Chapter Eighty

Chapter Eighty

Bella shuddered slightly and immediately became silent, not daring to struggle or make any noise. But this made her even more scared. The sound of Max’s footsteps outside grew closer, making Bella’s heart race.

However, it seemed Max didn’t notice anything unusual. He slowly walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. After a few minutes in the kitchen, Max went back to his room without realizing another man was in the house.

Only when they heard Max’s door close did Bella dare to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

As soon as Levi let her go, Bella immediately pushed him away. His recent actions and words made her extremely dissatisfied and uncomfortable. If it weren’t for Max being half-asleep and simply wanting to go to the kitchen for a drink of water, they would have surely been discovered in a shady position.

The recent incident terrified Bella, and for the first time, she felt extreme discomfort and dissatisfaction with Levi.

“What on earth were you thinking, doing something like that? What if Max had found out? Are you even thinking clearly, Levi?” Bella frowned deeply at him, trying to keep her voice as low as possible, although she was very angry at the moment.

Levi looked at Bella from above, his expression expressionless and his eyes sharp.

“Are you that afraid of Max finding out?” Levi retorted. Although it was just a question, his tone contained an unmistakable threat.

No matter how angry Bella was right now, the invisible threat from this man made her angry feelings feel like they were being pressed down by a strong force.

“Listen, don’t you find your question very strange? Of course, I’m afraid because I don’t want Max to find out about our relationship...” Bella paused as she noticed Levi’s expression darkening, then lowered her voice to continue, “Max can know about our current relationship, but only when my goal is achieved, not now. Okay?”

Levi remained silent, still staring at Bella as if trying to read her thoughts. Since starting this relationship with Levi, Bella had not gotten used to his intense gaze. Sometimes she wondered if staring at people was a habit or a preference of his.

“As long as your goal is achieved, does that mean our relationship can be made public?” Levi asked again, his face extremely serious.

Bella didn’t understand his intent. Yes, she had said Max could know, but only after she had gotten what she wanted. She wanted Max to feel betrayed by his own wife, just as he had deceived her all this time.

“Make our relationship public? Why would we have to do that?” Bella didn’t think it was necessary to publicize their current relationship. She felt it was unnecessary. She meant Max could know after everything ended, but she had no intention of making her relationship with Levi known to Max or anyone else.

To her, the relationship with Levi was mutually beneficial. But to Max and others, Bella was committing adultery within her marriage, and ‘adultery,’ regardless of the reason, is never a good thing.

Hearing Bella’s question, Levi immediately frowned, his gaze turning more sinister and dark. Although Levi didn’t speak, his expression and eyes conveyed that he was very angry.

The atmosphere between them started to become tense and gloomy. Bella felt that she should be the one angry, not Levi. However, arguing at this moment would only create more trouble, so Bella, despite her reluctance, had to ease the tension herself.

Levi didn’t reply. Bella sighed and said, “Alright, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have acted so upset, but you should also consider my current situation.”

She spoke while secretly observing Levi’s expression, noticing he still remained silent and his face still cold.

Just as Bella was about to continue soothing his mood, he said, “So when will you end all this?”

Bella was silent for a moment before Levi’s question. From the beginning, she had never thought about when it would end, not even now, simply because she didn’t know when it would end.

“Why are you asking that?” Bella sat down on the sofa, not understanding Levi’s thoughts, but she knew he didn’t really want to know the exact time this would end, or perhaps that was just her feeling.

Levi frowned slightly. “Is that a question I shouldn’t ask? Fine, I won’t ask about it anymore. But if you want to continue this relationship, you have to tell me... Bella, you still love Max, don’t you? Because you love him, you want to make him suffer the most painful revenge?”

As soon as Levi finished his sentence, Bella looked at him blankly, not expecting him to ask such a question. Of course, she no longer had any feelings for Max, which is why she wanted to make Max go around like a stupid dog. Indeed, Bella had once said that because she loved Max deeply, she wanted to make him suffer immensely, but that was when Bella herself hadn’t yet realized if she had moved past Max’s betrayal.

