What Separates Me and You

Lewis was fastening his seatbelt when he saw what she signed. He froze momentarily before acting normal again. "Let's talk when we get back. It's difficult to have a proper conversation now." Josephine nodded, agreeing with him.

Quintin's face flashed across her mind. She tugged at Lewis once more and asked, "That man from before ..."

Lewis abruptly cut her off by grasping her fingers. "There, there. Stop asking. We'll talk it out when we reach home."

Noting his stern gaze, Josephine sensed that he was losing patience. With a sinking feeling, she lowered her head and stopped her flow of questions.

Lewis released her fingers and caressed her head, trying to soothe her. Then, he started the car.

Upon reaching home, Josephine looked around at the unfamiliar mansion.

Lewis said this mansion was their home ...

When Lewis and Josephine entered, Dr. Halliday was chatting with Mrs. Larson on the sofa. He was searching for an excuse to decline Mrs. Larson's idea of introducing him to a woman. Leaping up from his seat in glee, Dr. Halliday welcomed Lewis like he was his savior and strode over to them. "Mr. Alvarez, madam, you're back!"

Mrs. Larson proactively stepped forward and took the umbrella from Lewis, folding it and placing it by the door.

Lewis led Josephine into the mansion and went upstairs without a pause, with Dr. Halliday tagging behind them.

Dr. Halliday knew his mission. He was here to answer Josephine's questions.

Upon entering the study, Lewis went directly to his desk and paid no more attention to the other two.

Dr. Halliday showed Josephine to the sofa. "Madam, I'm here to explain your condition."

Josephine frowned, her eyes fixed on Dr. Halliday as she waited for him to elaborate further.

"Actually, you've developed a rare type of Alzheimer's disease..."

Quintin stirred.

Rubbing the back of his head, he clambered up from the floor in a daze. He looked up and saw Phineas sitting casually behind him.

Quintin slowly remembered what had happened before. He sprung to his feet and roared. "You sneaked up on me!"

Phineas was impassive, and there was even a faint hint of disgust on his face. "Me? Sneak up on you?" He added derogatorily, "You're such a weakling."

"You" Quintin was so irritated he almost gave in to the urge to hit Phineas. However, he'd learned how helpless he was before this man through the hard way.

"Cut the crap, Mr. Quintin. You'd better hurry up and sign the divorce agreements so that we can both give Mr. Alvarez a satisfactory answer. Why would you oppose Mr. Alvarez when there are countless other women you can choose from?"

Quintin burst out laughing in extreme anger. "Oh, so you do know I'm opposing him!" He sat before Phineas, crossed his legs, and continued, "Stop wasting your time, then. I'll never sign the agreements." "You're taking the hard way when I'm offering you an easier one." Phineas glared at Quintin viciously, the urge to finish him off intensifying, especially when he saw Quintin's roguelike behavior.

He retorted, "You're right. I love taking the hard way. Show me everything you've got, but I won't sign the papers no matter what. As long as I don't sign them, Josephine will remain my wife, and the relationship between him and Josephine will never be justified. Even when Josephine breathes her last years later, her final resting place will be alongside me. Lewis can try to keep her for as long as he can."

He then nonchalantly picked up an orange from the table and toyed with it.

Phineas frowned and threatened, "I may end your life. Aren't you afraid?"

"What are you waiting for? Come on, make your move." Glancing at Phineas, Quintin took in his sour expression and beamed. "Hm. It seems like you don't have the nerve to do so. What else do you have to say? Get the hell out of here.

"Oh, right. The entire internet knows Josephine is my wife now. You can stop trying."

Phineas' face changed. "What do you mean?"

Quintin gave a jerk of his chin. "Check out social media and the trending topics."

Phineas immediately took out his phone and did as Quintin suggested. Good lord, Quintin's official declaration of his relationship status occupied nearly 70% of the webpage.

Any of the links would lead him to Quntin's post, which was a photo of his and Josephine's marriage certificate. He kept Josephine's name pixelated but not her photo. Also, Quintin shamelessly changed his username to "The Love of My Life." In the caption, he wrote, "Let me be a part of your life for years to come."

Furthermore, Quintin requested favors from his connections and got many celebrities to share his post, and they also bestowed their blessings upon their marriage.

With so many celebrities being his witnesses, there were no two ways about his identity and marriage.

"You!" Phineas almost exploded with rage. He could no longer spare a thought about the divorce agreements. Almost immediately, Phineas exited the house and phoned Lewis to report this matter. After he left, Quintin instantly shut the door, locking him out.

...

Meanwhile, Dr. Halliday apprised Josephine of the explanation he had prepared beforehand. He even found her notebooks and showed them to her.

Josephine couldn't gather much information from the notebooks as Lewis had torn off most pages.

The notebooks' content seemed insignificant. They contained no information other than her daily routine and what happened between her and Lewis. There was no mention of Quintin, Dr. Halliday, Mrs. Larson or the rest.

She could only listen to Dr. Halliday and partly comprehended her condition after he was done sharing.

Turning to look at Lewis, she noticed he was attentive to his computer and wasn't looking at her.

Josephine felt as though she had misunderstood Lewis. She almost believed Quintin when he said Lewis was behind her memory loss. She felt guilty over it whenever she recalled it.

Having accomplished his mission, Dr. Halliday rose and said, "Mr. Alvarez, I'll take my leave."

Phineas' call came in just then. Lewis picked up his phone, then waved his hand, gesturing Dr. Halliday to get out of his sight.

Upon answering the call, Lewis heard Phineas say, "Sir, it's not good. You might want to take a look at the internet." He hung up and promptly did so.

He didn't even have to check the trending topic. Seven out of ten articles on his homepage were about Quintin's marriage.

It was needless to emphasize the influence of celebrities. They only needed to share Quintin's post to put it in the limelight.

Moreover, the Fowler family was a leading figure in the entertainment industry. Any celebrity would share the post even if Quintin didn't contact them.

Quintin posted the photo on the first day of the New Year, and it had been the talk of the town for three days with no signs of dying down.

He deliberately disseminated the news to ensure his safety. If anything were to happen to him, Josephine would never see the light when she was with Lewis. Besides, because of the recent fight outside the city hall and, now, the fuss over his marriage, everyone would suspect Lewis if misfortune befell him.

Now, Lewis would have to think twice before taking action against Quintin, or else Lewis wouldn't be able to wind the matter up without making a fuss if it blew up.

Lewis' face gradually darkened as he stared at the photo.

Josephine could feel his temper brewing even from afar.

She hesitated and edged closer to him.

Lewis placed the phone on the table with a clack. He wasn't being rough, but Josephine shuddered nonetheless.

She tugged at his sleeve.

Lewis glanced at her, his eyes full of frost, which scared Josephine so much that she dared not do anything else. Suddenly, he stood up, grabbed his coat, and briskly strode out of the house with a threatening aura.