Chapter 7 Mr John, You’ll Regret Losing Lily


    “Don’t cry, Elsa.”


    Elsa tilted her chin in her usual prideful way, but her tears welled at the corners of her eyes, like cracks forming in delicate crystal. It made her look fragile–something that stirred a man’s instinct to protect.


    Seeing her like that made John feel deeply unsettled. He couldn’t bear to let her down.


    He gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and softly coaxed her. “I’ll call Daniel right now.”


    Daniel picked up almost immediately.


    He assumed John was calling about Lily getting cast as Siren–probably to remind him to take care of her. Before John could speak, Daniel chuckled.


    “John, you’ve been hiding a treasure. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”


    “You don’t need to worry–your-”


    Your Lily is so talented, I’ll absolutely take good care of her.


    But before he could finish, John interrupted him tly.


    “Elsa wants to voice Siren.”


    “…What?”


    Daniel was caughtpletely off guard.


    Once he gathered his wits, he said quickly, “The role has already been cast. Lily’s our Siren.”


    “Her tone, her delivery–she fits the character perfectly. There’s no way I can rece her.”


    <i>Lily</i>…


    Hearing her name, John couldn’t help but picture her crumpled on the private room floor the night before, blood trickling down her temple.


    He didn’t know if her wound still hurt.


    And the look in her eyes–that deep, unspoken disappointment and heartbreak–twisted something in his chest.


    But then he thought about how he had the rest of his life to spend with Lily… and how Elsa might not have much time left.


    So his voice stayed cold.


    “Give the role to Elsa.”


    John, you


    Daniel tried to object, but John cut him off again.


    “I’ll increase the investment by 100 million.”


    Daniel fell silent.


    He had heard Elsa’s audition samples.


    She was good–very good. But her voice and delivery were both just a notch below Lily’s.


    He didn’t want to settle for less.


    But animated films were expensive. And a hundred million was too big to turn down.


    “…Fine. We’ll use Elsa.”


    Daniel didn’t like meddling in personal affairs, but Lily’s audition had left an impression.


    He valued talent, and couldn’t help but say more than he usually would.


    “John, I finalized the deal with Lily this morning. Now you’re recing her with Elsa–have you thought about how she’ll feel? She is your girlfriend, after all. Honestly, this isn’t fair to her.”


    John didn’t reply right away.


    He knew Lily had once been deeply passionate about voice acting.


    He remembered her watching <i>Nirvana </i>and excitedly telling him Siren was beautiful and powerful. She’d even said once, <i>If </i><i>I </i><i>ever </i><i>get </i><i>to </i><i>voice </i><i>Siren</i>, I’ll die <i>happy</i><i>. </i>


    And now, that dream was right in her grasp.


    He imagined how heartbroken she’d be after getting reced… maybe even crying.


    His chest tightened painfully.


    But he still refused to waver.


    “This is Elsa’s final wish.”


    After a long pause, his voice was low and firm. “I don’t want her to leave with regrets.”


    “Lily is only twenty–two. She’ll have more opportunities. But if Elsa misses this one, it’ll nevere again.”


    On the other end, Daniel’s frown deepened.


    He couldn’t agree with John’s decision.


    “John, you’re taking a role that belongs to Lily and giving it to Elsa.”


    <b>Aren’t </b><b>you </b>afraid Lily will resent you?”


    <b>“</b><b>Aren’t </b>you afraid this will scar her heart forever?”


    “<b>If </b>someone’s heart goes cold, there’s no warming it back up. John–aren’t you afraid Lily might leave you one day?”


    Lily… leave him?


    The thought made John’s chest seize again–unbearably tight and ufortable.


    He instinctively rejected the idea.


    Daniel kept talking, but John cut him off sharply.


    “Lily won’t leave me. She has no family, no friends. I’m all she has. Why would she leave me?”


    Daniel’s words were hard to swallow.


    Without another word, John hung up.


    On the other end of the call, Daniel stared at his darkened screen and sighed heavily.


    People in their circle always said Lily was blindly loyal to John–more loyal than a dog—and would never leave him.


    But feelings change. Nothing in this worldsts forever.


    Daniel had a feeling… one day, John would regret this.


    Daniel’s assistant called Lily into the conference room to sign the contract.


    She’d just finished lunch. There was still some time before the meeting, so she sat in the hallway scrolling through her phone to pass the time.


    Suddenly, she saw Elsa’stest Facebook post–visible only to her.


    “If I want something, it always ends up in my hands. Hello, Siren.”


    The attached image showed two hands intertwined, along with an image of Siren.


    Lily recognized the woman’s hand–it was Elsa’s. She was wearing the custom diamond ring John had once given to Lily.


    And the man’s hand was unmistakably John’s–slim, well–defined, with the matching band on his ring finger.


    She and John had already broken up. Whatever affection he now unted with Elsa had nothing to do with


    her.


    But Elsa’s post paired with Siren’s image… clearly meant she’d be voicing Siren.


    But Mr. Daniel had already confirmed Lily for the role. So why would Elsa post something like that?


    “Ms. Lily, I’m sorry.”


    Lily was still puzzled when Daniel’s assistant came up to her, looking incredibly awkward.


    “I just got notice–we can’t move forward with your contract.”


    “The role of Siren has been reassigned. It’s a decisión from higher up.”


    And by higher up, he obviously meant John.


    “…It’s okay.”


    Lily knew none of this was the assistant’s fault.


    She tried to smile politely, but the pain, frustration, and helplessness in her heart made it impossible.


    The assistant could see how devastated she was.


    He’d also heard the role was taken from her by… her own boyfriend.


    What kind of man would help someone else over his own girlfriend?


    “I’ll be leaving now, Neil. Maybe we’ll work together some other time.”


    Lily’s eyes burned. She didn’t want to loseposure in front of the assistant, so she turned and headed toward the elevator.


    As fate would have it, the moment she reached the lobby-


    She ran into John and Elsa.


    Elsa clung to John’s arm, all sweetness and charm. “John, thank you for letting me voice Siren. You’re so good to me. I’ll be good to you too.”


    “Mm,” John answered lightly, his eyes unreadable.


    Clearly, he was here to apany Elsa for her contract signing.


    Elsa leaned closer against him.


    As he instinctively reached for her hand-


    He looked up-


    And saw Lily step out of the elevator.