I flinched a little at the way his voice suddenly rose. Why did he look so angry? Did I do something wrong?
Was he afraid I might pass on some hospital disease, and that's why he wanted me to tell him from the start, so he wouldn't have to ride in the same car with me?!
"W-why? I didn't bring back any contagious disease from the hospital," I said in a low voice.
Lando's eyes snapped toward me, his brows drawn tight. "That's not what I meant," he said firmly.
For a moment, it looked like he wanted to add something else. His lips parted, then pressed shut again, like the words caught in his throat. In the end, he just let out a soft huff and muttered, "Let's just go home."
I stared at him, completely lost. What was his deal? One moment he was upset, the next he was calm, as if nothing had happened at all.
But the part that really caught my attention was … go home? I didn't even know where he lived. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it until now.
All I'd cared about earlier was getting out of that hellhole and following Lando wherever he decided to take me.
From Helcia's memories, I vaguely recalled hearing that he lived somewhere on the outskirts of the capital, somewhere far from the noise of the city, tucked away where people couldn't bother him.
Addison had once said bitterly that Lando lived there because his father didn't want to see his face in the main house. There was even a chance he'd been dumped in a small, shabby house, since his father had only given him land but never bothered to build him a house.
I felt my eyes twitch as I recalled this from Helcia's memories. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with his father?
What kind of man looks at his own disabled son and thinks, "Here, take this land, but don't expect me to build you a home." It was cruel, heartless, like tossing scraps to a dog.
Or maybe Addison had just exaggerated things? Well, I didn't know for sure.
Still, if Lando was really hiding the fact that he was a billionaire, wasn't it possible his house might actually be small and kind of shabby? The thought made me picture a secret mogul living in a crooked little cottage, counting billions on a rickety table.
The image in my head grew wilder the more I thought about it. Maybe he lived in a rundown shack with peeling paint and creaky floorboards, secretly hiding gold bars under the bed, or perhaps a tiny one-bedroom flat with leaky pipes where he sat in the dark, casually transferring billions from one account to another.
Alright, maybe I was overthinking it. He probably wasn't that pitiful, and even if his house turned out to be a little shabby, I honestly wouldn't mind.
After all, I grew up in a tiny orphanage where rats running across the floor and rain dripping through a leaky roof were just part of everyday life. Compared to that, anything would feel like an upgrade.
But all my thoughts scattered the moment the car rolled into his driveway and I finally saw his house.
A massive estate stretched out before me. There were tall gates, manicured gardens, and a mansion so big it looked like something out of a movie, the kind of place that made you wonder if royalty secretly lived there.
My jaw nearly hit the floor. This … this was his house?
For someone who supposedly wanted to hide his wealth, he was doing a terrible job at it!
"Oh my god! Mr. Brixton, do you live with a hundred people here or something?!" I rolled down the car window and stuck my head out, gawking at the endless driveway that led to the mansion.
The place was enormous, maybe three times bigger than the Davenport residence!
"I live alone," Lando said flatly. "I don't know about the staff, but I'm pretty sure they don't add up to a hundred."
I went quiet for a moment, stunned that he had actually taken my nonsense comment seriously.
"Um … was this house a gift from your father?" I blurted out, unable to stop my curiosity.
Lando hesitated, then replied, "You could say that."
From the way he said it, though, I could tell the real answer was no.
So his father had really just given him an empty piece of land, and he built this entire mansion with his own money?
But then … wasn't he worried his family would eventually find out he was a billionaire? If they knew, they would never let him marry just anyone. Madeline, for one, would've volunteered herself in a heartbeat instead of shoving me at him like some sacrificial lamb.
The system suddenly chimed in. [Why hide his house when his family never even bother to visit him?]
Oh … that explained a lot.
But really, why did he have to hide his identity? Would he be in danger if his family found out he was a billionaire?
I didn't let the thought linger too long, because honestly, exploring his house seemed way more fun.
After the bodyguard helped Lando out of the car, I wasted no time and grabbed his wheelchair to push him inside. He looked a little startled, but this time he didn't stop me.
"Wow, your house is so practical!" I said with genuine excitement as soon as I noticed the ramps instead of stairs leading up to the mansion.
I pushed his wheelchair here and there like I was giving myself a tour, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn't my house. Lando let out a small sigh, probably wondering what kind of lunatic he had just married.
The housemaids, however, froze mid-step the moment we rolled in. A few of them exchanged glances, whispering behind their hands as if I couldn't see them. One even raised her brows so high I thought they might fly off her forehead.
"What is she doing?" one of them muttered under her breath.
"Is she … playing with Young Master's wheelchair?" another whispered, her voice laced with horror. "Who even is she?"
I flashed them my brightest smile. "Hi! Don't mind me, I'm just test-driving my husband's house!"
Their jaws practically hit the floor, but I ignored them because I had just spotted something so interesting that I nearly broke into a run while pushing Lando's wheelchair.
"Mr. Brixton!" I gasped dramatically. "You have an elevator in your house!!"
Lando pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was already regretting every life decision that led him to this moment, while the maids looked like they were about to faint.