"Get coffee? What do you mean, get coffee? You are a married woman and you should be with your husband on a day like this," Elizabeth replied.
Lila wanted to scream at her sister; she knew she was mocking her and this was supposed to be a joke but she did not like the way it sounded. She had always known all her life that she would have to get married to whoever her father chose for her; what she did not anticipate was that she would get together with her mortal enemy.
"Come on Eli!" she exclaimed instead of saying what she wanted to say.
"Lila, you know you can't be seen in public for now. If you do, then all of the things that our parents have tried to do will go down the drain," she said and then smacked her lips. "You definitely do not want that to happen, do you?" she asked. Lila tried to listen so she could know what tone her sister was using with her but it seemed not to work.
"Of course, I do not want that to happen and that is the reason I walked willingly into the lion's den." Likla wanted to be sure that her entire family knew she was not pleased with how things had turned out.
"Oh, come on, trust me, from experience, I am sure it would not be as bad as you think it would be." Lila took a deep breath. No matter what anyone said to her, she would never believe that there could be anything good about living with the devil. Levi was the devil; she had seen it many times and she did not need a third party to tell her.
Aside from the fact that he was a Beaumont, she hated me personally; he was always keeping her on her toes and that was the only good thing about him. She hated that she had to constantly fight for a spot because of him.
"Sure, you know this because you married your sworn enemy." Lila's tone was sarcastic and Elizabeth could not miss it.
"Of course, none of us know what it is that you are dealing with because no one on earth can relate to the great Lila Carrington and her problems; however, you need to remember that I was also pushed into a marriage. I was even younger than you when I got married and I was forced to grow up and become a mother, figuring all of it out all by myself."
Lila understood what her sister was saying but there was no way this was the same. Elizabeth had gotten married to Noah after a date; there was no feeling attached and it was more of a stranger situation. Two of them grew comfortable around each other, the same with Victoria. For her though, she was always aware of the feelings she felt when she saw Levi and the only word strong enough to encapsulate it was hatred and yet she was supposed to be in a loving relationship with him? She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak but her sister beat her to it.
"I would love to stay and chat but I need to go and take care of Charlie. He needs my attention." Lila could tell that it was an excuse to get off the phone. Charlie had the best nannies attached to him and Elizabeth barely had to do anything for him. She wanted to throw a tantrum but maybe she had thrown one too many and it might make her family want to avoid her.
"Okay, I guess your kid needs you so you have to go," she said in a voice that was practically begging her to stay on the line. She had nothing to do and chatting with her sisters was probably the only interesting thing in her life. "Can I at least call you later?"
"I guess so." Elizabeth's voice was soft and quick. It was like she could not wait to get off the call and Lila knew when to stop.
"Talk to you, alter then," she said, pulling the phone off her ears. She stared at her phone screen, trying Victoria's number; however, it went straight to voicemail. She took a deep breath and stood up, walking to the door.
"I am going to take a walk and clear out my head," she announced as if she were talking to a crowd of people. She looked at her body and decided that she was going to get some stuffed animals to keep her company or else she might go insane. She was taking a walk and at the same time checking out the house; she did not bother herself with the details but if she was going to live there then she might as well know how the house worked.
She was walking to the backyard when she saw something. She was sure her eyes were doing a trick on her but she could not help but check it again. Sitting on the dirt with his hands under the back of his neck, she saw Levi doing situs with the sun high in the sky. The only problem with this scene was that he was shirtless.
