Chapter 257

After dinner ended, Liam Sullivan took Vivian Bennett and left.

The car interior was utterly silent.

Vivian turned her head to look out the window, remaining completely quiet.

Liam's long fingers gripped the steering wheel. He glanced sideways at her tense profile.

He spoke in a low voice. "Are you angry?"

Vivian pressed her lips together tightly, still refusing to acknowledge him.

Liam's gaze darkened. He suddenly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

He turned on the interior light. A soft, yellow glow enveloped them both.

His intense eyes locked onto her. "Really angry?"

Vivian finally turned to face him, glaring. "Liam Sullivan, do you have any idea how awkward it was for me? You suddenly taking me to meet your friends like that?"

Liam's expression turned serious. "I know throwing you into my circle so abruptly was sudden. They might be strangers to you, but you aren't to them. I brought you to meet them because I want you to gradually get used to my life. Not keep running from it."

His gaze was burning. "At the company, in public, I respect your wishes. I don't force you to go public. But within my own circle, I don't want to hide anymore. Do you really want us to have a secret affair forever? Never see the light of day?"

Vivian was left speechless.

She truly... wasn't ready.

Just the thought of facing his friends filled her with immense pressure.

Liam frowned at her evasive eyes. "You've never even considered making our relationship public?"

Vivian's heart skipped a beat.

In the dim light, his sharply defined features looked exceptionally stern.

She mumbled softly, "I just don't want to right now..."

"Then when do you want to?" Liam pressed, step by step.

Vivian's mind went blank. She stammered, "Can we... just never make it public..."

Liam's face instantly darkened. His voice turned cold as ice. "Vivian Bennett, you've never actually thought about a future with me, have you?"

"That's not true..." Vivian denied instinctively.

But a voice deep inside whispered: Yes.

She lowered her eyelids, her voice trembling slightly. "Liam, there's so much I can't figure out right now. Especially with you... I've never dared to imagine we could have a future."

She didn't dare to hope.

They were simply from two different worlds.

Even if they were together now, it couldn't last.

Liam's handsome face grew colder by the second, as if covered by a layer of frost.

"You never think about forever, yet you sleep peacefully in my arms? You never consider a future, yet you actively respond every time I kiss you?"

Vivian's cheeks instantly burned.

His blunt words made her feel both ashamed and flustered.

She felt a surge of irritation. "If I showed no reaction to your affection, you'd probably think something was wrong with me! But what does that prove? People who kiss aren't necessarily in love. One-night stands wake up as strangers. I don't deny you're exceptional, captivating... but there's an uncrossable chasm between us. Eventually, you'll grow tired of me..."

A cold smile touched Liam's lips. "So, in the end, you've never truly held me in your heart. It's all been my wishful thinking."

He suddenly slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

Then he hit the accelerator, and the car sped away.

Liam dropped Vivian off at Lakeside Manor.

She had barely stepped out and found her footing when the engine roared behind her.

The black sports car vanished into the night, disappearing quickly.

Vivian stood frozen in place, staring at the empty street. An indescribable sense of loss washed over her.

＊

The tender new connection between them froze over once again.

Liam Sullivan never appeared before Vivian again.

He didn't contact her.

And these past few days, Vivian had been preoccupied with matters concerning her cousin, Grace Harper. She had little energy to dwell on anything else.