furnished with soft velvet brocade, and furnished quite differently from the rest of her house, as if she kept her private room, completely feminine, and the rest was not. As if allowed.

The last bell struck, the door was thrown open, and Burton the foreman entered. "Good morning, sir," said Burton calmly. "I suppose you slept well?" Alex glared at him. Since Lily left, he faced the long night alone.Before that, he used to fill every waking moment with a variety of occupations, including work, sports, social entertainment, drinking, women, in countless ways to avoid being alone.Yet Lily unwisely forces him to face his worst fears, and in the darkness of total silence, he can't stop the flood of memories that tear at his heart. It starts with a flurry of emotions, including anger, passion, regret, and sadness.No one will understand within hours of being bound.What happened to him, no one needs to know.The important thing is that those troubles seemed to be unraveled and became very clear in his mind, and he would never see Lorraine's face in other women from then on.She belonged to the past, not the present, and there were no sorrows or haunting ghosts after that. As for Lily...he spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with her.It wasn't until dawn that he slowly drifted into a pure and dark sleep. The foreman came up to him with a knife in his hand. "Is that all right, sir?" Burton asked. Alex glanced at him in disbelief. "Oh, of course." He replied politely and sarcastically. Burton skillfully cut the cotton rope, and when his right wrist was loosened, Alex couldn't help frowning.He rolled his hands to his chest, groaning and contracting his muscles, and watched Burton circle around to the other end of the bed. Alex privately had to admit that Burton's coolness was impressive.He looked like a standard servant foreman, with a well-trimmed beard and a dignified appearance, revealing wisdom and authority.Even while cutting the cotton rope, he remains as calm and composed as he is pouring tea or wiping his hat. Seeing Alex's swollen wrist, Burton raised his eyebrows. "My lord, I will fetch the ointment." "No," Alex growled. "You've done enough." "Yes, my lord." Alex sat up with soreness, stretching and stretching his numb limbs. "Where was she this morning?" "If you mean Miss Luo, then I don't know. But she instructed me to remind you that Mr. Henry is at the Koch Club." "If anything happens to him, I will hold you as fully responsible as Miss Luo." Burton was very calm. "Yes, my lord." Alex shook his head in surprise. "If she asks, you'll help her kill too, right?" "She made no such request, my lord." "Not yet," Alex mumbled. "What if she did speak?" "As an employee, I am completely loyal to Miss Luo." Burton looked at Alex politely. "Would you like a paper, my lord? Coffee, or tea? For breakfast we have—" "You don't have to act like it's a normal occasion...or is it? Maybe you used to serve breakfast to men bound hand and foot to Lily's bed?" Burton considered this issue carefully, as if he didn't want to betray Lily's privacy. "You are the first, Lord Lei." He finally admitted. "What a damn honor!" Alex reached out and rubbed his aching head, exploring gently, a few inches above the ear was a little swollen. "I want headache medicine, at least she owes me that." "Yes, my lord." "Tell my coachman to bring the carriage over, unless you and Miss Luo also tie him to a post somewhere." "Yes, my lord." "Burton, how long have you been working for Miss Luo?" "Since her return to London, my lord." "Well, no matter how much your salary is, as long as you come to work for me, I can double it for you." "Thank you, Lord Lei, I can only decline respectfully." Alex stared at him curiously. "Why? From what I know of Lily, I don't think it's the most outrageous thing she's ever done to get you involved. You must be in hell." "I am afraid so, my lord." "Then why stay?" "Miss Luo is... not an ordinary woman." "Some people call her deviant," Alex said sarcastically. "What did she do to make you so loyal to her?" Burton's calm side seemed to fade away, and an expression almost pity appeared. "Miss Law is very sympathetic, my lord, without prejudice. She came to London two years ago, and I was in a difficult situation. The employer used to lose his temper and abuse the servants. Once drunk, he cut me with a razor killed me; another called me into his room, brandished a pistol in my face, and threatened to kill me." "Damn it!" Alex was surprised. "Why don't you change jobs? In your qualifications!" "I'm half Irish, my lord," said Burton quietly. "Most employers require high-level servants to belong to the Anglican sect, but I am not. In addition to my Irish blood, I am doomed to be unacceptable to the upper-class family as a servant leader. Ms. Luo heard that I was in a difficult situation and was in a dilemma. Willing to hire me at a high salary even though she knows I'm not asking for that much." "I see." Burton hesitated to speak. "Miss Luo decided that I needed to be saved, and she has been persevering since then. She has 'saved' many people, but no one seems to realize that she needs to be saved the most—" He stopped suddenly, clearing his throat. "I've said too much, my lord, please forgive me, maybe you want coffee now—" "What were you talking about? Does Lily need to be rescued? What is