She tried to peel her eyes off his body but the more she tried to look away, the more her eyes stuck. It was almost like filling up a basket with water. "Who knew he had such a good body?" she found herself murmuring and at that moment she could not help but scold herself. Why would she think of his body?She forced her heavy legs that wanted to stand there and watch him continue to flex the muscles but still, she could not bear the embarrassment that would follow him catching her doing it. He was just like any other vain heir who cared so much about their body. It made no sense to her why he would be exercising with the sun high in the sky after he had run that morning.She turned to the side, ready to escape before he could see her but as soon as she turned, she knew that her plan had failed. "Lila?" his voice called out to her."Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed angrily to herself. How did she let it come to this? She should have turned away from him immediately when she stumbled upon
"Want to get hotdogs?'Lila raised her head and looked in the direction of the hotdog stand; she had never thought that one day she would be walking down the street with a heavy disguise and thick-rimmed dark glasses to hide her identity from the press and Levi would be by her side as they walked down the busy street. She knew that they were not supposed to be doing this because if anyone caught a whiff that they were still in the country and not on their honeymoon as they claimed, then it was going to be big trouble for both families. As much as she knew how wrong this was, she could not help but feel relieved. Since her father dropped the news on her about her marriage to Levi, she had been feeling so overwhelmed by everything.Standing outside and allowing the warm breeze and the indistinct chatter around made her for a moment forget all she had been going through in recent times. "Do you want some?" he asked again and she looked at him as he stood there with a baseball cap coverin
Levi gripped the wheel tighter than he should, and after he had whipped the corner of her mouth, they sat in uncomfortable silence until their ice cream began to drip. She mentioned that they had to get back home; unable to enjoy the food they had gotten, they silently walked back to the car and now they were on their way home. Levi thought he was already breaking through the insane brick wall she had built up between them but now he was sure that with his action there was no way she was not fortifying the wall to be stronger now.As soon as the car stopped in front of the house, she hopped down and walked in as if she were trying to run away without making it too obvious to the other party. Levi came down but before he could make it to the other side of the car, she was long gone from sight."Well, good night," he called but he knew that there was no way she could hear him. He walked into the house and got a bottle of water before returning to his room.Lila wanted the incessant buzz
Lila was knocking loudly and was not planning on stopping until the door opened and she could talk to Levi. She would never have come to his room, especially not early in the morning but she had no choice. The door opened slowly and he peeked his head out at her. "He..." he was cut off by her pushing the door and abraging in."Save the pleasantries," she said, pushing the phone in his face as she was standing on her tiptoes. He squinted his eyes at the phone and took it out of her hand when she was barely able to keep the phone steady. "What do you plan on doing?" she asked when his expression indicated that he finally understood what was going on."Well, I am sure it is just a random rumour, and it will be gone soon," he said. He knew it was not a random rumour; his face was clear in the image and no one could tell who it was that was sitting opposite him. Why was he in the city after they had boldly declared to the entire country that they were headed out for their honeymoon? He was
Lila could feel the change in the atmosphere. Levi, who always had his head high and a smirk on his face, seemed rattled to know his father was calling. He seemed to hesitate, but he picked up the phone and put it in his ear."Hello, sir?" Levi said. Lila wished she could hear what was going on on the other side of the phone but somehow, looking at his face, she could tell what this was about."What are you doing about this?" Daniel's voice was sharp. He did not want to waste time with planetaries."I am just getting to know about it and I have yet to think of a solution.""That is always the issue with you; you are always the last to know when something concerns you." Danile's tone was accusing. Levi would have retorted but this was not the first time something like this occurred. "You have to do something about this since both of you were foolish enough to think that it would be okay for you both to go out when the press thinks you are away on your honeymoon.""We made a mistake but
Lila did not have the luxury to think about his body as she did yesterday. She was trying to come up with a better idea than the one he had. They could not go on a real honeymoon. If she had married someone else, she might have considered it, but Levi Beaumont? They were not compatible in any way and even worse, they were enemies.She had always wanted to get married to a man she loved and one who loved her back but she knew it was very close to impossible with her family. After the marriage with Levi ended, her father would try to fix her into another marriage immediately. She did not need to be told all of these things; she knew it without thinking too much of it.She wanted to get married and go on a proper honeymoon where she would love on her husband as much as he would do for her but now it was impossible anyway; however, she could not still bring herself to think of going on a trip with him. Only the two of them together? She might end up being convicted of murder."I need to t
