Husband With Benefits-Chapter 835: So Be It

"You must be happy now, right?"

The words sliced through the air, and Lily looked up from the table, her body going rigid at the cold edge in her mother’s voice.

Her mother stood there, arms crossed, her gaze sharp and accusing. "What are you looking at me like that for? Are you upset because I’m ruining your little celebration? Is that it?" Her voice rose, raw and bitter. "Are you even my daughter? How could you stand against your own mother, against your own family? Do you even care what you’ve done to us? How could you... after all these years?"

Lily felt her pulse racing as each word pierced her, but she could barely open her mouth before her mother’s hands gripped her shoulders, squeezing tightly. "Are you satisfied now that your father’s decided to leave me?" she shouted, her voice cracking with fury. "We’ve been together for decades, Lily! Decades! And now look—look at the wreckage you’ve left behind. Are you happy, Lily? Tell me, are you happy?"

Lily’s breath caught, her mind spinning. She wanted to protest, to say something, anything to soften the torrent of anger pouring out of her mother, but she couldn’t find the words. She could only stare, shocked and heartbroken that her mother would blame her for something like this.

Thankfully, before she could be completely shaken, her father who moved. He pushed back his chair, standing abruptly and in a swift, firm motion, he came caross the table and pulled her mother back, trying to break her grip on Lily. His face was grim, his expression weary as he said softly, "Enough. That’s enough."

"How is that enough? It is not even close to enough!" Her mother’s voice was a trembling mix of fury and anguish. She took a step forward, eyes blazing. "I regret the day I gave birth to her! After everything I’ve done for her, all I asked was that she stay away from Jasmine’s man. Just that one request! But instead, she defied me—got even closer to him, to the point of actually living with him these past few months!"

Lily’s body went cold, every muscle tightening. Her mind raced, trying to process the words, trying to think how her mother had found out about this. She’d thought she had been careful to not mention it to them. She hadn’t mentioned Cai, not once. Even yesterday, when her father had asked, she had brushed it off, given a vague answer, and evaded every question. Yet her mother knew—knew everything.

But her mother wasn’t finished. "What is wrong with her?" she spat, turning a scathing look on Lily. "Why does she have to take everything Jasmine has? Why must she go where she isn’t wanted, as if it’s her right? And you!" She turned to Lily’s father, her anger spilling over onto him now. "She’s using you—don’t you see that? She knows you feel guilty towards her, and she’s taking advantage of that guilt, making you turn against me. Against your own wife!"

Her father’s face remained calm, though a shadow passed over his expression. Her mother didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t care. She continued, her words laced with a desperate bitterness. "All these years we’ve been together—not once did you ever talk of separation. Not once! But now, now that we’re here, now you talk about divorce?"

Her father took a deep breath and spoke as if he had already said this a thousand times. "The only reason I even suggested a separation is because you’re being completely unreasonable! Cai is not Jasmine’s man. He never was! Jasmine is dead! And even if Cai and Lily want to be with each other, she has every right to make her own choices. She doesn’t need your approval for who she loves."

Her mother froze, her face twisting with rage. She pointed a shaking finger at Lily, her words venomous. "A right? To steal from her own sister? I always knew you’d turn out this way—a selfish, ungrateful little—" Her voice dropped to a cold, cutting whisper, "slut. That’s all you are."

And with that, her mother lunged, her hand raised to strike. But this time, Lily’s reflexes were quicker and her patience at an end.. She stood up and caught her mother’s wrist mid-air. Her hand shook, but her grip held strong against her mother’s. She looked her mother in the eye, her own gaze hard and eyes filled with tears.

"Enough," she said, her voice low and trembling with anger. "I’m done with this. I’m done with you, with this bitterness, with being the one you blame. I have a right to my life, to my own happiness—and I’m not going to let you take that away from me anymore."

She pushed away her mother’s hand and prepared to leave, not bothered about convincing her father against the divorce anymore! No one needed to be subjected to someone’s insanity. Not even her father!

But her mother wasn’t finished. Her voice rose again, sharp and uncaring that they were in a public place where anyone could listen in. "Do you really think he’ll keep you around forever?" she sneered. "He’s had a parade of girlfriends before you, and you’re just one in a long line! Do you think he cares about what you feel for him, that silly little crush you’ve harbored since you were a child? He doesn’t love you, Lily. He just wants you to warm his bed, and once he’s done, he’ll throw you away like all the others."

Lily stopped mid-stride, her spine stiffening as her mother’s words settled heavily in the air. Slowly, she turned back around, "You know what? Maybe you’re right. Maybe he is using me, maybe I’m just a way for him to satisfy his physical urges and to remind himself of Jasmine." She shrugged her shoulders, a faint, almost bitter smile touching her lips. "So be it. Maybe he’s looking for someone to replace Jasmine. Fine. If that’s what he needs, then I’ll be that person."