LILY’S POV “Have you heard from Caster?” I asked Derek. He was on his way out of our hotel room and even though I knew it was bad timing, I still had to ask before I forget.“Can we talk about this once I’m back?” He asked.I nodded. I knew at the back of my mind that there was nothing to talk about. When he gets back, he’ll be too tired to discuss anything or I’ll be asleep already. We’ve been at this resort hotel for the past three days and I’m wondering if we came here for his work or actually for a vacation. At this point. I don’t think I can wait to go back home.“Are you okay, baby?” he asked. He was already holding the doorknob, ready to leave the room. I don’t know what prompted him to actually turn back. I faked a smile and nodded.“I’m good. You should go for your meeting, we’ll talk later,”He kissed my temple before finally leaving the room. I sighed loudly before picking up a book to read. I would’ve loved to visit the town but I also hate the fact that Derek’s bodyguard
DEREK’S POV “What happened while I was absent?” I looked up from my desk to see Luke striding into my office as if he owned the place. I glared at him. “To what do I owe this unpleasant visit?” I asked, frowning as he pulled out a chair and sat on it. He smirked, pointing at me all of a sudden. “You’re probably the most boring husband of the century right now. I can’t believe you’re doing this while on a vacation with your wife. I mean, we all know you’re hardworking but take a break, dude,” He advised. “Am I hallucinating or dreaming? Because the last time I remember, we aren’t this close for you to barge into my office without knocking, sit without being told to sit, and even tell me what I’m supposed to do with my life,” I spat angrily. “It’s just a piece of advice, Derek,”“Shove that advice up your ass because you’re seven years too late for that,” He clenched his fist that was on the table. “You need to grow up and let the past be the past, Derek. You keep mentioning it a
LILY’S POV Once the results of the paternity tests were announced, the silence in the living area was deafening. I held on to the hem of my dress for stability. For the first time in a while, I experienced mixed feelings, the emotions were raw and all over the place. I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad about the turn of events. “I don’t think I understand what you just said,” Derek answered, replying to his dad’s words. Two days ago, I was still at the shopping mall when I got a text from Derek, telling me to come back to the hotel because of some emergencies, he only went into full details once we were on the plane on our way back home. The vacation was cut short just like that and Pearl promised to keep in touch. “I just used simple words, Derek, try to stay calm and understand the situation,” Derek was on his feet already. Derek, his parent, Alex, Arianna, Brie, and the baby were also present. Each party presented the result of the test they carried out in two hospitals,
Derek’s POV Monday afternoon, I arrived at my lawyer’s office to discuss the turn of events. I’d already informed him about the agreement I had with Brie over the weekend and he also got to work. He called me a few hours ago that I should see him at his office. I would’ve called Lily to join me but it’ll be insane to keep involving her in my problems.“Hey boyfriend,” Henry yelled as he walked in. I groaned once I set my eyes on him.“What are you doing here?” I asked him. I was at the restaurant downtown, not far from my office and my lawyer’s office, we thought it was the right place to meet since it was quiet and serene.“I’m trying to be the supportive boyfriend here. Your dad called me during the weekend and told me you’re now a dad, it was unbelievable at first but thinking about how notorious you were, it was expected actually,”“Are you here to mock me?” I asked him, frowning.“Yeah, actually. I would never pass on a chance to make fun of you. It’s like I live for that one re
LILY’S POV During dinner, Derek informed the family about the outcome of his meeting with his lawyer. While pondering on the matter with his dad, our eyes met and I smiled at him. To my utmost surprise, he had a deep frown on his face as he stared at me for a while before looking away. That actually confirmed my suspicion. He had been avoiding me all afternoon, refusing to look at me at all and whenever he did, his eyes said more than his mouth.“I think that should do it. A few weeks more and we’ll find out the truth,” His mom chipped in.“Do you think we can trust this lawyer of yours, Derek?” Arianna asked.“Yes, Damien wouldn’t do anything shady. I trust him with my life,”“Great, then. Goodnight everyone,” His father stood up from the table, ready to get to bed for an early night. Derek suddenly called his dad, getting his attention.“Lily and I will be going back to our house in two days, I hope you guys are okay with that,” He stated. His father turned to look at me and at the
Derek’s POV “What’s going on, Derek? Did you guys have an argument?” My mom asked as soon as Lily left the house. I swallowed the food, praying it doesn’t get stuck in my throat. Whatever answer she was looking for, she wouldn’t get it, I know that for sure, I’m not about to tell them that Lily is cheating on me.“We’re fine, thank you for asking,” I spat.“Must you be disrespectful and sarcastic about everything? I asked if something happened between you and Lily,” She yelled.I shrugged. “Like I said, we’re fine. It’s not something you should worry about,” I assured her.“Is this why you want to leave here?” My father held her hand as soon as we all noticed her voice was cracking.“You shouldn’t be proud that your adult son and his wife are staying with you. It's unheard of and highly embarrassing,” I advised.She glared at me, sending daggers with her eyes. I quickly looked away and focused on the food. My father was already on his feet, pacifying her. She started to say something
