Back then, Lillian just woke up in the morning when Leo received a call and had to leave. Even their supposed honeymoon was cut short. And it was the last time they were together.
Still, Lillian did gain some valuable experience and insights about dating and the ways of adults when the moon rises.
Parting with Leo so soon may have also been a way to prevent her from getting hurt since their marriage was because of a deal.
Falling in love with him while she was only a temporary wife would have been harder to move on from.
It was painful to accept, but Leo's blooming feelings may have changed after getting to know how boring she was.
Still, with what she experienced with Leo, Lillian was at least able to pretend she was no longer a virgin; that she had tried going all the way. And she said she was in a long-distance relationship. Thus, the jokes and teasing of her every time the topic came up finally stopped.
Lillian knew she didn't need to please everybody, or always do what others say, but it was hard when it was often brought up, and she was the only one who could not relate or did not understand.
With what she experienced with Leo, she was able to speak from real experience, at least on the things they had tried (not specific, of course).
However, it made her wonder even more if something was wrong with her for Leo to ghost her. The true romance that she thought she would finally experience vanished before her very eyes.
After their marriage, they never met again despite remaining married on paper. They communicated by phone, but that was all they had. They did not see each other again in person after their wedding.
The connection and thrill Lillian was expecting with her supposed relationship with Leo died down, too, especially as the months went on.
Lillian simply concluded that at least she got a lot of experience and money out of it.
Leo did maintain communication in the first year of their marriage, so she still got to see him and speak with him by phone when their free time, which was just once to three times a month, somehow jived.
But after a year, the communication between them suddenly stopped completely.
Leo no longer called, and his phone did not ring, even when Lillian tried to call him so many times. Either he had blocked her, or he had lost his phone and did not care to contact her again.
Lillian did not even know his home or temporary address, so there was no other way to contact him aside from the phone number he had given her.
Leo had already told her as well when they were in Las Vegas that he was not on any social media. Thus, she had no way to find him, especially when she was busy with work.
Lillian even worried that he might have gotten into an accident and died, but when she tried asking the records for a death certificate, there was none. There was no news of any Leonard Zhao dying either. It meant Leo was very much alive and probably well, but simply not contacting her.
She kept trying to contact him until she got tired and stopped. Still, she hoped and waited that he would suddenly contact her again one day, or visit her to clear things up, or end it.
Two years went by with nothing.
Lillian then realized she had been ghosted. He must have only needed to get his inheritance and was not truly interested in her. Or he gave up because they were both too busy. Or maybe he was disappointed in her when she accepted getting paid to marry him.
If Leo wanted, he could have easily contacted her, but he didn't. Thus, she did not chase. If he no longer wanted her, Lillian concluded she should not insist.
But Lillian wished he had clarified things instead of suddenly ending their communication without warning.
Leo did not even tell her a proper goodbye, or at least, divorced her after he got his inheritance, so that she was free to find a lover and marry again. Yet he didn't, and she could not contact him at all, so Lillian simply gave up on finding another lover.
She enjoyed the benefits she got from their marriage instead. Money.
What Leo gave Lillian was a huge sum of money for her, but it must have been a measly amount to him since he did not even look bothered by it. She concluded he must be filthy rich.
Leo said his inheritance from his grandmother's side was just a few million dollars and a parcel of land. But Lillian figured it must be bigger if he could simply give her, someone he met at a bar, and propose to the next day, a huge sum without stressing about it.
It was a mystery to her, but she did not ask further questions since it somehow felt dangerous to pry. Like the more she knew, the more danger she would be in.
Now, Leo was just a memory to Lillian that she sometimes fondly or bitterly revisits.
But regardless of his ghosting her, Leo was one of the reasons Lillian could afford to take a day off and take it easy like she did today.
Leo had paid her a good sum, and she used it wisely.
After careful deliberation and calculated risks, Lillian quit her corporate work and focused on her own businesses. She made her travel company bigger and created branches in other locations. She turned her cafe into a full-fledged restaurant and built a building for it. She also had branches in other locations.
Lillian also invested in more businesses, stock exchange, bitcoin, trading, real estate, AI, and other opportunities she found.
Wanting to be more productive, she even helped her most trusted friends put up their own businesses by being one of the main investors and lending money to help them begin and become stable. Once their businesses stabilized, she earned money from them without lifting a finger.
She once again poured her broken heart into becoming productive. Wait, she did not even love Leo, right?