Originally, Maxwell wanted to see Lily wake up in his arms, but due to an unavoidable business trip, he quietly left without saying a word to her. Now he was at the airport, having called several times only to find Lily's phone was off. It suddenly occurred to him that her phone had broken the night before. Without delay, he called his secretary Simon to urgently buy a new phone, set his number on it, and bring it to Lily. However, she was sulking and refused to answer his calls. When she heard Maxwell wanted to talk about what happened the previous night, Lily wished it were just a beautiful dream. In anger, she snatched the phone from Emily's hand and immediately hung up, then turned off her own phone, fearing that Maxwell would call back.
Emily glanced at Lily, "You're being unreasonable!"
Lily took Emily's phone and called the courier company to arrange for a pickup of items that needed to be sent. She wrote down Maxwell's apartment address and asked the courier to return the gift. Seeing Lily's decisive action, Emily asked with concern, "Are you really determined to cut ties with him?"
But when she heard the words "cut ties," Lily couldn't help but have mixed feelings; her heart seemed to ache.
In fact, Emily genuinely hoped that the relationship between Lily and Maxwell would lead to a happy ending so that Liam could have a complete family, but seeing Lily's reaction, she thought their relationship was far from resolution.
Emily looked at Lily seriously and said, "Lily, even though Maxwell is one of the wealthy heirs in a prominent family, aside from you and Zelda, I’ve never seen him involved in any shady relationships or rumors about women. His relationship with Zelda was also due to his mother's wishes. But with you, it’s different... Lily, after all, you and he have been intimate, and he knows about your son. He doesn’t harbor any dissatisfaction in this relationship, which shows he likes you, and perhaps he even loves you but hasn’t said it yet. So why don’t you try getting to know him better?"
"Try? How do we try?" Lily sat on the sofa, wrapping her arms around Emily's shoulders. "I know you mean well for me and the baby, but Emily, the Thornton family is not just any wealthy family; people raised in affluent households think differently than we do. Even if my relationship with Maxwell isn't opposed by his family, I still have a son—an illegitimate child without a father will always be judged, even if it’s just through their eyes. Don’t you know I would never let my child be looked down upon or ridiculed? My son is my entire life; I could live well without him, but without my baby, I would perish."
Lily's words pierced Emily’s heart. She knew well that Lily would not abandon the child in her womb even if she were cast out from home, despite not knowing who the father was. Lily had endured a lot, almost losing her life from severe bleeding during childbirth, all to keep the child. So there was no reason for her to abandon her son for a man. Emily had witnessed how hard Lily had worked to raise the child from birth until he was six years old.
Lily articulated her thoughts clearly; even if a wealthy family like the Thorntons could accept her background and past, they would never accept a child with an unclear lineage like Liam. Meanwhile, Maxwell was an exemplary individual, a source of pride for the Thorntons, whose father was a member of the political committee. Therefore, when Lily expressed her feelings, Emily finally fell silent but not without reminding Lily.
"Then you can’t just stay alone for the rest of your life because of the baby! After all, you’ve found someone your son seems to like. Lily, you can’t be so hard on yourself. If not, let me introduce you to someone else, okay?"
"Really, that’s not necessary." Lily smiled, crossing her arms as she looked at Emily.
Emily patted her chest, "Don't worry; I can take care of this!"
Emily turned to head out the door, just as Liam emerged from the bathroom. He walked over to Lily and sat down beside her, looking at her with his large, innocent eyes, and suddenly asked, "Mom, am I a burden to you? Is it because of me that you can't have a perfect family?"
In that moment, it felt as if a sharp needle had pierced Lily's heart. She looked down at her thoughtful son, feeling indescribable pain. She shook her head, intending to say no. But this child, having been born so intelligent, was increasingly aware of his surroundings. Despite his young age, he understood situations quite clearly. If her words were a lie, it wouldn’t necessarily deceive him. Thus, Lily chose to speak the truth, pulling her son into her embrace as tears streamed down her face.
"Yes, you are a burden. But you are a burden that I willingly brought into this world, and you are the one I care for the most and love the most. No matter where I go, I will always take my burden with me. You are my one and only burden."
The child, unable to see his mother's face, didn’t know she was crying. He smiled and asked her, "So why did you break up with Mr. Thornton? Is it because Mr. Thornton doesn't like Liam? He doesn’t like having another burden?"
