My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 181

David would pretend to work, but every few minutes he checked the screen, unlocking it, staring at it, and then locking it again. When other calls came through, he answered with his usual cold professionalism, but his gaze always lingered afterward, as if waiting for one specific name to appear again.

By afternoon, Roy was starting to feel helpless. He had never seen his boss like this impatient, irritated, and yet silent about it.

Evening came. The light in David’s office dimmed as the sun began to set. Roy finally gathered the courage to knock on the door and stepped in.

“Boss,” he said softly. “Miss Collins called me.”

David looked up, his face unreadable but his eyes sharp. “She didn’t call me but called you?” he said in a low voice, full of cold mockery.

Roy hesitated. “Yes, sir. She said she couldn’t reach you.”

David leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. His lips curved into a faint, humorless smile. Lily, you really know how to test my patience.

“Tell her,” he said slowly, “that she can move back on her own. And if she uses divorce to threaten me again, I’ll make sure she gets it, whether she wants it or not.”

Roy swallowed, unsure if he should say what came next. He hesitated for a few seconds, then finally said it. “She said… she agrees to your terms.”

David’s hand froze midair. “What?”

Roy cleared his throat, speaking carefully. “She said she agrees to pay the thirty million and wants you to make time to handle the formalities at the Civil Affairs Bureau.”

David blinked, his expression unreadable for a moment. “…She agreed?”

“Yes, sir,” Roy replied. He didn’t dare mention the rest, Lily’s actual words were much harsher. Something about David being like an itch that wouldn’t go away, annoying and impossible to ignore. Roy didn’t have the courage to repeat that part.

David sat silently for a long time, staring at the phone on his desk.

Roy waited. “Boss… should I reply to her?”

David didn’t answer immediately. Then suddenly, he stood up, pulling his phone out and dialing. The movement was so abrupt that Roy flinched a little.

Since she had called him earlier, she must have unblocked his number and as expected, the call went through immediately.

After a few rings, Lily picked up.

“You’ve agreed to the condition?” His voice was cold, low, and emotionless.

“Mm,” Lily replied faintly.

She was sitting in her hotel room, legs crossed on the chair, a tablet in front of her showing sketches of new jewelry designs. She held a cup of coffee in her left hand, her right was still in a plaster, but she could manage fine with her left. No one knew she was left-handed enough to work.

She thought for a long time, then grabbed her phone again. Her fingers moved fast as she typed.

“I’ll pay you the thirty million. But as for the investment in my father’s company, that’s between you and him. I have nothing to do with his family anymore.”

She hit send and dropped the phone beside her.

She leaned back in the chair, eyes burning from frustration. The truth was, she didn’t even have that kind of money, not yet. But she would find a way. She’d work day and night if she had to. Anything to be free from him.

Why should she be responsible for a man who never once treated her like his daughter? Her father had abandoned her. She owed him nothing and she certainly wouldn’t let David drag her down because of him.

The phone buzzed again, a new message notification flashing. She ignored it.

Her chest ached, her head heavy. She glanced out the hotel window at the city lights that stretched endlessly into the night. Somewhere out there, David was probably smirking at his desk, thinking she’d never be able to do it.

“Just wait,” she whispered to herself. “I’ll show you.”

But deep inside, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. Thirty million wasn’t something she could earn in a year or even two. And David, he wasn’t the type to let things go quietly.

Still, she refused to back down. She’d rather struggle on her own than let him control her one more time.