Lily’s eyes were on the ring on her finger as her thumb creased it, she was trying to distract herself from having a thousand thoughts as the car headed to their destination.
She let out a sigh and glanced at Axel, he was busy on his phone. She didn’t want to get lost staring at him again, she looked away from him and looked out the window.
She had never been to this part of the city, all her life she had been in New York but she never saw the urban part of it. Everything felt so new to her.
After a few more minutes, they arrived at the place. It was in a mansion. The environment was filled with reporters, different cars were parked around and it was all crowded outside.
Immediately Axel’s car stopped, the reporters rushed to his car and Lily flinched, she moved away from the door and turned to Axel.
“Ready?” He asked and she shook her head in response. She had never been to this type of gathering before, she wasn’t so sure she would be able to get past the reporters.
“They are harmless.” Axel said and she nodded. The car door was opened by one of his men, he walked out of the car with Lily and he held her hand.
His men paved the way for them among the reporters, the camera flashes were too much for Lily to handle, so she kept her head low and held onto Axel tightly.
They got into the building and Lily sighed in relief, eyes were on them as Axel ran his eyes all over the room.
Murmurs were coming from every corner of the room, Lily felt so uncomfortable.
“Come on.” Axel said and pulled her carefully towards where his family were. He got there and his parent’s eyes were on Lily.
Lily avoided their looks by bowing her head a little, the middle-aged man looked surprised while the woman had an irritated expression.
“Axel.” Mr. Blackwell called.
“Dad, meet Lily, my wife.” He introduced and Lily bowed a little.
“Lily, meet my dad and my stepmother.” He introduced further and Lily put on a smile.
“Good evening sir and ma’am.” She greeted them.
“You didn’t tell me you found a wife already.” Mr. Blackwell said ignoring Lily’s greetings.
“I have one now.” Axel replied and his father sighed before turning to Lily.
“Hello dear.” He replied and she smiled at him.
“But I found you a wife that… ”
“I found one already, never mind.” Axel cut his stepmother up and she rolled her eyes, she took a sip out of the glass of wine in her hand.
“We will have a proper introduction later, right now, let’s enjoy the party.” Mr. Blackwell said and Lily nodded nervously.
She glanced at Axel’s stepmother and she glared at her, Lily gulped before looking away and turning to Axel.
“It is a good thing you showed up with a wife, there are a lot of people here who could help with the promotion.” Mr. Blackwell told Axel and all he did was nod in response.
He ran his eyes around the room and slowly turned to Lily.
“Hey, I am going to be gone for a few minutes, stay here.” He said and Lily’s grip on him tightened as he was about to let go of her and walk away. He raised his brow, giving her a questioning look.
“Please don’t leave me.” She whispered, staring at him, her blue eyes glistening. He broke eye contact and blinked. They weren’t aware of what was going on around them, a lot of people were taking their pictures and mumbling words.
“It’s just for a few minutes and I will be back.” He replied and she sighed before nodding, she slowly let go of him and he walked away.
She watched him till he disappeared out of sight, she exhaled heavily and glanced at his parents, his father wasn’t paying attention to her but his stepmother kept glaring at her.
She felt so uncomfortable and looked away.
“Wine ma’am?” A waiter asked, stopping in front of her.
“No, thank you.” Lily replied and he bowed slightly before walking away. Lily glanced at Axel’s stepmother again and this time, her glares were terrifying. Without giving it a second thought, Lily walked away.
She walked into the middle of the room and looked around to see if she could find Axel, as she walked, everyone kept murmuring about her amongst themselves.
She kept looking around when she bumped into Axel, he gave her a questioning look and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw him.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“You… your stepmother, she hates me.” She replied with her voice trembling. Axel held her hand and walked towards his parents.
They were a few steps from the table when Lily paused and turned to Axel, he gave her a questioning look and she gulped.
“Axel, I don’t… ” Lily trailed off as she heard a familiar voice.
“Susan!” The voice called. Her heart started to race in fear as she hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was.
“Hey.” She heard Axel’s stepmother call happily with a giggle. Axel kept staring at her, wondering why she looked terrified and lost.
“Can we leave? Like now?” She asked.
“No, we can’t. We still have to meet a lot of people, the party hasn’t even started fully yet.” He replied and Lily started to breathe heavily as she heard the voice.
“What… ” Axel trailed off as his stepmother called him.
“Axel.” She called and he looked at her.
“Come, let me introduce you to this wonderful family.” She said and Axel looked away from her and back at Lily.
“What is it?” He asked and Lily shook her head in response.
“Axel.” His stepmother called again and Axel rolled his eyes. He walked towards her and pulled Lily with him, she bowed her head as she walked with him.
They got to where they were and Lily slowly looked up, sweat beaded on her forehead, revealing how nervous she was.
She was right, it was who she thought it was!
“Lily.” She called surprised, her eyes widening a little. With every strength left in Lily, she fought back her tears and put on a straight look.
“Hello, Mrs. McCall.”