Eight

Lily looked at the clock and clenched her jaw tightly. It was almost 8 AM, and he still wasn't back. She shoved a piece of pancake into her mouth, whilst trying to convince herself that she doesn't care about his whereabouts and what time he wants to come home.

Her little session with herself was interrupted by the small click of the door opening, and she immediately turned towards the door. The fork she was holding onto dropped onto the plate, causing a clinking sound to resonate round the dining, invariably making Asher look up to meet her wide eyes. Lily felt a cluster of emotions all at once, sadness, betrayal, and most of all anger at the sight of her husband walking into their house, looking disheveled, with her sister trailing behind him with a smug smile on her face. She tried to keep her mind away from it, but it was already conjuring up images of the both of them together.

She felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes, and she immediately looked away, drawing a deep breath as she did. She reached for her fork and gripped it tightly, she cut off a chunk of pancake and shoved it in her mouth. 'we don't care, we don't freaking care' she chanted to herself as she munched on the pancake, but that didn't keep the tears from brimming more and more in her eyes. The thought and sight of them together hurt more than she thought it would, and she had no idea on how to ease the pain.

Asher felt guilty wash through his body at the look of hurt that slashed across Lily's face the minute they made eye contact, he opened his mouth to explain, and tell her that it definitely isn't what she was thinking, but before the words could slip, he caught himself and swallowed the words. There was no reason for an explanation, they both have always kept their businesses separate, and shouldn't she spare him at least a feeling of respect that he wouldn't cheat on her after asking her back into his house?

"Good morning, Lily." Lily froze at his greeting, and it took the intervention of God that she didn't choke on her food at it. Asher doesn't greet her, he only mumbles barely coherent responses to her greeting... He rarely ever spoke to her, unless she says something to him that requires a response. He grip on her fork tightened and she finally resumed eating her food when she reached the conclusion that it was probably the guilt and shame speaking. There was no other reason for him to greet her, so she ignored him, fixing her gaze on her food.

"Ashy," Lily felt her food threatening to make a reappearance at the sound of Charlotte's voice, "You should go and freshen up. I want to speak to her alone" her eyes immediately widened at the words and she looked up at Charlotte. What on earth does she have to talk about?

Asher's gaze lingered on her, before he turned to Charlotte and gave her a quick nod, then disappeared to go freshen up.

The second he was gone, Charlotte dropped the smile she had and turned to Lily with a glare, "you have to leave him." She said and Lily rose a brow. "I'm back and ready to take my place, so you can leave." She said again, crossing her arms across her chest.

A corner of Lily's lips tugged up in a smile, and she picked up a napkin. She dabbed the corners of her lips gently with it, before she squeezed it and dropped it on the bowl... "And why exactly should I do that?" She asked, raising her eyes to meet Charlotte's.

Charlotte smirked, mirroring the look on Lily's face before she made herself comfortable on one of the chairs. "After 5 years, or should I say 8 years... That's how long you've been in love with him, right?" The smirk on Lily's face fell, and a frown immediately settled in, causing Charlotte to chuckle. "I remember when you were rambling to me about how much you like him"

"Then you stole him."

Charlotte rose a brow and leaned forward, "stole him? He was never yours, Lily, and he never wanted you. If anything, you stole him."

"You ran away! I was forced to get married to him!" 

"I don't think forced is the word you should be using, Lily. I'm sure you were more than happy to take my place, as always.." Lily made to talk but she immediately cut in, "the thing is, I'm back now and ready to take my rightful place. It is only right that you step down, because as you can see... He's more than willing to get back with me. You're just standing in the way." She sneered, and Lily leaned back into her chair.

For a few seconds, she just stared wordlessly at her sister, before she cracked a smile. "Does he?" Charlotte's smile immediately faltered, confirming Lily's suspicions about her shaky confidence. "I don't think so, because if he did... He wouldn't have torn the divorce papers I gave him a few days ago, and he most definitely wouldn't have begged me to come back home." A smug satisfaction settled in the pit of her stomach, and she stood to her feet gloating. "I'm in my rightful place, Charlotte. You are the one trying to fit in where you don't belong. My husband-" She paused, and reeled in the anger boiling in Charlotte's eyes at her words, "- doesn't love you anymore."

Lily held her head high as she walked out of the dinning and into her own room. The minute she was in there, the adrenaline washed off and her legs gave out, causing her to collapse on the bed. That was the first ever time she had stood up for herself before her sister, and while she didn't believe a single word she said back then, it felt good saying it. Her words after all had an effect on Charlotte.

While she laid on the bed, taking deep breaths and smiling as she recalled the encounter, her phone pinged with a notification. She immediately reached for it, and opened the message.

She slowly sat up as she read through the email, and the second she was done, she fist-bumped the air, a huge grin plastered on her face. She applied to a bunch of interior designing companies for an internship last night, and she just got a positive feedback from the one she so highly hoped and prayed for.

While she was still reeling in her victory, she got another notification which she immediately opened in hopes that it was another positive feedback from one of the companies, but it was a message from her mother inviting her for a family dinner tonight. The colour immediately drained from her face as she read the message, Charlotte, has undoubtedly gone to report her to her mother, and only God knows the horror that awaits her tonight