hollywood billionaire

Chapter 543 Hurt her, but don't hurt her (Part 2)

"I……"

The gossip was so explosive that Han Yi didn't know how to respond for a moment.

I thought I was listening to a love story set in Long Island, but it turned out to be a love story set in Chengdu.

Grandpa Marty also loves to wear white socks and white T-shirts. Does he have a round face and a full beard?
"I'm sorry." Desperately suppressing his urge to be cheeky, Han Yi replied solemnly.

“Get rid of this habit of always apologizing, darling. It happened forty years ago, don’t think it can still affect me.” Lorian took a sip of whiskey. “Any tragedy becomes mundane when you stretch out the timeline.”

"So what happened next?"

“In the days following my encounter with them, a lot happened, some things I’d rather never talk about. But eventually, after all that madness, Marty and I finally sat down and talked. He told me he’d always been attracted to men. In Vietnam, while everyone else went out to find prostitutes, he was messing around with some boy in the camp. He said… he admitted that he married me because he wanted to change himself, he didn’t want to sink into that kind of sin anymore.”

"That's the most irresponsible excuse imaginable."

Han Yi frowned. Although he wasn't the one who actually experienced it, just hearing this account gave him a glimpse into Lorian's pain at the time.

The warm and cozy home that the wife painstakingly maintained was nothing more than a medical experiment used by the husband to "treat" himself.

"No one should suffer for the suffering of others, or at least not without knowing it."

“He begged for my forgiveness, saying he knew he was wrong and wanted a chance to make amends. He promised me he would fire Ronnie and never go near him again.” Lorian chuckled, as if recalling something amusing. “I almost did it, you know? I almost did it. We were talking in this house, and I told him I needed a few minutes alone, and then I got up and went into the study. This used to be Marty’s study, and I’d never been there before. But I went into the study and looked at the things inside… everything was so normal. It was filled with overly masculine things, like whiskey, cigars, books about war and politics, and conservative newspapers and magazines.”

“I picked up a magazine—I forget which one, but I remember its title—in bold red that read: Please don’t pretend that two dads are the new normal.”

“It was then that I realized that all his professed conservatism and his hatred of hippies were nothing but a disguise.”

“He grew up in a very devout Jewish family, and he firmly believed that what he loved was wrong and sinful. So he had to hate anything non-religious and non-faithful because he feared that if he started to accept these things, he would never be ‘normal’ again. And I was the key to his normal life; no matter what happened, he had to hold on to me. He had to have a wife.”

"After realizing this, I walked out of the study, looked him in the eyes and said, 'Marty, we have to get a divorce, today.'"

“Since then, I have been a free woman for over forty years.”

“I salute you.” Han Yi clapped twice symbolically. “I know it’s difficult, but if you ultimately feel free, then it’s the right thing to do.”

"Do I feel free? Yes. I've dated many men, seen the world, and tasted all its flavors." Lorian made no attempt to hide it. "But if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to feel free. At least not in this way. If I could, I'd like to see what that little girl from over 40 years ago could have in another reality. In that reality, her husband loved her wholeheartedly, shared her joys and sorrows, weathered storms together, and protected their family."

"I understand," Han Yi nodded slightly in response.

“Do you really understand?” Lorian suddenly changed the subject. “If you do this, don’t let the same thing happen to Madison.”

"Uh……"

From the moment Han Yi entered the study, he had a vague feeling that Lorian wanted to say something to him, to warn him about something, but when it actually happened, he was still at a loss for words.

"I am not gay."

After a long silence, he finally gave this answer.

“What a self-important guy, I swear, really…” Lorian raised her arm, pretending to grit her teeth as if she was about to slap him, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Madison is still a child,” Han Yi said, using his usual excuse. “Of course I like her, but I won’t do anything, nor will I let anyone do anything to her, until she can make her own choice.” Han Yi was a smart man, and he knew Lorian was smart too. He didn’t need to pretend his feelings in front of her, because if she hadn’t already seen everything, Lorian wouldn’t have so abruptly requested this private talk in the study.

“Don’t give me that nonsense, darling.” Lorian smiled. “I was born in the ’50s, lived through the ’60s, and did most of the crazy things of the ’70s and ’80s, so don’t try to use the minor card on me, because I don’t buy it. Minor is a legal concept, not a mindset. Do you think most 25-year-olds have experienced what Madison went through? Who’s more mature? A college graduate in their twenties who has never seen the real world, or a teenage star who has been working in Hollywood since she was 12, having to sit at a negotiating table with adults, being scrutinized and judged by them?”

"Three months from now, Madison will be 18, but she won't have a magical night that turns her into what we call an 'adult' in this society—an all-knowing, all-powerful being. She'll be just like the girl you see now, with the same personality, the same values, and the same feelings."

