What Separates Me and You



Josephine got caught off guard. Before she could react, she got pulled onto the bed and landed on Lewis' body.

The two's eyes met.

Josephine suddenly recalled Conrad's words while thrashing around to escape his grasp. She pursed her lips and gave up resisting.

Josephine figured it was best to pretend not to mind Lewis as Conrad asked her to. That way, she and Lewis could co-exist and tolerate each other until she could leave.

Lewis stared at her for some time before asking, "Have you come to see me for something?"

Josephine held his stare, then spoke casually. "I'll let this slide since you're unwell."

That elicited a laugh from Lewis, who hugged her waist and brought her to the empty spot beside him. Then, he pulled her into his embrace. "If that's the case, lay here with me for a bit."

Josephine's cheek was against his chest. Perhaps it was because he still had a fever, but Josephine felt overheated from the hug. On top of that, he wrapped both of them in his blanket.

She soon shut her eyes. Realizing how exhausted she was, she murmured, "Can you help me apply for a leave?"

She slept after that.

Lewis gingerly played with her hair. His low hum rang out in approval.

...

That nap went on for ages. When Josephine awoke later, it was already noon. The spot next to her had also become empty. She rubbed her eyes and sat up to look around. Alas, she didn't see Lewis anywhere.

Only after heading downstairs did she see him in the living room. He stayed in casual clothes but had a laptop on his lap. He seemed to be busy doing something.

Mrs. Larson brought a bowl containing a concoction over. "Mrs. Alvarez, this is Mr. Alvarez's medication. Have him drink it before he takes his meal." Josephine nodded, accepted the bowl, and sat beside Lewis. "It's time to take your medicine."

Lewis paused before turning to see her holding a spoonful of the concoction beside his mouth. His piercing gaze focused on her as he muttered, "What's with the sudden kindness?"

"Fine. If you won't drink it, forget I'm doing any of this." Josephine was about to put away her spoon when Lewis grabbed her wrist and took the spoonful of medicine in his mouth. Following that, she brought another spoonful toward him.

Lewis took a few more mouths before finally trusting that Josephine had no conditions or tricks up her sleeve. Only then did he focus on his work again.

Josephine stayed by his side and fed him the entire time. She saw how emotionless he was when taking the medicine. So, she deliberately poured some of the liquid back into the bowl and fed him half a spoonful each time.

A few minutes later, Lewis couldn't stand it anymore. He turned to his side and saw half a bowl remained. "Why's there so much left?" Josephine kept a neutral expression as she replied, "You're drinking it too slowly."

Lewis shot a dubious stare at her and instantly guessed what she was up to. He then snatched the bowl from her, downed the rest of the liquid in one go, and returned the bowl to her.

Josephine awkwardly rubbed the tip of her nose before standing with the bowl in hand. "Stop working. You should have your meal first."

"I'll eat in a bit."

Josephine waited half an hour before returning to ask, "Are you still not done?"

"Almost."

She waited another ten minutes, then gave up. She snatched Lewis' laptop away and slammed it shut.

That left Lewis flabbergasted. He soon looked up at her, only to notice her stoic expression.

Josephine had learned that from him. There was no denying that it was an impactful appearance. It was inexplicable, but an emotionless, neutral stare often struck fear into others' hearts.

Because of that, Lewis didn't challenge her. He stood to say, "Alright, let's eat."

The two finally had their meal in the dining room.

After that, Dr. Halliday returned to perform a check-up on Lewis. He took the latter's temperature, which came to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. "He won't need IV fluids. Just stick with his medication, and he'll recover in a week."

Josephine nodded. Since she didn't have anything planned for the afternoon, she decided to visit Moss Corporation. She contacted Conrad to have him take her there.

Conrad arrived outside Styx Mansion an hour later and brought her to the company. Along the way, he gave her a status update on Moss Corporation.

"Derek and his family have gone abroad. The stubborn older employees in the company have also gotten cleared off. Likewise, we've cut off any necessary business activities. Hence, the company doesn't have many projects at the moment." Conrad handed her a stack of documents. "Have a look."

Josephine accepted the documents.

Moss Corporation still had some ongoing projects. One of which involved a prominent construction project. They were building a shopping district in the neighboring area. It was currently in its second phase. Moreover, they had another construction project to build a railway, which started late last year.

The company's primary operations were in the construction and real estate industries.

After flipping through the documents for some time, Josephine felt she couldn't keep the company running alone. "Do the company's employees know who their boss is?"

"Not yet. If you intend to inherit the business, you can always put out an announcement."

Josephine thought about it before shaking her head. "Don't make the announcement yet. I fear they'll get distracted once they find out."

"Sure. You can always visit first and familiarize yourself with the place."

They two arrived at the company just then.

Conrad led Josephine upstairs. He had already contacted the company's general manager, a 50-year-old man named Horace Hayes.

"You made it, Mr. Berg." Horace warmly greeted the two at the door. With a beaming smile, he reached out to shake Conrad's hand. He noticed Josephine and asked, "Could this be the Ms. Vance you mentioned?"

That baffled Josephine, as she had never heard anyone call her that.

Conrad chuckled. "Yes, but please don't tell anyone about it yet, Mr. Hayes. Ms. Vance is merely here to visit, so please don't give her any pressure." "Oh, I see. Well, please come this way." Horace motioned ahead to invite the two into the elevator.

They soon arrived at a conference room where he prepared drinks for the two. With a smile, he asked, "Did you come to the company to check out our environment or examine our progress with our businesses, Ms. Vance?"

Josephine glanced at Conrad, who returned her attention with an encouraging look.noveldrama

"Let's just chat about anything you think is appropriate. I'm not very familiar with managing a business," Josephine answered.

"Sure. Our company has just started work not long ago. Due to our changes in shareholders, many of our company's personnel have shifted to different departments. There have also been more resignations and layoffs. The primary task is to hire new employees.

"Also, I expect we'll receive payment for the major project after three months. That's because we've cut off some business activities, and our current projects are still ongoing.

"The company's tight on money. That's why-" Horace let out an awkward chuckle. "If there's anything you'd like to start with, I suggest finding some investors. Only then can we start on new business ventures."

"Will we have enough funds if we decide not to start new business ventures or projects?" came Josephine's question.

Horace hesitated but later said, "It should be enough, but we'll be in a tight spot. Our capital funds will be in trouble if any current projects go wrong. It will also affect our other businesses. In short, it will lead to a domino effect, so we must gather extra investments now."

Conrad explained, "Before Derek left the country, he invested in many projects and spent most of the company's money. Yet, we haven't seen returns from those business projects fast enough.

"The other investment projects I cut off also didn't seem like they would yield returns soon. Because I ended them, I recovered some funds. Still, that money and the profits from the company's other businesses aren't enough to last us three months."

Josephine had a general understanding of the stakes by then. It turned out that Derek had messed things up before he left.

She spoke again. "How much do we need?"