LILY’S POV “Are you okay?” I asked Brandon as I helped him to stand on his feet.“What was that, Lily? Who the hell was that?” He wanted to turn and take a look at Derek but I stopped him.I wasn’t expecting Derek to have attacked Brandon like that. Only God knows what was going through his head. I wish I could glare at him right now. I can’t believe he had someone to follow me and monitor my steps because if not, how would he have found out that I was at the restaurant yesterday? Even if he did find out, the least he could’ve done was ask me about it.“Lily?” I turned to Brandon, forcing the raging thoughts out of my head. “Yes, you said something,”He nodded. “Who was that? Why did he hit me like that?”My shoulder slumped, I just wanted the walls to open so I can creep in and hide away. “My husband. That was my husband, Derek,” I bit my tongue as I said those words.“What? Why did he have to hit me like that? I didn’t even do anything wrong,”“I think it was a misunderstanding. H
LILY’S POV Two days later, we were back at Derek’s place. We still haven’t talked to each other even though it’s been two days. Whatever I’d said to him had probably gotten to him and he was ready to reconcile, not that I made an effort though. Mrs. Miller was really reluctant when we were ready to leave. She asked me more than twice if I actually wanted to go and even though I didn’t want to, I assured her that it was for the best.“Thanks for the help, Arianna,” She had insisted on helping us settle back in even though Derek refused at first. He had employed some cleaners to clean the house till it was sparkling before we even left the Miller’s mansion.“Don’t you dare say that again. We’re family, Lily, you shouldn’t thank me like that for helping my sister out,” I smiled.“I know but I just want to show you how grateful I am,”She took my hand. She was already getting ready to leave and I swear that I miss her already. “You don’t have to, I know how amazing you are as a person L
LILY’S POV ONE YEAR LATER “Love, can you please check up on the baby? I need to pee,” I called out to Derek before rushing into the bathroom. I heard him saying something that sounded like yes but I didn’t bother to listen. I was so pressed that if I didn’t rush into the toilet like that, I would’ve messed myself up. Once I was done, I took my time before coming out. I knew Derek got her, he’s been by her side the moment she was born and never left mine either. He has proved to me that he was a good dad and I’m so proud of him. Three months into my pregnancy, I told him I got a job but he was not comfortable with it and I had to convince him that it wasn’t anything strenuous. I’d learned how to program as a starter and I got an internship program that helped developed me into a junior developer. I know it's stressful when combined with college and the baby but I took a gap year to focus on my career and my child. Once I’m ready, I’ll get back it college and maybe change my degre
DEREK'S POV “Would that have made you feel so much better about yourself? Would you have felt accepted by the family? Would that have been enough to erase the fact that you’re nothing but a bastard?” I gritted my teeth.He started growling like a wild dog, repeatedly.“You shouldn’t have messed with Lily. She wasn’t a part of the family from the start, she shouldn’t have had to pay for the sins of our parents, she had enough already on her plate. Q wouldn’t have died and the family wouldn’t be in so much pain,” I told him.“She chose you and that was her offense. I had my eyes on her since she was at mom’s agency. I’ve always wanted to have a taste of her but mom took her to you and even when I moved into your house, all she wanted was you and not me, why? I would rather kill her than listen to that answer,” Inodded, realizing he was an unapologetic, unrepentant and crazy bastard.“I’m not disappointed in you, Caster because I knew just who you are, I could see through you when othe
DEREK’S POVI banged my hand on the table, controlling the anger that was already boiling inside of me. I was at the police station with my parents, Alex and Arianna. Lily had refused to come to see Caster on the excuse that she had a class but I knew it was because she didn’t want to see him or she wasn’t ready.I don’t know how Arianna summoned the courage to come with us but if I was her, I wouldn’t have been able to. Alex, on the other hand, had tried talking to Arianna but she wasn’t bulging. I was the only person she was talking to, the rest were being ignored and I mean my parents.“You’re telling me that someone knew Caster messed up with Lily’s car but you had to wait till the accident before you did something, right?” I asked my dad again for the third time because I didn’t want to believe the answer he was giving me every damn time.“I’m sorry, Derek, the guy I hired said the only way they could lure him out was to wait for the accident to happen. There’s no way Caster woul
