Throughout the car ride, Lily kept her eyes focused on the road. She didn’t want Tony to see how red her cheeks were.
‘I should have applied some foundation like Rachael suggested.’ She thought and almost hissed out loud.
“Alright, Lily. This is our first stop.” Tony announced as he pulled up in front of a boutique. Not just any Boutique, It was one of the most prominent boutiques in Paris, Dumont Couture, owned by a famous French man, Leon Dumont,
Lily tilted her head to the side to view the building from the car, and her mouth dropped to the ground.
Everyone in Paris knew Dumont Couture, but only a few had been inside. That was because they only sold expensive items, ‘overly expensive’ as Lily liked to call them.
“Come on, Lily. Let’s go in.” Tony said and helped her out of her seat. As they walked in, Lily wasn’t surprised that he was well-known. She figured he was already a regular customer.
Lily wanted to object to shopping at a place like this since there were cheaper options with wearable clothes, but Tristan beat her to it before she could speak.
“Don’t think about anything, Lily. Just pick whatever you like. Either you do that, or I do it for you.” He said with a warning. Lily nodded slowly.
Three staff were appointed to them, and Tristan asked them to pick whatever Lily liked.
Three hours later, Tony’s car was filled with shopping bags containing shoes, dresses, jewelry, and many more, which he had carefully chosen for Lily since she was too humble to do so herself.
“This is too much, Tony. The last thing I want is to become a burden to you.” Lily said, her eyes traveling across the countless shopping bags.
Ignoring her, Tony called for a driver from his home to collect and take the bags home since he wasn’t done with Lily. A few minutes later, the bags were brought home, and Tony drove to the following location: a hair salon. After that, there was a spa treatment, and by the time they were done, it was already six in the evening, so Tony took her to a restaurant for dinner.
As he entered the restaurant, he was immediately recognized and taken to his reserved table. As they settled down, Tony ordered after asking Lily for her preference. Once their order was taken, Lily decided to speak to him.
“Tony?” She called out, and Tony hummed. “I…I appreciate all you have done for me, but this is too much. It is already enough that you are letting me stay at your place. I don’t feel comfortable with you going out of your way to do all of this for me.” Lily said calmly, hoping that Tony would understand her.
She paused and stared at him, waiting for him to say something, but he kept quiet. “Tony, please.”
“I have told you, Lily. I have strong feelings for you that I do not wish to fight. Now tell me, how can you burden me when I have these strong feelings for you? If anything, I want to do more, and I won’t stop even after you become mine, I’ll continue to do more.” Tony said, reaching out to grab her hand. Just then, a waiter came out with a bottle of champagne for them, and they both paused their conversation until the waiter was done.
Once he was done, Lily looked up to thank him, and her heart stopped before the words left her lips. The waiter looked at her with wide eyes and then at Tony. Lily’s heart raced as she stared at him.
The waiter was a close friend of Louis’s, Manuel, who frequented the house and tried to sleep with her countless times.
Tony noticed the fear on her face as she stared at the waiter and decided to intervene.
“That will be all, thank you. You may leave.” He said, loud enough for the waiter to hear. The man cleared his throat and slowly took his eyes off Lily before dipping a bow and scurrying away.
“Is everything alright?” Tony asked, worried about the state she was in. Lily’s mind was too occupied to hear Tony’s voice. All that was going through her was the possibility of Manuel informing Louis of what he had just seen.
“Lily,” Tony called out again, louder this time, and Lily snapped back to reality with a jerk.
“Huh?” She asked absentmindedly. Tony sighed and moved to her side to be close to her.
“Do you know him?” He asked, staring into her eyes and holding her face so she couldn’t break the eye contact. Lily blinked several times, her eyes filled with fear, and then she nodded.
“Who is he?” Tony asked, and she took deep breaths to calm herself before explaining.
“He is a close friend of Louis. His name is Manuel, and he…he has tried to…” A tear slipped out of her eyes, and her words stuck in her throat as thoughts of her time at Louis’s house flooded her mind.
Tony’s jaw tightened as she spoke. He didn’t need to hear her complete it to know what she meant. He suddenly had the urge to call the waiter back and punch him in the face until he could barely move.
“He’s going to tell Louis about this. I know he will.” Lily said, shaking in fear. It pained Tony to see her in such a state. It made him wonder how much Louis had broken her for her to be this scared of him.
Wrapping his arms around her, Tony comforted her. “Nothing is going to happen, Lily. I won’t let anyone lay their hands on you. You are safe with me, Lily. Always remember that.” He said, patting her back softly as she sniffed.
After what happened, Tony decided it would be best to take her home.
As soon as they left, Manuel came through a door and pulled out his phone as he watched Tony carry Lily to his car. He immediately called Louis.
“What’s up, man?” Louis picked at the third ring.
“I just saw Lily,” Manuel reported, and Louis’s eyes widened, and he sat up from his bed.
“Where is she?” He asked, already grabbing his keys and getting ready to leave the house.
“She came into the restaurant with Tony Martinez. They looked like a couple, all dressed up with hands touching.” Manuel said, and Louis fumed with anger.
“That whore! I knew she was cheating on me!” He yelled and kicked the stool in front of him.
“Tony Martinez is the owner of TM Hospitals, right?” He asked, and Manuel confirmed it.
“I see that she went into that hospital to seduce her boss. No wonder she got hired so quickly. That bitch is fucking that bastard hospital owner.” He said with gritted teeth.
“What are you going to do?” Manuel asked, and Louis balled his fists in anger.
“I am going to make that bitch, Lily, pay and teach that rich fucker a lesson.”