"So did you come up with something?" Levi asked as he entered the living room.She looked down at him as the memory of his wet hair and exposed body stayed glued in her mind. She closed her eyes and opened them, hoping to have somehow done a reset on her brain, but it did not work for her; she was still very much haunted by his image. He diverted her gaze from his face; maybe it would be a good way for her mind to finally work and it seemed to work. As long as she did not look at him, then she was sure it would be okay."I guess your idea is okay," she shrugged as she kept on doing her best to look everywhere aside from him. She hoped he did not notice how she was acting towards him, and if he noticed, she hoped he would ignore it as if it were nothing."My idea?""Yes""My idea of going on a real honeymoon?" She expected him to go all out on her and make a big deal about how she was going to settle for his idea after insisting that there was something else that could be done."Yeah
"Our parents? Our parents are here." She was a hundred percent sure that he was messing with her because why on earth would her father, who was always busy, leave his day and come to meet her there? It was practically impossible."You sound as if I am lying? Why would I come up to your room just to lie to you?" From his expression, she could tell that he did not like being called a liar and it was almost convincing but she could not bring herself to accept that their parents would be there. Both parents were so busy with their daily lives that it was almost impossible to think they would come there."I have no idea; maybe this is a form of prank or entertainment for you," she said.He took a deep breath and crossed his hand over his chest and tried to cover the distance between them but she took a step back. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, another voice cut through the aur."Lila? Are you going to keep us waiting? What is taking you both so long?" Lila s
"Since we are friends and we are going all out, I think it would be nice for us to do some of the things on this list," Lila said, taking out a folded paper from her wallet and handing it over to him."What is this?""A list created by my cousins and sisters for my honeymoon," she replied. She knew that her sisters and cousins had created a teasing prank for her, but since they needed activities to keep busy and they wanted to look like a real coup, what other things would they need other than something like that?"Oh, I see, and you want us to do the things on this list?" he asked, and she nodded."We can have fun while still portraying the in-love couple for the media," she replied. He did not see anything wrong with her suggestion, so he agreed."I think the first thing for the day should be breakfast.""I agree," she said, and they decided to go down for breakfast. Of course, with all of the paparazzi moving about, they would get photographed. Instead of staying at the hotel for b
Lila gets to the private beach house but is stunned by the scene she meets. There is an arrangement of rose petals into the words 'I'M SORRY'. She is quite impressed and also shocked that Levi was capable of pulling something like that just to apologise. When she had decided to come there, she was not sure what to expect.However, standing there with Levi on the other side of the petal, arranging words, she felt her anger melt away. It was kind of cute and thoughtful for him to think of apologising in this way. She followed him with her eyes as he walked to her with a bouquet of yellow roses. He stood in front of her and pointed the bouquet at her. She did not know what to do or how to react, but she had never thought of turning down pretty flowers so she took them from him."Lila Carrington, I want to apologise," he began. She decided to finally listen to whatever excuse he had to bring up. She nodded, expecting more from him. "The truth is that though I am not in the country, I have
Jasmine did not know how to react, but when she saw that her friend was truly not moved, she decided to support her. They decide to spend the day at the beach after all; they both had nothing going on with them and they could lie around for the entire day. Lila changed into a sundress that barely stopped mid-thigh. They were to go to Jasmine's room so she could change, and they could go to the beach afterwards.As they opened the door, Levi was standing there with his card in hand, ready to open the door. Jasmine looked from Lila to Levi and cleared her throat before stepping out of the room. "Lila, I will meet you at the beach," she said before walimh wawya. She could tell that they both needed space to talk about whatever they had between them."Can we talk?" Levi asked as he stepped into the room."What else do we have to talk about? We already spoke," Lila said, her tone distant and cold."I want to explain to you why I was absent yesterday," he began, but she cut him off with a c
