Chapter 433 Confession in the Fever
Chapter 433 Confession in the Fever
Lily remembered she had just seen James the day before.
At the time, he had still been every inch the tall, handsome, impossibly refined man–how could he have. wasted away overnight?
Ashton, the sly little fox, was clearly exaggerating. He could see perfectly well that Mr. James had already fallen hopelessly for Ms. Lily, so of course he was going to make him sound as pitiful as possible to <b>tug </b><b>at </b>her heart.
He even dabbed dramatically at the corner of his eye. “Just before I came out, Mr. James was <b>still </b>calling your name, Ms. Lily. His voice ispletely hoarse…”
“A man nearly six foot three, skin and bones now, and he just keeps crying… it’s pitiful.”
Lily: “…”
Skin and bones–she doubted that.
James crying? She doubted that even more.
Still, knowing he was burning with fever and refusing treatment left her deeply uneasy.
As soon as Ashton’s car rolled to a stop in front of the main house, she didn’t waste a second and rushed for the master bedroom.
“Lily…”
The moment she pushed open the slightly ajar door, she heard James’s low, painced murmur: “Lily…” “Mr. James, if you don’t want an injection, at least take the medicine. Your fever won’t break without it-” Several doctors stood at his bedside, speaking in urgent, worried tones.
But before they could finish, he cut them off with stubborn resistance. “I don’t want medicine. I want to find Lily…”
“Mr. James-”
The doctors were beside themselves, trying again to reason with him.
Ashton slipped in behind Lily, pointed subtly at the bottle of medicine on the nightstand, then ushered the doctors out.
He even shut the door tightly behind them.
“Lily…”
James’s face was flushed from the fever, his eyes still closed as he whispered name again.
She touched his forehead.
Chapter 433 Confession in the Fever
<b><i>Scalding</i></b>.
Fear tightened in her chest: “James, your fever’s really high. Will you please just take the medicine?
“Lily?”
Hearing her voice, he slowly opened his eyes.
But the fever had muddled his mind, and even awake, he didn’t seem to know if this was a dream or reality.
Gazing at the face he loved to the marrow yet that tore at his heart, he spoke like he had in countless dreams, a raw note of usation in his voice. “You are Lily<i>—</i>so why won’t you admit it to me<i>?</i>”
“What?”
Lily hadn’t expected him to have already figured out she was Le. The shock left <i>her </i>speechless.
Before she could gather her wits, he went on. “I know you’re Le. That night I sent Lily messages, your phone kept going off. Lily, why did you lie to me, say you were a man? Why, when we met, did you tell me you’d marry a wife and have children? Why… why can’t you like me?”
“I…”
It dawned on her–he must have heard her phone that night she’d left it in his room.
He must have sent all those messages to confirm whether she was Le.
She had never imagined he’d look at her now, eyes reddened, and ask why she couldn’t like him.
She didn’t know how to answer. “James, your forehead is burning. Please, just drink the medicine first-
“Lily, why can’t you like me?”
He seemed deaf to anything but his question, repeating it over and over, with no intention of taking the medicine.
His voice was soft, almost drifting in from some far–off ce–yet itnded heavy as iron.
Every word was like a hammer to her heart, leaving her aching, breathless with pain.
“Why can’t you like me? Lily, will you look at me? Lily…”
He swayed, trying to pull her into his arms.
This time, she didn’t dodge or force herself to stay cold. She wrapped her arms around him first.
Her voice trembled. “You were forced into that marriage. Back then, you hated it so much you even made me sign an agreement to split up.
I thought you couldn’t stand me. I was afraid if you knew I was Le, you’d hate her too, so when I learned you were Elias, I didn’t dare tell you. Later, when I met you disguised as a man, I thought you could only ept men, so I tried to draw a line. I… I don’t like men…”
<b>2/3 </b>
Chapter 433 Confession in the Fever
<b>James </b>held her as if he could fuse her into his very bones, afraid she would vanish <b>like </b><b>mist </b><b>even </b><b>in </b><b>a </b>
dream.
<b>“</b><b>I </b>said I could only ept men because I thought Le was à man. Before I knew you were <b>Le</b>, I <b>kept </b><b>my </b>distance because I hated myself–hated that I couldn’t control my feelings. My heart was only for Le, yet I couldn’t stop wanting you.
Every time I saw you, I wanted to hold you, to kiss you…. I hated my own weakness, hated feeling like <b>I </b><b>was </b>betraying someone, hated that with only one heart, I somehow ended up with two people inside it.