Her Heart Her Terms (Lily and Xavier)

"Do you still love him?" Terence asked with a slight quiver in his voice.

Although he posed it as a question, he sounded more like he was simply seeking confirmation.

Lily shook her head. "It has nothing to do with love. With him as an exception, the other Fultons are quite good to me. If I appealed for a divorce, I would only negatively affect the Fulton family. I want to avoid going that far if possible."

"But you can't possibly continue wasting your time like this." Terence gulped. In an urgent tone, he added, "You should have a life of your own."

"What life is to me is when I can be happy on my own. Even if Xavier and I don't get a divorce, I will be fine if we just live our lives separately."

Lily lifted the corners of her lips slightly. To make her point, she continued, "Terence, you don't have to worry about me. Your mother has been urging you to get married. You should be worrying about yourself first."

Terence understood what she was implying. He fell silent instantly.

At the end of it all, he was in too much of a hurry. How could he not be?

"You're part of the future I have in mind," he said as he looked at her with an earnest gaze.

"But don't you worry. I'm only helping you settle everything because I want you to be free before you consider whether you'd be keen to be with me. I'm not doing this so that you'll be with me out of gratitude."

Nevertheless, gratitude would surely play a part in the final decision. This was the same for everyone.

Afraid to look into his gentle gaze, Lily directed her gaze elsewhere.

"Terence, we can never be together," Lily responded with a clear statement.

"Don't be so quick to make up your mind. Catching feelings might happen in an instant, but not having feelings for someone is something that could still change in the future."

Terence was aware of the bulk of problems that they would have to face. But those problems were non-existent if they weren't even going to be together.

First, he needed to get her response before he could get rid of the obstacles that stood between them.noveldrama

Lily wasn't keen on taking the nice guy route. As truthful as it might be, it would be too cliché to say that he was a nice guy while she wasn't good enough for him.

Instead, she preferred to point out the realistic issues at hand.

"You should think about the relationship between the Fulton and the Devereux families. It wouldn't be much of an issue if Xavier and I actually went to court and ended up burning bridges with each other.

"But it would be extremely problematic if your family got involved. As an adult, you can't act recklessly. More than that, you have to consider your role at your company, too."

Even if Terence wasn't helping her out of love, helping her with her divorce would be equivalent to him going against the Fulton family.

"Why should I keep my role if I can't even protect the person I have feelings for?"

Terence got to his feet. Looking down at her, he added, "I will not give up on you, Lily. No matter what your stance is, I will do whatever I think is right."

He left the hospital ward after saying that.

Lily's heart sank. The veins on her temple throbbed. She lifted her hand and pressed it against her chest, but she was unable to soothe the uneasiness within her.

Once again, the door to her hospital ward opened. Xavier entered with his hands in his pockets, his face stormy.

He sat down next to her as he pretended Terence's scent didn't linger in the room.

"The police just came by," said Lily without being prompted. "They said that Sarah and Bruce will be sentenced."

Xavier hummed in acknowledgment.

Feeling perplexed, she asked, "Aren't both of you together? Aren't you going to save her?"

Xavier lifted his eyes. "When did you ever see us together? When she took those photographs, she told me that she was sending them to Xyla to keep her updated on her

ie'

whereabouts. I had no idea that she

sent them to you."

At times, misunderstandings accumulated over time needed to be straightened

out.

Leaning forward, he looked at her as

he explained, "She's just the vice

president at Nova Group. I only

promoted her and entrusted her with important responsibilities because of Xyla. That's all."

His explanation was overly simple. It was so simple that it felt like a dream to Lily.

Yet, the scandalous news about him and Sarah wasn't made up. She'd even witnessed Sarah entering his lounge and tidying their undergarments on that massive bed of his!

"Let's put a stop to the issue with

Sarah. It's time we put an end to this

joke." Xavier continued, "Come back

to Fulton Manor with me after you're discharged from the hospital. It'll be Christmas then, so that can

hopefully cheer you up."

Lily widened her eyes. He was asking her to return to Fulton Manor?

She was going to go home with him? Why were they reconciling instead of getting divorced?

When did things go wrong?