Lila sat up in bed, feeling her head throb from all of the alcohol she had consumed last night. Even though she was pretty tired from the party, she could not bring herself to sleep after the conversation with her sister so she took to filling the hole she felt with alcohol from the mini fridge in the room.She knew it was a bad idea for her to get wasted because she was going to feel the result in the morning, but she did not care. She had always known that even though her father regarded himself as a family man, he was more concerned about his business than his actual children. He saw the business opportunity in everything and decided when to turn his children into money-making machines.The worst of it all was that he did not stop at his children; he extended to the extended family, making sure to put everyone in the right place for not doing what he wanted from them. When her mind went to her mom, she felt even worse than she already did.To the eyes of the general public, they we
As soon as she pulled away from Marcus, she excused herself and ignored Levi. He had to know that what he had done had consequences. She did not care if he was frolicking around with that woman he had met or not; he should know that he had to keep his decency and appear as the perfect husband, at least for the year they were together. She was glad that the crowd in the room helped her keep him away from her all night. She moved swiftly through the room, ensuring not to stay in a spot for a long time; that way, by the time he wanted to approach her, she was long gone from there.The party ended and she began to head back to the room. It was tiring as they had been made to stand all through the party; it was fun while it lasted, but now she needed to sleep to replenish all of the energy she had expended that night."Lila?" Levi said in a loud voice as he moved towards her. She looked awkward and wished that they were in a much more enclosed space; then she could have ignored him without
"I thought Levi was going to show up in style and stun the crowd, but it seems like I was wrong," Jasmine murmured. Lila had tried to act as if his not showing up was not having an effect on her, but how could it not? He was going to make rumours brew, and that was a disadvantage for them both."You see why I do not like him? He always does things how he pleases. I am here putting on a great show and he is nowhere to be found," she muttered angrily in response. She had been trying her best all night not to get drunk, and she feared that if she drank all of the contents in the glass in her hand, she might be dirty dancing on the dance floor to classic music again."Call him up again; maybe something happened." Lila wished something happened to him; that had to be the only explanation for why he had ghosted like this. "Maybe he got hit by a bus or is having a bad day with stomach troubles.""Sounds like you would wish that for him," Lila murmured, a smile climbing her lips as she though
Lila had gotten to know that the island was hosting a party and since she had nothing else to do, she decided to go to the party. As usual, Levi was gone all day so she sent him a message informing him about the party before she went dress shopping. She knew her mother would approve of them going to the party so she made plans to do so.She and Jasmine spent a bit of time shopping for dresses before getting their hair, nails, and makeup done. By the time they were all done with it all, it was already close to the time for the party. Lila checked her phone for the hundredth time in a second; Levi had not replied to the message she sent and he was nowhere to be seen. Knowing that this was an opportunity for them to get their names out there, she was sure he would not miss it so she left a note for him in the room telling him to meet her there as she would be waiting.By the time she got to the party venue, she realised it was a much larger party than she had thought. There were tons of
Lila sighed when she got her mom's call. Levi was back in the room and her mom was demanding to get dinner with both of them before she left. Lila knew that it was going to be uncomfortable for her to sit through dinner with her mom constantly throwing jabs at her in front of Levi. She knew Levi might have been going through the same with his parents but still, it was a bit embarrassing for her to show him that side of her."Wasn't there any other thing to wear out?" Eleanor asked immediately, and they sat. Lila rolled her eyes as she tried to control the anger she felt from knowing that her mother was going to say worse. She looked down at her dress; she had been satisfied by the clothes she picked out before she left the room but no, her mother's tone was making her doubt herself. "You are in the eye of the public constantly; why don't you stick to wearing designer brands? Do you want me to send you a personal stylist?" she asked.If she wasn't her mother, she would have pegged her
Lila groaned in bed as she shifted from side to side. She looked around as she tried to process where she was. She blinked and memories flooded her mind, beginning from when she had agreed to marry Levi to how drunk she was yesterday. She remembered every small detail that happened yesterday and was grateful that she had not embarrassed herself while drunk last night. She sat up in bed and something on the nightstand caught her eye.She picked up the sticky note and a card of hangover pills fell out; she read it and a smile unknowingly climbed her face. 'I have important business to take care of this morning; there is something to eat on the table and this is something for your hangover. Take Care'She smiled but then a frown took over on her face. She could not believe that he was caring for her while running to that woman from the other day. "Why doesn't he just stay with her instead of shuffling back and forth between us?" she murmured as she crumbled the paper in hand and threw it