From Now On You Live Here
A Maybach stopped in front of a house in the South Lake Villa District.
James Lu parked the car and got out first. It only took a few long strides for him to arrive in front of the door.
Elizabeth Liang dragged her suitcase and quickly followed.
"Wear these for now." James found a pair of brand new men's slippers from the shoe cabinet, handed them to her, and turned to enter the living room.
"Oh." She changed her shoes, followed him to the sofa, and saw him lying on it with his eyes closed. She didn't want to disturb him, but she was a little nervous because of the unfamiliar environment. "Mr. Lu... this is..."
He opened his eyes and said, "My home. From now on, you will live here."
She nodded and looked around the house. The interior design was modern and minimalistic, simple yet stately, which suits him well.
"Right now I only have a part-timer. I will hire an attentive domestic in a few days. So, you'll just have to make do for now. Are there any problems?"
He was asking her, but he spoke with such a superior tone that it felt like he had already decided everything, and others had no choice but to obey.
Elizabeth shook her head.
"The second room to the left of the stairs is a guest room, the room you'll be staying in. If you have no other questions, you can go up and rest, I want to relax on my own. Okay?"
"Okay."
Elizabeth dragged her suitcase upstairs. As she reached the turn, she looked back at him. He sat on the sofa with a cigarette in his hand. Thick smoke surrounded him, adding some melancholy to his air.
James's house was well decorated with a very nice layout. Elizabeth's room was sunny, bright, and had its own bathroom.
Elizabeth took out a set of loungewear from her suitcase, did a quick washup in the bathroom, and laid down on the bed. Last night was crazy, and today had completely exhausted her. Right now, she just wanted to have a good night's sleep.
******
Two hours passed. Maybe it's because she was in an unfamiliar environment, Elizabeth tossed and turned and just couldn't fall asleep. Her throat was parched.
She didn't want to go downstairs. To be honest, she didn't want to face the man downstairs.
She took out her cellphone. There were two messages in her WeChat from Evelyn Wu, a good friend of hers from school. Evelyn asked Elizabeth why she didn't go to class. She replied to the messages, but didn't mention anything about the past two days.
After replying, she opened her microblog and saw that the leading actress for the trending new drama series "Flowers On the Path" was finally confirmed. It was Josephine Liang, the woman who kicked her out today.
Josephine was quite pretty, in a showy way. She began her actress career before she graduated from university, but she hadn't gained much attention for years, and only played a couple of supporting roles.
The fact that she was suddenly chosen to play the heroine of such a popular show almost certainly had something to do with the Liang enterprise. It made sense that once August Liang took hold of the equity that should have belonged to Elizabeth, he would use his new-found wealth to help build his daughter's career.
Elizabeth grinned mockingly, her eyes were dim.
When would she ever take the Liang Company and the Liang estate back?
More time passed, and her thirst became unbearable. She left the bed and walked to the door, carefully listening for movement outside. It was quiet the whole time she was listening.
Did he leave?
Feeling relieved, she twisted the doorknob and went downstairs.
There was no one on the sofa, and the ashtray on the coffee table was filled with cigarette butts.
Wouldn't he feel terrible from smoking so much?
Elizabeth shook her head and decided not to think about it. She headed to the kitchen to find some water.
As soon as she lifted her foot, she heard a loud bang coming from the window-side room.
She stopped and looked over. The door was closed so she couldn't see what was going on inside.
Then, there was a series of noises from glass shattering on the floor.
"Who is it?"