What Separates Me and You

Chapter 141 A Balancing Act

Josephine looked up with tears in her eyes, Seth’s mocking laughter echoing in her ears.

“You can’t still be waiting for him to swoop in and rescue you, can you?”

She flinched.

Seth crouched in front of her, shattering her fantasies mercilessly. “Do you understand why things have

come to this point now?”

Josephine inhaled sharply, her eyes fixed on his face.

“Do you really not know? The last time you disappeared for three days…Do you think he didn’t

find you then?”

He leaned closer, his voice soft as he said, “No, he knew where you’d been all along. He just didn’t

choose to save you. He had been trying to set a trap for me.”

Seth continued, laughing and playing with her hair. “Oh, you poor, poor mute. He’s the one who caused

all this. You’re here now because of him.”

Tears fell from her cheeks like broken beads, trickling down her chin and dripping into her plate.

“Guess what he’s doing right now?”

He paused, seemingly deep in thought. “Maybe he’s busy preparing for the shareholders’ meeting in

two days. Maybe he’s scheming to eliminate his father from the game at long last. Or maybe, he’s busy

getting rid of his sister-as for you; you’ll probably have to wait a long, long time for your turn to come.”

Josephine held her plate in a death grip, her chest heaving.

“Provided, if he still wants to have anything to do with you, he has to go through me and deal. with

my terms. But of course, he knows, deep down, that he could never afford to give me what I want.”

“So,” Seth assumed an inferring air as he spoke, “he might as well ignore you altogether, and in doing

so, he is directly refusing the opportunity to negotiate with me.”

“But then,” he continued, “I suppose it’s understandable. What is the use of women in the face of profits

and income? He might like you, but he would never sacrifice everything he has now for you, would he?”

She knew she shouldn’t believe his words, yet, they still found a way into her subconscious regardless-

eating away at her. The pain was like millions of needles piercing her heart.

Josephine lowered her head and wolfed down her dinner. The food was bland, but she continued

shoveling them into her mouth.

Seth crouched beside her as she ate, watching her polish the plate clean.

Moments later, Josephine sniffled and placed her plate back onto the ground. She raised her head, and

her eyes were red as she looked at him.

The sky outside darkened. In the dimly lit room, Seth caressed her cheeks tenderly, wiping away the

residual tears at the corners of her eyes with a gentle hand.

Suddenly, Josephine remembered how Lewis used to do the same thing to her. She couldn’t help but

fall for him a bit more every time.

Now that she compared it with what Seth was doing to her, she realized how cheap and self- righteous

Lewis’ actions had been.

Men were creatures well-versed in camouflage. No matter how deeply they despised someone, they

could always still bring themselves to touch them with care and affection.

Lewis was one of those. Seth, too.

To them, they had nothing to lose. It was simply a matter of moving their fingers.

But when given a choice between reaping profits and everything else, the outcome of their decision

was the only accurate representation of their true colors.

A little while later, Seth stood up and ordered, “Clean this up.”

He walked out of the room without sparing her another glance, his food untouched on the table.

Josephine wiped her tears with her sleeve before standing up and clearing away the dishes dutifully.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, or more precisely, in Styx Mansion, Conrad stared at the

burning light in the study as he paced the length of the hallway. Eventually, he knocked on the door.

“Enter.” Lewis was reading a stack of documents as he spoke without lifting his head to acknowledge

his assistant.

Conrad swiftly entered the study. “President Alvarez, all the shareholders have been. contacted.

Everything should be in order.”

“Alright.”

Conrad opened his mouth, debating if he should speak more.

Lewis waited for him to speak before raising his head. “Is there anything else?”

“About Mrs. Alvarez-are you not going to continue looking for her anymore?”

Lewis’ movements stilled, and he fell silent.

After a long pause, he spoke again. “Have you found her yet?”

“No, I mean, should we increase our search efforts? If we continue searching like this with limited

information regarding her whereabouts, I’m afraid it would take more than months- years even to find

anything remotely useful.”

Lewis put down the document he had been reading earlier. He fixed his gaze on Conrad as he sat in

silence for a long time.

“You can leave now.”

“But, Seth-”

“Get out!” Lewis raised his voice, his eyes filled with coldness so terrifying that Conrad was immediately

frightened into silence.

He shut his mouth and retreated out of the room.

Those days, he thought he’d almost figured out why the president had been so calm throughout the

series of calamities that struck them. In a situation like this, he could accomplish nothing by losing his

head and succumbing to anxiety.

If he had devoted all of his energy to investigating Josephine’s whereabouts, he would have inevitably

delayed everything else he had going on on the side.

Moreover, what use would there be even if he’d found her?

Was he to trade shares for her safety under Seth’s threats?

Or was he to drive Seth up a wall until he was forced to kill Josephine and himself?

If things had reached that point, the president would get nothing by then no matter what he

did.

The more Conrad thought about it, the colder his heart turned and the more respect he felt for the

president. His ability to weigh the pros and cons of a situation with composure was truly

admirable.

Such a person was destined for great success and would never be held back by his emotions. and

personal relationships.

As for the key to making the best choices-it was nothing but a balancing act.

Night fell.

In the homestead, the temperature plunged more than a few degrees in response. Josephine was clad

in a dark men’s jacket made from wool. The jacket seemed to be Seth’s. It was incredibly long, and the

fabric was sweeping around her ankles.