it? And who is it?" Burton looked at him blankly, as if he were speaking a foreign language. "Shall I send today's times with the headache medicine, lord lei?" Henry lay on the long table in the club kitchen, fascinatedly watching Mr. Barlow and a whole team of servants arrange the objects.The delicious dips and mysterious concoctions were bubbling in the pots on the stove; and a whole wall hung with shiny pots, woks, and models of what Mr. Barlow called must-haves. tool. The chef strides around the room in the posture of an army commanding palace, patrolling, waving any items in his hand, such as kitchen knives, spoons, etc. His powerful movements make the tall white hat tilt to one side.He yelled at the second chef because he made too thick a sauce for dipping fish, and at an assistant baker because his bread was too dark. But all of a sudden, his mood immediately changed, and he pushed a plate of delicacies that made his index finger move in front of Henry, watching him wolf down with a smile. "Little gentleman, you must try this one...and this one...it's amazing, isn't it?" "Delicious," Henry said cheerfully, his mouth full of pasta, fruit and lemon cream pie. "Can I have this yellow thing with the sauce again?" With paternal pride, the chef served him a second plate of sautéed beef short ribs with brandy cream, onion and mushroom gravy. "It was the first dish I learned as a child," he recalls. "This is better than what I ate in Thunderstorm Garden!" Henry said. Mr. Barrow has criticized the food of England, calling it stale rubbish worse than feeding dogs.But on the other hand, French food is to English food what cake is to stale bread. Henry nodded cleverly in agreement, and continued to feast. Until Henry was forced to put down the knife and fork, because his stomach was too full to hold it, Wus came to the kitchen door. "Mr. Henry," he said gravely. "Your brother is here. He's very—concerned about your safety, and I thought it best to take you to him at once." "Oh," Henry widened his eyes in displeasure, opened his mouth, hiccupped, sighed, and looked around the kitchen. Everyone looked at him sympathetically. "It's a long time before I come back here again," Henry said sentimentally. "It will take several years." Mr. Barlow looked sullen. "Mr. Ray has a bad temper, huh? Maybe we should treat him to Pagani chicken first... or Monbury salmon..." The chef looked down to consider other tantalizing dishes that would lighten the situation. "No," said Henry pitifully. "I don't think it will work. But thank you, sir, it's all worth my punishment, and I'd be willing to spend a month in the Tower of London for a bite of sponge cake with coffee sauce, or something green like a soufflé. " Evidently moved, Barlow squeezed Henry's shoulders, kissed him on both cheeks, and spoke in French. "—what a good boy!" "Come on, Henry." Wuss left with the boy, and before they walked into the hall, Wuss felt the need to speak. "Henry... I guess you know that a gentleman has to be careful, especially when discussing activities involving, er... the opposite sex." "Yes," Henry looked up at Wus with a blank face, frowning slightly. "Does this mean I should tell my brother about Mr. Ke's introduction to those girls last night?" "Unless...you feel there is a special reason why he should know?" Henry shook his head in agreement. "I can't think of any reason." However, Alex did not frown sullenly, which was quite surprising to Henry.In fact, Alex seemed to be standing quite leisurely in the hall, waving his hands in the pockets of his coat. His clothes were slightly wrinkled, and his face had a thick beard. Such a disheveled appearance was rare.Strangely, however, Alex looked much more relaxed, with a silver fire in his eyes, and an expression of indifference. Henry frowned, wondering what was wrong with him, why he didn't come to take him home last night, but only showed up this morning. "Alex," he said. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have slipped out without a word, but—" Alex took his shoulders and examined him carefully. "are you OK? " "Yes, last night I had a fantastic dinner, learned to pick red dots, and went to bed early." Alex was sure he was all right, and gave him a stern look. "We're going to talk about responsibility, Henry." The boy nodded silently, thinking that the journey home would be a long one. "My lord," Worcester put in. "On behalf of Mr. Ke and all the staff, I want to say that Brother Ling is an extremely polite boy. I have never seen Mr. Ke, and our capricious chef, be so fascinated and friendly to a person." "This is an art of flattery that Henry has learned since he was a child." Alex looked at his younger brother with a gentle smile on his face, and then turned to face Wuss. "Is Miss Luo there?" "No, my lord." Alex wondered if he was lying, that Lily might be in Kerak's bed right now, and a possessive jealousy stabbed into his heart. "So where can I find her?" "I think Miss Luo will come in a few days, my lord. She is not in the poker room, but at the big round table. She will definitely come to our weekend masquerade banquet." Wus raised his eyebrows and glanced at him through the lens . "Should I leave her a message, my lord?" "Yes, tell her to prepare for the next round." After saying this meaningful sentence, Alex bid farewell to Wuss and strode out of the club, Henry