“Hello, Mrs. McCall.” Lily called and her mother blinked rapidly with her lip parting in shock. She was confused. A week ago, her daughter came begging for money to save her father’s life. How the hell was she standing next to a billionaire now?
“You two know each other?” Susan, Axel’s stepmother asked.
“Not really. Just an old encounter.” Lily’s mother hurriedly responded with a short chuckle, she put on a different expression.
Next to her was her daughter, Lily stared at her and looked away almost immediately.
“Well, Axel, meet my lovely friend, Tania McCall, and her beautiful daughter, Malia.” She introduced herself with a wide smile. Lily was amazed by her sudden smile, minutes ago she had a frown on her face.
“Nice to meet you, Axel.” Malia said with a smile, she tried to move closer to him but the look on his face wasn’t welcoming which made her halt.
Lily looked around and noticed Mr. Blackwell wasn’t with them anymore.
“So Axel, your mum told me you need a wife. Well, my daughter is… ”
“I have a wife already.” Axel cut Tania off and she paused.
“Oh.” She muttered as she felt a little bit embarrassed. She looked at Susan and she gave her an apologetic look.
“We had no idea. He just showed up with her today.”
“Who is it?” Tania asked with a fake smile.
“Me, Lily Blackwell.” Lily replied and her mother’s eyes widened. Without saying anything else, Axel walked away with Lily.
She let out a sigh of relief as they got far away from them, that was hard for her but she was glad she was able to put on a straight face.
Standing in her presence made her so mad, she couldn’t help but think about her father which almost caused her to break down.
“Can we leave now?” She asked Axel and he didn’t give her a response. He kept walking around the room with her.
“Can we please leave? I don’t feel really good.” She said again and he ignored her. He got to a corner in the room and he turned to her.
“Stay here. Don’t leave, I will be back in twenty minutes.” He ordered and walked away before she could give him a response.
Lily sighed and looked around, everyone paid less attention to her already. Some of the guests were on the dance floor while some were having conversations.
After what seemed like forever to Lily, Axel walked back to her.
“Can we leave now?” She asked and he nodded in response, she sighed in relief and walked ahead of him towards the entrance. She wanted to leave so badly, she just wanted to be alone and cry her eyes out.
She got outside and paused when she couldn’t recognize the car they came with, she waited for Axel to catch up with her and he did.
He walked past her and towards the car, she followed him and in seconds, they were both in the car.
The chauffeur drove out and she breathed out heavily.
“What was all that about?” Axel suddenly asked and she turned to him. He had a stern look on and this time, she couldn’t hold his gaze. He looked so intimidating.
“What?” She asked softly.
“You seem to have forgotten why you are here, right?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that… ”
“I don’t care. I don’t care if you are comfortable or not, this is your job. I am paying for it.” He cut her off and she gulped as her eyes grew glassy and tears welled up in them.
“I… I haven’t touched your money yet. I can refund you. I didn’t use it, my father died before I could get to the hospital.” She replied with her voice trembling.
“I don’t care about that. You signed a contract already, and in the contract, it wasn’t stated if your father has to be alive or not to be my wife.” He replied and all she did was nod, she couldn’t say anything else.
She had no idea what to say, she turned away from him as tears streamed down her cheeks, she cried silently and sniffed.
Axel ignored her and paid attention to his phone, her problems weren’t his business, all he needed to do with her was to use her to get what he wanted.
Throughout the drive, Lily cried. She tried her best not to cry out loud but she couldn’t help it at one point.
They finally arrived back at the mansion and she hurriedly got out of the car, she couldn’t run because of the heels she was putting on and the tears that blurred her vision.
She walked as fast as she could into the house, she climbed the stairs and in less than a minute, she was in her room.
She broke down and cried loudly, she kept recalling the night she spent with Axel and how it all went in vain. The pain she felt. It was all too much for her.
After crying for a while, she felt uncomfortable in the dress. She got out of it and walked into the closet, she was surprised to see different clothes in it.
She was too sad to be amazed, all she did was pick up a comfortable gown and put it on.
She walked out of the closet, lay on her, and in minutes, she fell asleep.
*********
Lily woke up early the next day and got ready for the day. She had no idea what to do so she stayed in her room.
She wondered if all she would do was just stay home all day and go to parties with Axel for a year.
She started to get bored and restless after a while, she made her way out of the room and walked down the stairs.
She got to the living room and met a lady having a conversation with a few maids. No one seemed to notice her presence and all she did was watch.
She couldn’t help but admire the lady, she was dressed in a short gown that stopped on her thighs, she had heels on and her toenails were super clean. Her skin was flawless, it was creamy and smooth.
She suddenly looked at Lily then looked at the maids again, she said something to them and they bowed at her before walking away.
The lady slowly walked towards Lily with a smile.
“Hey.” She called as she got to Lily.
“Hi.” She replied with a little smile.
“My name is Nora, I am Axel’s sister.” She introduced herself and Lily raised her brows.
‘Axel’s sister? She doesn’t look like him so much.’ She thought.
“Actually, his cousin.” She added. She understood Lily’s doubt because of the confused look on her face.
“Oh, my name is… ”
“Lily.” She cut Lily off and smiled.
“I know your name and I know who you are.” She replied and Lily nodded, Axel must have told her about her.
“Okay, let’s get straight to the point. Axel asked me to teach you a few things you need to know about how things work around here. You are now a Blackwell so you have to act like one.”
“There are lessons for bearing a name?” Lily asked surprised and Nora chuckled. She looked so innocent and fragile.
“Yes, kind of. How about we start with breakfast?” Nora asked and walked ahead of her towards the dining room. Lily trailed behind her till they got to the room.
Lily stared at the different meals that were displayed on the table. They both took a seat next to each other and Nora smiled as they were settled.
“Are we having breakfast with the maids too?” Lily asked due to the number of different meals.
“No.” Nora replied simply as a maid walked to them and dished their meal.
Lily wasn’t familiar with the food and she turned to Nora.
“I… I don’t… ”
“It’s just lobster and Foie Gras.” Nora said and Lily shook her head.
“I don’t want it.” She replied and Nora chuckled.
“Where are you from?”
“The slums of New York.” She answered and the smile on Nora’s face faded.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that … ”
“It’s fine.” Lily cut her off with a smile and turned to the meal, she decided to try it out.
Axel showed up in the room and Nora turned to him with a smile. He was dressed in a tuxedo and he looked amazing as usual.
Lily avoided looking at him as she paid full attention to the meal in her presence.
“Is she ready?” Axel asked Nora.
“Oh, I haven’t told her yet.” She replied and Lily turned to both of them.
“Tell me what?” She asked and Nora gave her a nervous look. Lily suddenly felt worried and she asked again.
“Tell me what?”