The Billionaire Stands Up for Me-Chapter 176: Breakup

"Nora, I’m sorry, something urgent came up and I have to leave early." I kept the call on, apologizing to today’s birthday star.

Nora probably got frightened by my expression, nodded repeatedly, and reminded me, "You’ve had a drink, you can’t drive. Get a driver!"

I ignored it and rushed out.

Wennie followed behind, helping me call a driver.

"Don’t worry, he won’t disappear once he’s back. Wait for the driver to arrive before you leave." Wennie was afraid I’d drive myself, forcefully holding me back.

The cold wind sobered me up a bit. I nodded, "I know, I won’t do anything reckless. I can’t... cause him trouble again."

The last sentence, I mumbled to myself.

But Wennie still heard it.

She gripped my arm, squeezed tightly, and said earnestly, "Lily, you should really think it over. You and Mr. Carter love each other so much, breaking up like this is such a waste. He was the one who pursued you, the one who wanted to be with you. He wouldn’t think you’re a burden."

"No..." I shook my head, looking at my best friend, feeling helpless, "There are things I can’t tell you. I’ve caused him so much trouble, it affects not just him personally, but the entire Carter Family as well. I can’t bear such a responsibility."

"Ah?" Wennie stared at me, not speaking, but she must have understood something.

The driver arrived soon. I got in the car, bidding farewell to my best friend.

"Driver, please hurry up, I’m in a rush," I urged.

"Sure, but safety first." The driver was kind, comforting me, "It’ll be fine, don’t worry too much."

But I was anxious.

It felt like if I returned any later, he would disappear.

The car sped through the midnight streets.

I looked at the line of streetlights outside, my mind racing, pondering what I was going to say later.

Tonight might be our last night together.

How should I say the breakup words?

Daniel, I don’t love you anymore, let’s break up.

Daniel, being with you is too stressful, I’m so tired, let’s break up.

Daniel, I’m just a troublemaker, always dragging you down. I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore, let’s break up.

I thought of countless ways to express it, but none seemed convincing to him.

My phone rang again, bringing me back to reality. Glancing at the screen, it was still him.

"Hello, I’ll be there in ten minutes." I figured he was just as anxious as I was, unable to resist calling again.

"Okay, I’ll wait for you downstairs." He replied gently and hung up.

Ten minutes usually felt like it flew by in a "whoosh".

But today, it felt extremely long.

Finally, the car entered the neighborhood, and I couldn’t help but sit up straight.

The driver wasn’t familiar with the roads inside the neighborhood, so I watched the road ahead and guided him.

Then I saw the figure standing by the road from afar.

Tall, slender, elegant.

Standing there like a male model at a fashion week.

No, even more charismatic, mature, and charming than a male model.

The driver saw him too and asked, "Is that your husband standing there?"

He misunderstood, thinking Daniel was my husband.

But I didn’t correct him and clearly replied, "Yes, stop there."

The driver quickly drove over. Before he could park properly, I eagerly pushed open the car door.

And Daniel, understanding my intent, didn’t wait for the car to stop either and stepped forward to open the car door.

We were immediately face to face, eyes meeting.

I leapt from the car, and he was already prepared, standing outside the car to catch me tightly and hold me in his arms.

"Lily..." he murmured affectionately, his arms tightening around me, as if he wanted to embed me into his being.

In his embrace, I looked up, desperately inhaling his scent, yet still unable to ease the intense emotions and deep yearning in my heart.

I stood on my tiptoes, disregarding that we were outside, instinctively reaching for his lips, initiating a kiss.

Daniel also lost some of his rationality. Though he knew he shouldn’t, he didn’t refuse my initiative.

Just as our lips met, the car honked suddenly, startling us both.

"Um... please close the door, I’ll park the car for you!" The driver reminded from inside the car, looking at us with an extremely peculiar expression.

He initially thought that I rushed back in such a hurry due to something going wrong at home.

Turns out, I just missed a man.

Missed him so hard that I disregarded the occasion, not even bothering to go upstairs, and started kissing by the roadside.

The driver was probably bewildered too.

I was also bewildered.

I didn’t expect myself to be like this. After being reminded by the driver, embarrassment flooded over me like a burning fire as I buried my face into Daniel’s chest again.

He laughed, a hearty laugh that made his whole chest tremble.