followed behind him. Alex walked into Thunder Wind Garden, and immediately noticed the quiet sense of alert in the air. At the same time, Henry also noticed an invisible sadness floating in the air, and he looked around the silent house wonderingly. "It feels like someone died!" Mrs. Dolly appeared sobbing, and walked down the spacious grand staircase with a look of frustration and panic on her face.She looked at Alex as if she suspected that he would suddenly rush to hurt her. "Sir-lord!" she cried tremblingly, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. "She's gone, my dear Penny is gone, don't blame the poor innocent child, it's all my fault, oh my god, oh my god...it's all my fault!" Depression and alarm flashed across Alex's face. "Mrs. Dolly..." He looked in his pocket for a handkerchief, then glanced at Henry, who shrugged helplessly. "Shall I bring her a glass of water?" Henry asked. "Tea," Dolly whimpered. "Strong tea with some creamer, a little sugar, just a little, thank you." Henry walked away calmly, and Dolly hiccupped while monologue. "Oh, what should I do... I think I'm a little crazy--crazy! How can I explain..." "There's no need to explain," Alex finally found a handkerchief and handed it to her, and patted her on the back, comforting her awkwardly. "I'm well aware of the situation—including Penny, Red, and the elopement. It's too late to blame, Mrs. Dolly. Stop blaming yourself." "By the time I saw the note and woke George up to run after it, they'd been gone for a long time." Dolly sniffed. "Still trying to find them, maybe there is still time..." "No, he tried to smile." "Pinny is too good for me, and I assure you, Sir Stone will be a better husband for her than me." " "I don't agree." Dolly said displeased. "Oh, Sir Ray, if only you had been home last night, I think your absence would have encouraged them to adopt this stupid and horrible behavior." Her eyes filled with tears, and she begged him for an explanation. "I—was inevitably held back." Alex rubbed his head pitifully. "It's all Nina's tricks," Dolly said irritably. He stared at her intently. "how could be? " "If she didn't come here, incite Pinny to think about..." Alex suddenly felt like laughing. "I'm sure the ideas were there," he said softly. "Leaving aside our emotions, Lady Dolly, we may perhaps admit that Penny and Ser Stone are an ideal couple." "But Red is no match for you!" Dolly blurted out impatiently, wiping her eyes with her hand. "Now...you are no longer our son-in-law!" "Obviously not." "Oh, my God!" Dolly was very upset. "I really hope... I have a third daughter to marry you!" Alex looked at her blankly, then started making a strange noise.Doli was deeply afraid that he was so angry that he had a cerebral hemorrhage, so she looked at him in panic.I saw him sitting bent on the steps, holding his head with his hands, his whole body was trembling, and he was gasping for breath. Only then did she gradually understand that he was laughing, laughing!Her jaw snapped shut and her mouth formed an O shape. "My lord?" "My God!" Alex almost fell down. "A third, no! Two is enough. My God! Lily alone is worth ten!" Dolly stared at him alertly, obviously wondering if the turn of events had caused him to be out of his mind. "Lord Ray," she said weakly. "I don't think anyone blames you... you forgot etiquette, however, I think... I'm going to have tea in the drawing room... let—give you a little privacy." She hurried away. "Thank you." Alex said reluctantly, struggling to control himself, and took several deep breaths.Still smiling broadly, he wondered if there was something wrong with him.Oh, of course not, he felt so light inside, and there was an indescribable elation, which made him a little restless, as if a schoolboy was looking forward to the coming of the holiday, and this feeling urged him to act immediately. He has thrown off the shackles of Penny, which is not only a sigh of relief, but also a kind of liberation and freedom. He didn't think that this marriage contract is such a heavy burden, a heavy pressure is on his shoulders, more and more every day. The weight was getting heavier, and now the burden was gone, he was free, and at the same time Penny was happy, perhaps in the arms of the man she loved so much.But on the other hand, Lily was completely unaware of what she had provoked.Alex was full of anticipation. He and Lily hadn't finished yet—oh, it hadn't even started yet. "Alex?" Henry stood in front of him, staring at him carefully. "The maid will bring tea shortly." "Mrs. Dolly is in the hall." "Alex, why are you sitting on the steps? Why do you look... so happy? If you weren't home last night, where were you?" "As far as I can remember, you're interviewing two governess applicants this afternoon, and now you can go take a shower, Henry, and change at the same time." He narrowed his eyes warningly. "And I'm not happy, I'm thinking about how to deal with Miss Luo." "The older one?" "Of course it's the big one." "What do you want to do?" Henry asked. "You're not old enough to know." "Don't be so sure!" Henry said, blinking his eyes, and hurried up the stairs before Alex had time to react. Alex cursed under his breath, then grinned. He shook his head. "Luo Lili," he murmured softly. "One thing's for sure—you and I will be too busy then for you to spend the night in Mr. Ke's bed."