What Separates Me and You
Chapter 93

Chapter 93 Total Control

Lewis moved quietly but noticeably enough to shock the two.

Upon seeing him rush in, Josephine's eyelashes trembled. She had dreamed of his face countless days and nights, so his sudden arrival left her breathless. Deep down, she was happy with dying young because she wouldn't have to suffer for long.

Meanwhile, the doctor's back hunched slightly. He didn't know whether Lewis had heard what he had told Josephine. Nevertheless, he shot to his feet, shuffling them while saying, "M-Mr. Alvarez."

Lewis strolled over, his demeanor still frosty as he sat beside Josephine. "How is she?"

"Her fever has subsided. She should be okay if her body temperature doesn't rise again tonight."

Lewis nodded. "You may leave for now."

Heaving a deep sigh of relief, the doctor rushed out, leaving Lewis and Josephine in the room.

Silence engulfed the space as Josephine stared at the man. Her chest felt heavy, as though a boulder had crushed her heart. Opposite her, Lewis lowered his head, gazing at her while reaching out to touch her forehead. Before he could, Josephine turned to the side.

That didn't deter Lewis, who rested his cold palm on her forehead. He called out in a low voice, "Josie."

Lips pursing tautly, Josephine froze but didn't meet his eyes.

Even so, Lewis held her chin and forced her to look at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like how I did last night. Please don't be mad."

Josephine bit her lips while drilling her gaze into his eyes. She took in his gentle expression, replaceing it akin to how he used to look at her. However, she knew it wasn't the same. He was merely putting on a show, and it wouldn't be long before he would revert to his cold, vicious. nature. She secretly sighed, thinking, "He's only doing this to lure me, his little plaything that's about to escape, back to his side." Suddenly, Lewis' hands dug into the blanket and held hers, his voice low as he coaxed, "I don't care about what you did to him these past three days. I promise not to ask about it again. However, I swear to pay him back in kind for everything he did to you. How's that?"

Still, Josephine pursed her lips. Her gaze was grim while she tried to gauge if Lewis was up to something. Alas, Lewis' intentions remained unreadable from his reticent expression. Lewis held Josephine's hand, leaned closer, and caressed her cheek with his other hand. Come now. Please don't be angry at me, hmm?"

Josephine could never resist when he showed this gentle side to her. It was easy for him to win her over. All it took was a few honeyed words to make her wag her tail at him like some lovesick puppy. Lewis had total control because he often fooled her into thinking he loved her.

Meeting his deep stares, Josephine broke down in tears, her accumulated grief and resentment flooding her mind. She immediately signed, "Why didn't you come to rescue me?"

All at once, Lewis fell silent.

That made Josephine stop signing. She no longer needed to ask anything more. The former's silence was enough to answer her question. Disappointment creeping into her eyes, she lowered her hands and succumbed to the weight in her heart.

On the other hand, Lewis gripped her hand tightly, sighed, then said, "Sorry."

"Sorry...? What a cruel joke. Does he think one word is enough to make all my pain vanish? It's as if I should accept his apology, or I'll be considered a petty brat!" With that thought, she pulled away from his grip and gestured, "I'm tired."

Her action immediately sent Lewis into another bout of silence.

Complicated emotions unfurled in his dark gaze before he finally replied, "Have something to eat before resting."

Josephine shook her head and buried herself under her blanket.

Yet, she didn't realize Lewis wasn't negotiating with her. He left the room for roughly 20 minutes, then returned with a bowl of oatmeal porridge. Setting that aside, he pried Josephine out of her blanket and instructed, "Get up. It's time to eat."

Josephine still shook her head.

Despite that, Lewis grabbed her arm and forced her to sit before bringing a spoonful of porridge to her tightly shut mouth. "Behave and open up now."

Josephine turned the other way with a huff.

"Josephine!" Lewis thundered, his voice abruptly taking on a tone of malice. "Since you don't like this oatmeal porridge, I suppose there's no need to keep that chef around here anymore."

Hearing those words stunned Josephine. She whipped her head around in utter shock, only to meet Lewis' stern glare. It terrified her so much that her eyes narrowed, which wasn't what she would have done in the past. Back then, her naive self often assumed Lewis was only scaring her and wouldn't do anything to her. However, after the incident with Avery, she not longer took Lewis' threats lightly. "Are you eating or not?" Lewis asked one last time.

Josephine lowered her head in silence for two seconds before turning to eat the spoonful of porridge.

Only then did Lewis' frown soften. The corners of his lips became upturned as he patiently fed Josephine.

Spoon by spoon, she ate the porridge until there was nothing left. Then, Lewis allowed her to lie down and nap. Yet, she couldn't sleep even though Lewis' back faced her. She watched his reflection from the window that had gotten dotted with raindrops.

The sky outside was grey and foggy. Contrarily, the bedroom lights were bright, which made Lewis' reflection all the more obvious. Josephine saw him sitting next to her and gazing down at her from time to time. Eventually, Josephine shut her eyes, pretending to sleep since she didn't want to face him.

It didn't take long before Lewis left her room. She waited until the door clicked shut to drop the act, opening her eyes and dwelling in her thoughts.

In the following days, Lewis would visit her three times a day to ensure she ate her meals and medication. That continued until her health mostly recovered. Once that happened, his visits. lessened. Even while doing all that, he still went to work at the office as usual.

One day, he ran into Seth outside the elevator. The latter smiled and greeted him, "Hey, Lewis. Did you get your pet back?"

"Since when have you been interested in others' pets?" replied Lewis, who put his hands in his pockets while raising his lips into a smirk.

Anyone could tell the former was sarcastic, but Seth pretended not to know. "Me? I'm not interested in that. I was merely worried about you. You've been working hard enough daily, yet you still have to allocate time and energy to caring for your pet. I fear you might crumble under the weight of all those burdens."

"Is that so?" Lewis chuckled. "I suppose I should thank you for worrying, then."

"No need. It's only natural that I look out for you."

Lewis replied, "You should take care of your health too. I hope you haven't overexerted yourself with those recent development projects."

Seth felt slightly taken aback, his arrogant grin faltering for two seconds before he pulled himself together. "I'm okay-not particularly busy."

"That's good to hear. I'm glad you're here to keep things in check. I'll be off now."

"Thanks for trusting me." Seth nodded.

Lewis still smiled but didn't say another word. Then, he and the former entered the elevator and went upstairs without engaging in conversation anymore. After Lewis stepped into his office, Sophia knocked on his door, entered, and said, "President

3/4

Alvarez, Josephine hasn't shown up for work for half a month. It's strange; Conrad didn't know why, even though he brought her into our company."

Lewis flipped through a document on his desk without looking up or acknowledging Sophia. Update her status as being on a leave of absence in the employee log." Sophia tensed but nodded nonetheless. "Uh-yes, of course. How long will she be gone?"

"A month."

"That long? I'm afraid it doesn't work with our company's rules. Not to mention, she's new here; the others will surely have negative opinions toward her."