Then he reached behind me, slamming the car door shut.

The driver went to park the car.

I kept holding onto him, continuously confessing, "Daniel, I missed you, I missed you so much. Why did you come back only now? Do you know how hard it’s been for me these past few days?"

I sounded like I was complaining, or maybe just talking to myself.

As I spoke, my eyes turned red, my lips pouted, and I started to cry.

Daniel lowered his head, kissing me tenderly.

While kissing, he kept apologizing.

"I’m sorry, it’s my fault... I should’ve said goodbye properly before I left, and I shouldn’t have lost contact afterward. It’s my fault for making you worry..."

The driver parked the car and came over to hand me the keys.

Daniel took the keys, thanked him politely, and wrapped an arm around me, leading me upstairs.

As soon as we entered the elevator, I leaned toward him again for a kiss, and he still couldn’t resist responding to me. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

We kissed feverishly in the elevator, as if the world was ending, completely ignoring the camera that was pointed at us.

Forget it, let anyone watch if they want, I don’t care anyway.

I hoped from now on, until we break up, until he leaves—I wished for us to keep kissing and holding each other.

Even continue being as intimate as possible.

Until the moment he leaves me.

The elevator doors opened, and we didn’t part, stumbling like conjoined twins to the security door.

Can’t remember who opened the door.

Anyway, the moment the door slammed open, my back ached painfully.

"Lily..." Daniel was terribly frightened and stopped immediately, concerned about me, but I didn’t care at all, stood on tiptoe, and blocked his lips again.

"Don’t speak, Daniel, don’t speak..." I mumbled like someone obsessed.

Daniel understood what I meant. Suddenly, he bent down and picked me up horizontally, heading straight for the bedroom.

I didn’t have underfloor heating here, and when we came back, we didn’t have time to turn on the air conditioning either.

When the cold air touched my skin, I was slightly startled and a bit more awake.

But the next second, Daniel Carter’s hot and strong body pressed down on me, instantly warming me up.

In the chaos, we quickly couldn’t feel the cold anymore.

We just felt a burning heat, as if it would consume us both.

I thought, if only it could really be like this, how wonderful it would be.

That way, I would never have to part from him.

After the first time ended, I panted heavily, my thoughts floating as if on clouds.

Daniel Carter pulled up the quilt to cover me, but the cold bedding made my body shiver involuntarily.

He laughed, "You feel the cold now? Just now you were so eager, I wanted to free my hand to turn on the air conditioner, but you stubbornly pulled me back."

I cast him a sidelong glance, with displeasure.

But I knew that at this moment, even if I put on an unhappy face, the seductive charm flowing in my eyes would still have no power.

"Weren’t you eager? You called me twice on the way here." I mocked back, unwilling to show weakness.

He reached for the remote, turned on the air conditioner, and then retreated back, burrowing under the covers with me.

"Hmm, I was eager too, even more than you..." he murmured lowly, facing me intimately.

I smiled, drawing close to kiss him again.

As he responded, he asked, "How much did you drink tonight? Didn’t I tell you not to drink when I’m not around? What if you get drunk?"

I suddenly stopped kissing him, only now realizing, embarrassed, "Does it smell bad?"

"I don’t mind." He laughed deeply, continuing to rest his forehead against mine, planting kisses incessantly.

"No, I have to get up to take a shower and brush my teeth." Now that my head was clear, I started to care about my image.

"No rush." He embraced my waist and pulled me back, "Wait until the room warms up, don’t catch a chill."

I had no choice but to lie back down.

We lay quietly in each other’s arms, neither speaking for a moment.

In my mind, I was once again rehearsing the words for our breakup. Just thinking about it made my chest ache terribly, tears uncontrollably falling.

He held me close.

Soon, he noticed something was amiss.

"What’s wrong, why are you crying?" he asked worriedly, kissing away my tears.

I looked up at him, my voice hoarse, "It’s nothing, I’m just so happy to see you back safe and sound, tears of joy."

Daniel Carter looked at me, smiling, "Silly, I was just on a business trip, what could possibly happen, of course, I’d be safe."

I gazed steadily at him, silent for a while, finally deciding to come clean.

"There’s no need to hide it from me anymore, I know everything."

With one sentence, his smile froze.

