What Separates Me and You

Tears welled in Nancy's eyes when she heard what Lewis said, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Lewis' voice was calm, as if he were narrating someone else's story. "I have a dog. I'll discipline it whenever it's disobedient. However, perhaps I've been too harsh, because it actually bit me." He shifted his steady gaze toward Nancy. "A dog only bites when pushed into a corner, and the same can be said for a human."

"Lewis..."

"Rest well. I'm going to the police department." With that, he left the bedroom.

Lewis was unexpectedly composed throughout the conversation. However, this was more daunting than if he were to question with a heart-wrenching interrogation and unleash his wrath. Nancy knew Lewis would only keep his emotions from showing when speaking to people he deemed insignificant. It was unnecessary since they were not worth it-that was what she had taught him.

Nancy covered her face with her hands and wearily closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. No one could have seen this coming. When had Lewis transformed into an entirely different person? As she sifted through her memories, she vaguely remembered a time from six years ago, right after Lewis was involved in a car accident. Following his discharge from the hospital, Lewis had never smiled like he used to and slowly turned a deaf ear to everything she said. Could a car accident truly be responsible for such a profound change in someone's personality?

Nancy was in a daze for a long time. Then, she promptly sat upright and frantically reached for her phone on the table. She called the hospital. "Mr. Lawson, can you share Lewis' treatment records from six years ago when he was admitted to the hospital due to a car accident with me?"

"Six years ago?" Mr. Lawson was surprised but agreed nevertheless. "There should be no problem, but you'll have to wait."

"Alright, please make haste."

Lewis came to the living room and saw the nanny teaching Josephine to knit a sweater.

Josephine was clumsy and couldn't learn no matter how hard she tried-she couldn't even knit a starting knot after so long. The nanny held her hands and guided her through the steps. "Here, slip it through the loop, go around it, hook it up here, and there you go."

Josephine thought it was fascinating. She tried it on her own and finally did it. She beamed in delight at the nanny.

"Master Lewis." The nanny hurriedly put down the stuff in her hands as she got up.

Lewis signaled for her to leave them, so the nanny picked up the things on the sofa and left.

Lewis glanced at the object Josephine held. "What are you knitting?"

Josephine tugged her shirt, indicating she was knitting one.

"For who?"

Josephine touched her tummy. Lewis was the one who told her she had her own baby, so the shirt was for the baby, of course. Suddenly, this man seemed dumb to her.

Lewis pondered as he watched her. Then, he smiled. "All the best."

Josephine nodded and showed him how she did it, indicating that she had already learned the ways and would soon produce a baby's clothes.

"Stay here and continue learning. I'll be out for a while."

Josephine was enjoying herself very much with knitting and seemed oblivious to what Lewis had said. She kept on twirling the yarn around.

Lewis stood for a while and left after noting that Josephine was ignoring him. He lit a cigarette in the car. Leaning against the window, he watched the sunset on the horizon with a desolate look in his eyes. He finished smoking a cigarette and headed for the police department.

The police had got their hands on Robert's call history and discovered his last conversation was with Layla. "Layla Saunders is missing as well. We can't find her anywhere. We have strong reason to suspect that she is involved in this."

Lewis flipped through the information and frowned. "No news at all?"

"No. It's hard to believe how capable Layla is of countering surveillance at this age. She must have planned the murder thoroughly if she truly is the murderer. But she'd know there's no way to escape after committing this crime." An officer pasted Layla's photo on the whiteboard. "What is she up to by lurking in the dark?"

Upon hearing the officer's words, Lewis' expression grew stern.

"She must be scheming something else now that she is hiding." Lewis seemed to have thought of something and exited the police department in a rush after casting the documents aside. Getting into the car, he stomped on the accelerator and sped toward Alvarez Manor as fast as he could. As he did, he called Conrad.

"Hello, sir?"

"Conrad, send some men to Alvarez Manor. The sooner, the better!"

"Hm? Why? Has anything happened?"

"Cut the crap and do as I say!"

Shocked, Conrad hurriedly agreed, "Yes, sir!"

Lewis hung up and went through a red light without much thought, causing an uproar on the road.

In the manor, no one paid Josephine any attention because Nancy was sick, so she returned to her bedroom after taking her meal, a maid showing her the way. She also requested to be with Baron. Laying on the bed, she patted the baby's back to lull him to sleep.

Baron slowly drifted to sleep as Josephine's eyelids started to close. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of smoke.

Josephine turned to look at the door. Wisps of smoke entered the room through the gap between the door and the floor. Puzzled, she rubbed her eyes and got out of bed to look outside. However, she couldn't open the door. Thinking she might have accidentally locked the door behind her, she tried repeatedly but to no avail.

Baron inhaled smoke and started to cry.

Josephine pounded against the bedroom door, trying to get someone to open it, but it was unusually silent outside. No one came to her.

She started coughing as the smoke in the room grew thicker. She resorted to smashing objects against the door, using her fists and anything she could find. However, the door was too sturdy and remained unscathed.

Covering her mouth and nose, Josephine returned to the bed and ran toward the bathroom with the child in her arms. She knew there was a fire outside, and there was water that she could use to put it out in the bathroom. Screwing the tap open, icy water from the shower splattered all over her, and she shuddered.

A great fire welcomed Lewis when he returned to Alvarez Manor. Towering flames engulfed the main building, casting a glow that illuminated his expression.

Slamming the car door shut, he rushed toward the living room. The flame had not reached the inner parts of the manor, but the smoke was so dense that he had to fight to keep his eyes open.

He vaguely noticed a figure on the sofa. Covering his mouth and nose with his collar, he ran forward, only to realize it was one of the maids. She wasn't dead and had only passed out.

She wasn't alone. Maids sprawled everywhere, including the stairs. He even saw several bodyguards lying on the floor.

Suddenly, Lewis heard someone banging on the door to his left. After a brief pause, he darted over.

Someone had locked the door from the outside, and someone was pounding against the door from the inside.

Lewis took a step back and kicked. His wounds hadn't fully recovered. Clutching his abdomen, he started showing a pained expression after several kicks. After pausing to catch his breath, he lifted his leg and kicked with all his might at the lock.

"Bang!"

The door opened, and out lunged a human. Lewis raised his arms to catch the person.

"Lewis! You're finally here. I thought I'd never see you again." Covering her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, Nancy wept consistently. It was hard to say whether she was crying out of fright or tearing up because of the smoke.

Lewis' eyes changed when he saw it was her. He shoved her aside and went inside. But she grabbed his arm before he could go further. "Lewis, don't go, please! It's too dangerous. Let's get out of here!" "Let go!"

"Lewis, I beg you. Let's go!" Nancy held onto him, trying her best to pull him out.