Perhaps it was because Levi still remembered what Bella had said before that he was now asking her about it. She suddenly felt intrigued, not because Levi was asking about it, but because she hadn't thought he would remember what she had said earlier.

Bella was about to speak when Levi spoke first, "I told you before that I had plenty of time, right? But this time, I want to speed things up to finish this quickly. If you continue to be this slow, I'll handle it in my own way."

Without waiting for Bella to respond, Levi turned and left her house. His decisiveness left her puzzled. There were two things about this man that she couldn't understand: why he was so upset, and why their relationship needed to be public.

"Did he forget the nature of our relationship?" Bella murmured. In their arrangement, the essential condition was that there was no room for feelings from either side. Bella always reminded herself like that, because she knew that when she was weak and suddenly had a man by her side, she would easily fall in love with that person. And that is completely normal psychology for everyone, not just Bella.

And she always believed Levi understood and was clear about this.

Bella sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn't stupid enough not to understand Levi's signals, but she deliberately ignored and tried to overlook them.

...

In the director's office,

Max was trying to focus on handling documents. He had just returned from a trip with his wife, and the pile of documents and contracts waiting for him made his head want to explode. Moreover, the events that occurred during the trip were driving him crazy.

A knock on the door interrupted Max's thoughts. He frowned and sighed, "Come in."

"Max… I brought you coffee." Pearl, dressed in a white shirt and a very short office skirt, looked extremely sexy and seductive, which was entirely inappropriate for the work environment here.

Max sighed, took the coffee, and continued working. This moment, he had no interest in talking or doing anything with Pearl.

Seeing Max ignoring her, Pearl wasn't angry but smiled sweetly and said, "Max, what's wrong? Are you tired? Let me massage your shoulders."

Max raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright… you're always the best, Pearl."

Pearl had been by Max's side for a long time, so she knew how to please him or at least change his mood from gloomy to enthusiastic.

This wasn't the first time Pearl had massaged Max. Sometimes he asked for it, sometimes she did it voluntarily. Her massage skills were excellent, and within a few minutes, Max's body relaxed, and his mood improved significantly.

Sensing the right moment, Pearl asked, "Max, do you remember what I told you that night?... About making Bella unable to have children."

Max, who had been enjoying himself with his eyes closed, immediately opened his eyes and sighed, "I remember, but… I don't think we should do that. She's already a pawn in our hands."

Ever since hearing Pearl's plan, Max had thought about it for a long time. He felt there was no need to harm Bella in such a way. Over the years, Max had always seen Bella as a piece on his chessboard, but she was also his wife. Since before they got married until now, Bella had always fulfilled her duties and responsibilities as a wife.

So there was no reason to inflict such significant harm on her as making her unable to have children.

"Why shouldn't we do it? Max, what's wrong with you? Have you forgotten our goal? Making her unable to have children is nothing compared to our bigger plan." Pearl said, a bit annoyed that Max didn't agree with the plan to prevent Bella from getting pregnant.

"This…" Max hesitated, actually feeling that whether Bella had children or not wasn't a significant threat to him and his career, sometimes that's a good thing for him.

Moreover, considering their backgrounds, his wife was the daughter of the chairman of this company. Everyone knew Bella was a wealthy heiress. No matter how beautiful and charming Pearl was, she was just an ordinary woman from a non-prominent family.

With such a comparison, Max knew who would be better to bear his child. But he couldn't voice his thoughts because he still wanted Bella to bear him a child.

A child born of Bella would inherit not only wealth and various connections but also her prestigious background, ensuring the child a better status in the future.

Regarding children, Max didn't dare to act rashly or think short-term.

Pearl had no idea what Max was thinking. She said, "What are you hesitating about?... Both you and I feel that Bella has changed. She's no longer foolish enough for you to easily control and manipulate, Max. Have you forgotten that I'm also Bella's friend? I don't want to harm her, but for our plan and future, this is nothing."