DEREK’S POV We decided to keep the pregnancy news from the family. It was a mutual agreement between Lily and I. we thought it was for the best for the safety of both mother and child. The family was still dealing with Caster’s case and we didn’t want to put ourselves in danger by revealing the news.“Why did all these pregnancy symptoms decide to wait for two months before hitting me?” Lily groaned as she walked down the stairs.“Did you throw up again?” She nodded.“For the second time this morning alone,” Damn! That was bad. I was beginning to get worried about her. Even though the doctor said it was normal, I still wasn’t okay with it.“You should’ve called me, baby,” She laughed as she walked into the kitchen.“Meanwhile, what bomb have you been cooking up in here? Everywhere is a mess,” She started laughing again. I could only smile as I watch her laughing her ass off at the current state of the kitchen.“Well, I’ve been preparing pancake,”She stopped laughing, her mouth fell
LILY’S POV “You can leave now, my family will soon be here for me,” I dismissed the woman standing in front of me.“You don’t have to be so mean, Ataraxia,”I gritted my teeth as I glared at her. It took everything in me not to face her and yell like a lunatic right now.“My name is Lily, not Ataraxia, and thank you for your help, I’ll compensate you if you want,” I told her again for the tenth time and still counting.A few hours ago, I was on my way to get some groceries from the store when my car’s brake stopped working all of a sudden. I couldn’t even hold my emotions together as I saw my life flash in front of my eyes. I could only beg God to take the wheels because, at that point, death was calling. My car maneuvered out of the road and hit a street pole.Even though that stopped the car, both the car and street pole were damaged. Smoke was everywhere in the car and as I tried to open the door, I realized that I was stuck. I couldn’t find my phone to make a call and help wasn’t
DEREK’S POV “I found out that Roman returned to Italy a few weeks ago, precisely two days after Q was buried,” Sebastian informed us.Well, we were currently meeting at my office together with Luke. Someone has been messing up with things a lot around my house and the mansion. My parents don’t feel safe and my dad had to suggest for my mom leave town for a few months till we can get things back to normal.Caster is still MIA but we could all tell some of those things were his handwork. Threat notes were being sent to our homes, strange calls as well as someone messing up with the car tires while we were out. It’s like he’s stalking us all every minute.“Your Intel is fast, I’ll give him that,” Sebastian rolled his eyes at Luke’s comment.“Are you serious right now? I’m trying to help here, what have you done?” Luke scoffed.“It took you and your Intel a few weeks to realize that Roman wasn’t in town and probably not helping Caster. Stop giving yourself more credit than you should, Se
DEREK’S POV “Uh, I still want to sleep,” Lily groaned as I drove to my parents’ house that Saturday morning. I had to wake her up by eight and she grumbled for more than thirty minutes as we got dressed and left the house. “You should have some sleep before we get there,” I advised. She mumbled something incoherent before she closed her eyes and slept off. I smiled as I took in her features; her plump pink lips, those butterfly eyelashes, and her beautiful nose, I want to keep kissing them for the rest of my life. A few minutes later, we arrived at the house. She was already awake, complaining about how she still needed more sleep. “We can officially call you sleeping beauty now,” I joked. She glared at me and I smiled. “You don’t have the right to throw a joke at me right now,” I frowned. “Why?” “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that we’ll be visiting your parents this morning? We were at the club till 1 am and you still didn’t let me sleep when I got back,” I grinned. “Don’t
DEREK’S POV It took everything in me to not stand up and punch Damien when he walked into my club a few hours after the show started.The artist that was invited had already concluded his performance and left after signing and taking pictures with some of his fans. I thought Lily would love a picture with him but my girl stood back, shook her head when I mentioned it, and told me she wasn’t a fan. She was just here to support me and accompany Brandon and Scarlet.After the concert ended, about a hundred thousand fans of the guy wanted to party at the club but I had to turn down about 90,000 of them. Ten thousand people were enough, I couldn’t risk having such a large number of people in such a place. It’ll be bad for business.“Don’t do anything crazy, Derek,” Lily pulled my hand, already noticing how I was glaring at Damien. He had told me he won’t be here, so what’s with the surprise?“I promise, I’ll only hit him once,” I smirked, letting her know he was getting his ass beaten up
LILY’S POV On Friday afternoon, after my final paper, I came out to find Brandon and Scarlet waiting for me. I was surprised that Brandon would actually be here. I know I told Scarlet that I would be giving them free passes to the concert at Derek’s club but I still doubted Brandon’s presence because of what happened with Derek. That was the last time I saw him though. He’s been MIA since then around me and even though Scarlet and I met a few times after that, he never showed up.“I wasn’t expecting you to show up, Brandon. I thought you still hate me and Derek,” He snorted. I couldn’t help smiling.“I might hate Derek but I don’t hate you and who am I to say no to a free pass to that concert. So many people are trying to buy the ticker but can’t. It’s not even available anymore,” He said excitedly.The concert has been the talk of the town and for like a week now, everywhere I turn to in school, people were talking about buying the concert. I’m so proud of my man.“So, am I off your