"No, that’s not it. It’s because I don’t like Mr. Thornton, and he doesn’t like me." Perhaps this was the most reasonable explanation to give to a child, and in Lily’s heart, she had been haunted by this notion too much, so she felt it was the most logical reason.
Liam sighed, a bit disappointed. "Actually, I really like Mr. Thornton..."
Lily wiped her eyes and smiled, "Then do you still like your mom? If you don’t understand and don’t like me anymore, I would be very sad."
Liam shook his little head and waved his hand, "I don’t just like you; I love you very much! I know that unrequited love doesn’t end well."
Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise at her son's words. "Unrequited love doesn’t end well?" Such profound words from a child! He must have learned them from somewhere, probably from Emily?
In the afternoon, Lily had intended to take her phone for repair, but the repair shop quoted such a high price that it was nearly the cost of a new phone. Having used this phone for many years, she was attached to it. Though she didn’t want to throw it away, she ultimately had to toss it into the trash. It turned out that if the old doesn’t leave, the new won’t come! Humans should be the same; if one doesn’t let go of the old, one can’t welcome the new!
She bought a new phone, inserted the SIM card, and contemplated. The courier must have delivered the package to Maxwell's house by now. She thought she should at least call him to let him know she had a phone and didn’t need his. But after staring at the phone for a moment, she hung up again and decided not to call. She thought that when he received the package, he would call her, but she waited all day and still hadn’t heard from him.
The next day, when Lily returned to work, she still hadn’t received a call from him.
Emily looked at Lily and said, "I heard the surgical department is looking for an assistant doctor. The quota has been set, and the results will be announced in the afternoon. Dr. Bennett, you’ve been quite forgetful, haven’t you? How could you not know about this? Are you waiting for a call?"
Lily snapped back to reality at Emily's call, placing her phone aside and smiling, shaking her head, "No, it’s not that; what did you just say?"
Emily shook her head, "It’s nothing. It’s lunchtime; let’s go eat!"
As they walked to the canteen, Lily had always assumed that William, the head of the surgical department, wouldn’t eat there, since it had been a while since she last saw him. But when she looked up, she saw him walking towards her, his gaze locked on hers. Lily couldn’t pretend not to see him; she smiled and nodded. In fact, she still owed him a thank you.
At that moment, William approached with his tray of food and looked toward the empty seat next to Lily.
"May I sit here?"
Lily smiled and nodded immediately, "Please, feel free."
"Calling me that makes it sound too distant," William said as he sat down across from Lily.
She thought for a moment and called out, “Mr. Edsel.”
“…” William decided to ignore it; it didn’t matter how she addressed him.
Lily noticed the bandage still wrapped around William's arm, and a look of guilt crossed her face as she asked him, “When can you have the stitches removed?”
“Tomorrow,” William replied. “That day I called you, my phone suddenly ran out of battery, and then I didn’t have time to call you back to check on you. You were hurt that day too, are you alright?”
So he still cared about her. Thinking of this made Lily feel even more guilty.
“I’m fine. Whenever you have time, Mr. Edsel, let’s go out to eat together, okay?”
William smiled, “I’m glad to know you’re okay. I’ll call you when I’m free, but the Thornton Chairman! Your relationship with him…”
“It’s always just patient and doctor, nothing more,” Lily quickly interrupted before William could finish.
William chuckled and nodded, “I think the Thornton Chairman has special feelings for you; I thought you were his girlfriend!”
Lily hurriedly waved her hands, “No, no, no! I’m just an ordinary urologist; how could I be the girlfriend of the chairman of the Thornton Corporation? Mr. Edsel, you really know how to joke! Hahaha…”
William, “…”
Seeing the stiff expression on William's face, Lily realized she had probably spoken too bluntly. Ideally, it was best to let such matters pass without trying to explain or joke about it inappropriately. Therefore, the smile on Lily's lips felt quite embarrassing; she lowered her head and scooped some food into her mouth with a spoon, trying to ease the awkwardness of her casual remarks.
Little did she expect, William sitting across from her opened his mouth, half-jokingly and half-seriously, “If that’s the case, then I have a better chance.”
As he spoke, he looked at Lily with a mouthful of food, and she lifted her head to gaze at him with a look of ‘I don’t understand what you mean.’
At this moment, the smile on William's bright eyes and his white teeth spread naturally, his sweet words spilling forth, “Doctor Bennett, I’m going to pursue you.”
“Pfft…” Lily spat out the food in her mouth right onto the face of the person sitting across from her who had just confessed.