“Robert and Tracy didn’t notice anything because they didn’t treat her like a serious family member. Like you said, they treated her like a minor, like a child, as if she couldn’t have real thoughts and feelings because she was under 18. But I’m different. I treat Maddie as a friend. We’re not grandparents, we’re best friends. That’s why I noticed the way she looked at you and how she unconsciously leaned towards you when she talked to you.”

“That’s almost exactly how I was in front of Marty…and that’s very dangerous.” “I won’t do anything to hurt her.” Hearing this, Han Yi, who had been silent, raised his eyes and looked at Lorian with an unusually serious expression. He said, word by word, “If I could make any promise, I think this is it.”

"Darling, she likes you very much."

"I know."

"She always talks about you, and her eyes light up every time she mentions your name. She puts you first, and she sees you as someone who truly understands her, someone who can walk with her for a long time on the path she has chosen."

"I know."

"This is not just a passing fancy or a fleeting infatuation."

"I know."

"do you like her?"

"of course."

"But you don't just like her."

As I said before, both of them are smart people, and it's futile to argue with smart people, so Han Yi chose to remain silent.

“See? That’s why I said this is very dangerous. You’re a dangerous person, darling, more dangerous than Marty.” Lorian extended her index finger and lightly tapped Han Yi’s chest. “I haven’t forgiven Marty for what he did to me. But I understand him, I’m trying to understand him. He’s a lost soul, trying to heal himself, but in doing so, he hurt other people’s souls.”

"But you are not a lost soul, my dear."

"I don't know your family background, but I did some research online and based on the description Madison gave me. You're a billionaire, a man in his twenties who can control billions of dollars. You're young, charming, and charismatic, fully committed to what you love, and have the resources to make it a reality. Money alone isn't necessarily attractive, focus alone isn't necessarily attractive, and humor alone isn't necessarily attractive, but when they're combined, very few girls can resist, and I believe you understand that yourself."

“Darling, I can see not only Madison, but also Youzhen. I can see the way Youzhen looks at you, and I can see the way you look at Youzhen, and I can even see the subtle and implicit interactions between you two. It must feel amazing to have a big star and her glamorous manager both fall for you at the same time, right?”

"It feels like being in heaven." After a moment's hesitation, Han Yi decided to be honest, because he felt that the cool old lady in front of him, who had seen and experienced everything, was one of the few people in the world who could understand him, or at least enlighten him to some extent, "but at the same time, it felt like being in hell."

“So you’re more dangerous than Marty, darling.” Lorian’s eyes crinkled with laughter. “Marty is afraid of hell, he tries everything to stay away from it. But for you, you don’t just like heaven—you enjoy both heaven and hell at the same time. I think there are two little devils living inside you, aren’t there? One wants everyone to be happy, and the other wants to see things get worse, really bad. That part of you wants to see everything go into destruction mode because you think it’s the only way to save yourself.”

“…Yes.” Lorian’s merciless and in-depth analysis of him startled Han Yi, but also gave him a surprising sense of relief. “I’ve tried to push everyone away from me, but I can’t. Like you said, I love this feeling. Maybe I’m just a bad person by nature, never satisfied. Now I’ve accepted it, so let it continue as it is. If the ending is good, then it’s perfect. If the ending is destruction, then it’s my retribution.”

"Mom, or Dad?" Lorian asked abruptly, but Han Yi, whose expression suddenly became extremely unnatural, knew exactly what she meant.

“It seems to be Dad… but that was another conversation on another day.” Lorian sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. “What I want to tell you now is… darling, I won’t judge you. I understand you. You have all sorts of choices in front of you, and you have the right to choose all of them. I mean, why not? If I were you, I would do the same thing without hesitation for a second.”

"But please remember, on the other end of this short fuse is the person you like, and the person who likes you."

"Now, where you decide to connect this fuse determines how much harm they will suffer. If it's fireworks, no problem, let it explode in the air, let everyone have a blast, and after the fun, everything will be gone with the wind. But if it's a nuclear bomb... then the destruction won't just be yours."

“I don’t care if Madison gets hurt because she likes you, because I know she will. In fact, I hope she gets hurt. It will teach her a valuable life lesson, build her a thick layer of armor, and help her develop emotional defense mechanisms so she won’t be hurt by the same thing a second time. She’s a lovely girl with passion, talent, and ability, and she will eventually conquer the world in her own way. And you are the hurdle she must overcome before she can conquer the world.”

At this point, Lorian downed the whiskey in her glass in one gulp and placed it lightly on the coffee table, making a crisp sound that sent a shiver down Han Yi's spine.

“Now, I won’t threaten you, because a man like you won’t react to threats, because threats don’t work on you. I hope for you as a friend, and I beg you as a grandmother…”

"Be good to her, make her laugh, fascinate her, make her fall in love with you, and also make yourself fall deeply in love with her, because she deserves it."

"But please draw clear lines and don't go too far. Don't make promises you can't keep, and don't let her live in false hope. Let her enjoy the moment, and then, when the next moment comes, do what you must do."

Hurt her, but don't hurt her.

Can you guarantee me that?

(End of this chapter)