Chapter 2421
Chapter 2421
Someone in Pain
It was very unexpected to meet Lance here.
As far as Clayton knows, Lance dominated the market share in Central Mediania in a short period of time. Many others felt a sense of crisis when Lance expanded his business territory in such a short time.
Lance put all his energy into his career.
Nicole and Clayton once talked about it.
Without Yvette, Lance would become a wealthy but lonely old man.
However, Lance might forget about Yvette one day. When the day comes, he would not be lonely anymore.
They respected Lance’s choice no matter what and would help him fulfill his dreams.
They all had a close relationship with Yvette, but only Lance shouldered the eternal pain after Yvette died.
They could still live a normal life and pretend that Yvette was away on a business trip.
However, Lance could not do that.
After Clayton’s incident, Nicole could fully understand the heart-wrenching pain that Lance felt.
It was a hundred times more painful than skinning a person alive. It also took a long time to get out of that state.
It was also possible that one would never get over the grief.
Clayton looked at Lance carefully. He had indeed lost a lot of weight and was almost a walking skeleton.
The last time Clayton saw Lance was at Julie’s birthday.
Lance sat in the corner of the private room. Even though he was quiet at the time, at least he was still healthy and normal.
Clayton sighed. Words of comfort came to his lips, but he could not say them.
Lance must have heard those comforting words from countless people, so it was probably useless to say them.
However, the sharpness in Lance’s eyes was still the same as before. There was no bitterness or pain, and he looked determined and relieved.
Lance was wearing long trousers and a short-sleeved shirt. He stood there and looked at the snow outside.
Lance seemed so out of place.
This made Clayton feel indescribably conflicted.
After hearing Clayton’s words, Lance smiled, but there was no emotion in his eyes.
“It is a coincidence… I felt burned out. The work pressure was getting too high, so my doctor suggested that I go on a vacation abroad for a while.”
Clayton raised his eyebrows. “You should take a good rest. Nothing is more important than good health.”
He paused and added, “Mr. Sheldon, you still have to take care of yourself.”
Lance lowered his eyes, paused, and nodded slightly.
The two men did not talk much, but they did not feel awkward sitting there in silence.
Outside, Chatty was exhausted from playing and ran up the slope.
Chatty fell to the ground and started a snowball fight with Fischer.
The two kids were covered in snow when they ran in, so they were afraid that Clayton would scold them.
Thus, they sat downstairs by the fire for a while before coming up.
“Daddy, I’m hungry…”
Chatty jumped over happily. When she saw Lance, she stopped in her tracks.
She tilted her head to look at Lance and smiled happily.
“Hello, Mister…”
She rubbed her hands and went over to hug Lance.
Lance was slightly shocked. He looked down at her, with a bit of shock and tenderness in his eyes. He smiled at her.
“Chatty?”
Chatty did not see Lance often, so she did not know who he was.
However, Chatty was naturally friendly with everyone.
“Yes! You know my name?”
Fischer said hello and ran to Clayton’s side to have some snacks.
Fischer was already used to seeing Chatty talking with strangers, so it was not surprising to him.
Lance sized up the little girl seriously and smiled, finally showing some warmth on his face.
“Yes. She has bought you many gifts.”
“Who?”
Lance’s eyes darkened, and he said with a smile. “I also prepared a gift for you, but it’s in Mediania.”
‘Thank you! You’re such a handsome guy! You’re more handsome than my third uncle!”
Chatty did not hesitate to praise those who were so generous to give her gifts.
This was what she learned from Nicole.
The corners of Lance’s eyes were curved with a smile on his face. His voice became much gentler.
‘Thank you. You’re pretty too, like a beautiful little princess!”
Chatty immediately frowned and corrected him.
“No, I’m the beautiful Princess Ultra!”
The corner of Lance’s mouth twitched. “Oh, okay…”
Not long after, Nicole, Kai, and Julie came back.
Knowing that Julie was angry at him, Kai did not dare to speak and waited carefully by the side as he watched her expression.
When the three of them came upstairs, Chatty immediately left Lance behind and went to hug Kai without letting go.
“Uncle K! You’re the most handsome third uncle in the world…”
Kai carried her on his shoulders with a huge smile on his face.
“Come, Chatty…”
The two played around for a while.
Nicole and Julie had no choice but to walk around them.
When they saw the person sitting next to Clayton, they were slightly taken aback.
Lance also stood up, looked at them, smiled, and nodded.
“What a coincidence!”
Nicole looked at Clayton and immediately came back to her senses.
“Mr. Sheldon, turns out you’re the guest that the owner mentioned? If we knew you were her, we would’ve come sooner. Then we could spend a few more days together!”
Julie was also very surprised and nodded.
“Yeah! A few days ago, I watched your acquisition which shocked the business world. You actually negotiated an impossible deal. That’s a century-old domestic brand that could just rely on its name to last another few decades…”
Lance lowered his eyes and curled his lips as if he did not take this matter seriously.
“It’s alright. As long as the conditions are met, the acquisition isn’t that difficult.”
Nicole interrupted them with a smile.
“Alright, we’re all here on vacation, so let’s not talk about business. Why don’t we have a barbecue at night?”
Kai was the first to raise his hand. “I agree!”
The rest also had no objections.
Lance frowned slightly. “I don’t want to intrude.”
‘You’re not intruding! Mr. Sheldon, take it as a welcome party for us! You came before us, right? We’ll see you tonight, then?”
She did not give Lance a chance to refuse.
Nicole smiled and went to find Clayton.
Clayton and Fischer were chatting and laughing. When Clayton saw her, he smiled and said warmly, “Are you tired? Do you want to go upstairs and rest for a while?”
“Okay. Do you want to accompany me?”
Fischer covered his face and pretended not to hear anything.
Nicole and Clayton went upstairs to rest. Lance also left and went back to his room.
After changing out of her clothes, Nicole came out and sat there in a daze.
Clayton walked over, hugged her waist from behind, and sighed softly.
“Are you unhappy?”
Nicole paused and pursed her lips.
“No… I just feel that Lance is different. Why is he so thin?”
Clayton was silent. “He said that the work pressure was getting to him. He probably didn’t get a good rest. The doctor suggested that he come here for vacation.”
“No wonder.”
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.
“I really don’t want anything to happen to him. Otherwise, there will be one less person in this world who can remember Yvette.”