Daniel Carter was stunned for a moment, withdrew his arm from under my head, sat up, his expression slightly shifting, "Did my mother find you?"

I nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Carter came to see me, but don’t get angry with them because of this."

I also sat up, pulling the quilt to cover both of us, then nestled back into his embrace.

"Daniel Carter, listen to me seriously."

"I know the real reason for this so-called business trip of yours. I know that once innocent, you would naturally return, but the consequences of such slander could bring considerable negative impact to the Carter Family. Your father lost a promotion because of this, and you were detained for so many days."

"Daniel Carter, I love you, and I know you love me too, but we can’t only see love in our eyes. I’ve thought about it seriously, and besides breaking up, there’s no other way for us."

"Lily, no—" Daniel Carter hurriedly tried to speak, but I pressed my hand against his lips.

"I know you won’t agree, but I won’t change my mind either. I hope we can part on good terms, and if we happen to meet later, we can still sit down for a cup of tea and chat. But if you refuse to let go and make things awkward between us, I will leave Fallhaven, or even go abroad, hide somewhere no one can find me, and never return."

I thought saying these words would be incredibly difficult.

Who knew, once I understood the stakes, I could say them so smoothly.

Daniel Carter stared at me, his expression slightly trembling, "Lily, you had this all planned out, just waiting for me to come back, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"What if I just refuse to agree? Insist on keeping you by my side?"

"Then you’re forcing me, torturing me in the name of love."

I knew this would anger him, but I had to say it.

"The days with you were sweet and happy, but also pressure-filled. Especially when you were taken away for investigation, I was constantly anxious, sleepless, waking in the night, losing hair, uninterested in anything, a day felt like a year."

"And also, Mason Miller was caught for espionage, it was Adrian Gordon’s doing. He deliberately provided him with connections, knowing he needed money, leading him to take photos of a military base and send them abroad. He was caught illegally filming near your unit."

I looked at Daniel Carter. His expression was extremely serious, obviously shocked and surprised.

"He’s still being investigated by national security, and I was also called in for a statement, I might still have to cooperate multiple times. If we don’t break up, you will also be dragged into this case."

I took a slight breath, looked at him, and tried to speak gently, "Daniel Carter, if you were me, facing such a situation, what would you do? I believe you would also break up with me."

"No." He stubbornly denied.

I smiled a little, "Don’t be childish. With your style, you’d break up even faster."

Truly loving someone deeply means you don’t want to drag them down.

This kind of necessity is different from pushing one away due to illness.

This kind of necessity doesn’t just involve one person.

Behind it is a family, even a country.

I cannot let Daniel Carter bear such a heavy crime.

He fell silent, saying nothing.

I slowly exhaled, snuggled my cheek against his chest again, "Let’s break up, the beautiful memories are enough for me to cherish for a lifetime."

"Lily, you’re so cruel, I won’t agree." He insisted, rejecting once again.

"If you don’t agree, you’re forcing me into a dead end."

"I can give up everything and be an ordinary person." He offered this solution again.

I slowly countered, "Can you discard the bloodline of the Carter Family? Grandpa Carter has had illustrious merits, Uncle Carter holds a high position, such family ties cannot be undone simply by one person abandoning fame and fortune. As long as your last name is Carter, as long as you are alive, the stigma will affect them."

Daniel Carter pressed his lips together, not speaking anymore.

Obviously, he understood the implications too.

If Mason Miller is convicted of espionage, our Miller Family will also be branded.

Being with me, his reputation would inevitably be tarnished.

Which would definitely indirectly affect the Carter Family.

This cannot be severed.

Seeing his prolonged silence, I pulled him again, changing the topic, "Come, let’s take a shower, wash and sleep. You must not have rested well these days, your dark circles are so heavy."

I had noticed earlier, but there was no time to mention it then.

Upon closer look now, not only were his dark circles severe, even the lines at the corners of his eyes were more pronounced than before.

This indicated that in just a few days, he had also endured a lot, aging visibly.

Daniel Carter said nothing, but after I pulled him up, he held me tightly, his voice trembling and low, "Do we really have to break up? I’ll be very sad, very hurt, this is more painful than giving up everything."

I turned around, comforting him in my embrace, "It’s not like we’ll never see each other again, we can be friends."

"If we break up, I will never meet you again." He said this stubbornly, as if in a fit of pique.