Husband With Benefits-Chapter 829: Fun In That

"We came to see you."

Lily halted in her tracks, staring at her parents as if they were specters from another world. Almost six months had passed since she’d last seen them—six months that had changed her in ways they couldn’t possibly understand. Yet here they were, looking exactly the same, as if no time had passed for them. Her hands clenched reflexively as she took them in, trying to reconcile their sudden appearance with the stable, happy life she’d been building with Cai.

Her and Cai spent the last few months together, acknowledging each other’s growing importance in their lives and even though Cai had gone back to Petrovia, she’d been happy and stable.

The larger mansion had already been prepared for any guests that Princess Isidora might expect and she’d also started to build a rapport with the people in town, getting to know them and whom to contact for what work. And so, she was shocked when she’d received a message from the inn keeper in town telling her that someone had come to stay with them and asked for her.

The larger mansion had already been prepared in advance for any guests Princess Isidora might be expecting, and Lily had spent weeks building rapport with the locals, getting to know their faces, their customs, and even whom to contact for different types of work. She was beginning to feel like she truly belonged here. So, when she received a message from the town innkeeper saying someone had asked for her, she hadn’t thought twice about following up. Foolishly, she’d assumed it might be some unexpected surprise orchestrated by the Frost family. After all, Cai had told her about the tricks and surprises his family sometimes sprang on newcomers to the family.

But now, seeing her parents here, she could not help but wonder if they’d somehow discovered her relationship with Cai and were here to create a scene and scold her like last time. She straightened. The last time had been unexpected. Like hell she was going to take any abuse from them again! And abuse was that was actually, she knew and acknowledged it now.

"Why are you here?" she finally managed, the question slipping out before she could temper the edge in her voice.

Her mother glanced around the modest but well-kept inn, her expression unreadable. Only the innkeeper, a discreet and kindly woman, occupied the space with them, but still, her mother seemed wary of speaking openly. "I think we should talk privately," she replied, her voice soft yet firm. "We’ve known for a while that you were here, but it took time to find you. We waited for you, Lily." freēnovelkiss.com

Lily raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by her mother’s careful words. "Thank you for your patience, but as I recall, you already said everything you wanted to the last time we met. I don’t think there’s anything left for us to discuss."

Her father’s voice cut in, low and familiar in its gentleness. "Lily... we came to apologize. Please, can we speak in private? Give us a chance to explain."

The quiet earnestness in his tone caught her off guard, making her pause. If her mother had been the one asking, she’d have brushed it off without hesitation. But her father—his voice held something different, something she hadn’t expected, and it made her falter.

And so she nodded, somehow agreeing when she’d always imagined turning them away the next time they came across each other. Fnally, they moved to a quiet corner of the inn, where a fragile sense of privacy existed. Lily settled into a chair across from her parents, folding her arms tightly, defensively, as her father lowered himself into the seat across from her. Her mother sat beside him but remained stiff, her gaze directed toward the window.

Her father sighed as he sent his wife a glance and said," First, I think I need to apologize for what passed between us last time. It was... too much."

Lily gave her father a nod of acknowledgement, not fake accepting his apology and not blaming him... for now.

"When we saw you with Cai before... we didn’t know what to make of it," he admitted, a hint of regret softening his voice. "It felt like a shock to the system. I think a part of us assumed that... well, that Cai would always be Jasmine’s. That he’d always see her as his one love." He rubbed his forehead, searching for the right words. "And, Lily... we somehow believed you would see him only as your brother-in-law, nothing more. Added to that, he’d been the one to invite us to Petrovia, for inaugrating the place that he’d named after her... We did not handle that well. We apologize for that."

Once again, Lily kept silence even though she wanted to scoff at everything. They had not handled anything well. Not just that one instance! But she continued to stare at them and realized that even now, her parents were uncomfortable looking at her. She felt a bitter smile rise to her lips. They still looked at her and only saw their older daughter’s death and not the younger daughter’s life.

"But the truth is, while we were caught up in our own grief, we failed to see what was right in front of us," her father continued. "The world moved forward, and we... we didn’t. Losing Jasmine, it felt like losing everything. And instead of supporting you, we..." He trailed off, the words catching as he looked down, his voice barely above a whisper. "We made you pay for our pain."

There was a long pause, and Lily felt her throat tighten. She wanted to hold onto her anger, to keep the walls up, but her father’s words were genuine, and they tugged at her resolve to keep the distance. This was the first time he’d talked about the pain and about her.

In that moment, all she wanted to do was race to him and hug him, tell him that he could acknowledge the loss of his daughter and mourn her, but she held back. Because the woman at his side was still as stiff as a board.

Finally, she looked over at her mother, who still wouldn’t meet her gaze. Her face was unreadable, and her fingers fidgeted in her lap, her knuckles pale from the grip.

Lily sighed, her voice quiet but pointed. "And... does she feel the same way?"

Her mother’s eyes flicked toward her but didn’t quite meet her gaze. Her lips pressed tightly together, as if the words she wanted to say were caught somewhere between pride and shame.

Her father glanced at her mother, then turned back to Lily. "She’s working through things in her own way. It’s... not easy. You know how she can be but this time, we are determined. We really don’t want to lose out our younger daughter as well, Lily. We’ve already lost so much. The last few years...we should have cherished your growing up, but instead we made the biggest mistakes of our lives. Lily... can you... come live with us?"

Lily’s breath caught in her throat. Go back with them? After everything they’d put her through? Her first instinct was to refuse, to tell them she had no interest in returning to their lives, no matter how much they claimed to have changed.

But she stopped herself, taking a long, steadying breath. Her father’s eyes were filled with quiet hope, his regret clear, and her mother—well, her mother was still guarded and stiff, but even she seemed weighed down by something unspoken.

"I... I can’t leave here," Lily said, finally finding her voice. "I’ve already committed to work here. Princess Isidora trusted me, and I have responsibilities. I can’t just walk away from that."

A flicker of disappointment crossed her father’s face, but he nodded in acceptance. "Of course, Lily. Take all the time you need. We’re not asking for anything more than a chance to prove ourselves. And to hopefully catch up with the past."

He reached across the table, his hand hovering, but Lily didn’t meet it. Instead, she folded her arms, protecting herself from the weight of his hopeful gesture.

"Would you join us for lunch?" he asked slowly, as if trying not to startle her.

She shook her head. "No, I... I have some things I need to finish up today. But we can... schedule something soon." Her voice sounded distant, even to herself, but her emotions were a tangled mess she couldn’t sort through here and now. She needed air, space to think.

Without waiting for more, she stood up, barely looking back as she left the inn. Outside, she drew in a sharp breath, feeling the coolness of the breeze against her skin, steadying her frayed nerves. She felt unsteady and raw, with emotions stirring she hadn’t prepared for. Her parents’ sudden reappearance had turned her world upside down, and she didn’t know what to make of it yet.

Inside, as the door swung shut, Lily’s mother turned to her father, her expression hardening. "Why didn’t you ask her about her illicit affair with Caius Frost? You know that reporter wasn’t lying—"

Her father cut her off with a weary sigh. "Because, for once, I wanted to see her without judgment, without driving her away. Gina, I know you are still not ready to let go. But you promised me this time. Remember that promise! I am not willing to lose another daughter just because you are not willing to get over your grief. If you have come here with any other intention that to mend the broken bridges then return now. I will not give you a chance to hurt Lily again."