Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 223: Splashed the Entire Glass of Lemonade on the Man’s Face

Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Splashed the Entire Glass of Lemonade on the Man’s Face

Rory Linden’s hand gripped the fork tightly. She was filled with complaints about the man in front of her, but she couldn’t voice them.

After holding back her resentment for several seconds, she finally managed to say, "President Harrison, this relationship you’re maintaining through these means is only for these three years. Once the three years are up..."

"When the three years are up, I can just think of other ways," Sean Harrison said. "If you ever want to design in other fields and need funding or investors, you can come to me anytime."

He had already thought this through.

Hospitals, especially public ones, are always short on money.

Next time, it could be research grants, or full sponsorship of a research project.

He possessed very little, but he had money.

The man’s expression was serious and resolute.

He looked fully prepared to keep this up with her until the end of time.

Rory Linden finally started to feel deflated. "President Harrison, let’s both stop dwelling on the past and move on. You’re dragging this out with me only because you can’t forgive yourself for what you did, but I’ve already forgiven you."

Sean Harrison lowered his gaze. "I truly can’t forgive myself. But if I could do it all over again, nothing would likely change."

Surprise flickered across Rory Linden’s face.

She had always assumed Sean Harrison’s stance was that if he could do it all over again, everything would be different.

Her curiosity finally getting the better of her, she asked, "Why don’t you tell me what happened back then? Why did the car crash?"

For all these years, Rory Linden hadn’t really cared about the truth.

But now she felt she deserved to know what had really happened.

At this hour, there were barely any other patrons in the family restaurant.

In the distance, she could hear the laughter of children playing.

Sean Harrison set down his silverware. "I don’t know why the crash happened. It’s like the memory of those few minutes has been wiped from my brain. I went to a psychiatrist afterward, and the doctor said... I might have schizophrenia."

In plain, simple words, the man revealed the whole truth he had painstakingly concealed for five years.

Rory Linden heard him say the last few words and made a point to wait a moment longer.

Once she was sure that was all he was going to say, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "That’s the whole truth?"

Sean Harrison nodded.

For five years, she had made so many excuses for him.

She thought he must have run into some insurmountable problem, that he’d had no choice but to cut off contact in order to protect her.

She never in a million years expected...

...that the whole truth would be so simple.

So...

Absurd!

"Yes," Sean Harrison explained. "You said you really wanted children, but if I have a mental illness, it could be passed on to the next generation. I didn’t want our future child to be unhealthy because of my genes."

Rory Linden’s heart hammered in her chest.

She truly felt ridiculously foolish.

For five years, she had fabricated countless excuses for him, never imagining that the truth behind her five years of suffering could be so laughable!

"Sean Harrison, you are really..."

Rory Linden’s hand was shaking uncontrollably. In the end, she didn’t say another word. She picked up the nearby glass and threw the entire glass of lemonade in the man’s face.

She slammed the glass down and turned to go to the play area to find Leo.

She had just gotten up when Sean Harrison grabbed her wrist. "Rory, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry..."

"Will you just shut up!"

Rory Linden did her best to keep her voice down.

Biting her lip hard, she fought to suppress her emotions and said:

"Sean Harrison, do you have any idea what I’ve been through these past five years? Do you know how many excuses I made for you?"

"And in the end, you tell me it’s all because you *thought* you had schizophrenia!"

"I could have forgiven you if you’d told me you had HIV!"

"Is schizophrenia such an unpardonable disease? Does it automatically mean you have to be committed to a psychiatric hospital?"

Rory Linden had so, so much more she wanted to say.

But this was a restaurant.

No matter how few people there were, no matter how spacious it was, she might still disturb others.

"Let’s just stop here." Rory Linden stood up. "I’m taking my son and leaving. I take back what I said before. You are not to take my son out alone. I’ll still come to the weekly meals, but that’s all."

The moment she learned the truth, Rory Linden felt like a complete joke for spending five years trying to make excuses for him.

The truth was just this flimsy excuse of schizophrenia.

What was even more laughable was that he didn’t even regret his choice.

Since she had started seeing Sean Harrison again as an adult, aside from her initial panic and fear, all her feelings toward him had been positive.

Right now, for the first time, she felt a sense of disgust for this man.

’Yes.’

’She despised him.’

Rory Linden got up to find Leo.

Sean Harrison went after her.

After just a few steps, Rory Linden stopped and turned around. "President Harrison, you’re the high-and-mighty president, and I’m just an ordinary person. You’ve already tormented me for five years over an absurd reason. I’m not as resilient as you think."

She looked at him and said earnestly, "I’m begging you... please let me go."

Never before had Rory Linden so desperately wanted to cut ties with this man.

"Just listen to me explain. You really wanted a child back then, and I was afraid that because of my illness, our child would..."

"Don’t say another word! You were right, you were thinking of me, and I’m the one who doesn’t know what’s good for her. Is that what you want to hear?!"

Rory Linden had never, in her entire life, lost her temper like this.

She wasn’t just angry about the absurd reason, but even more so about his self-righteousness.

People around them were starting to stare.

Rory Linden held up her hands, trying to keep her distance from him. "Okay, that’s enough. Leo and I are leaving."

Hearing the commotion, Leo had already walked over. Rory Linden immediately took him and left.

On the way back, Leo seemed to realize something was wrong.

As Rory Linden was strapping him into his car seat, he asked cautiously, "Is it just us leaving...?"

Rory Linden pulled her son into a hug. "Leo, I’m sorry... Mommy might not be able to get along with your daddy."

Her eyes burned as a storm of emotions churned within her.

’Is it anger? Is it sadness?’

’In the end...’

’...it’s more a sense of grievance.’

’She felt that she hadn’t deserved this.’

Leo said earnestly, "I don’t want a daddy. I just want Mommy."

Rory Linden lifted her head, looked at her son’s chubby little face, and said again, "I’m sorry..."

「Back at home.」

Rory Linden spent several hours trying to process her emotions alone.

But she still felt a heavy weight in her chest.

She sent a message to Sherry Walsh: [I need to drown my sorrows.]

A few minutes later, Sherry Walsh immediately sent her the address of a bar.

It was followed by another message: [See you in half an hour.]