Chapter 18 18
Chapter 18 18
The moment they entered and the door closed behind them, the room became painfully quiet. Lily stood near the bed, unsure what to do with herself.
The room was familiar, yet it felt like a place she was no longer allowed to belong. Too many memories lived here. Some painful. Some dangerously tender.
“I’ll take the couch,” she said quickly.
Kyrian turned to her. “No. Sleep on the bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“I said I’ll take it.”
“And I said you won’t.”
She looked at him, tired of his sudden concern. “You don’t have to pretend in here. Grandmother isn’t watching.”
“I’m not pretending.”
Lily let out a bitter little laugh. “Then what are you doing?”
Kyrian was silent for a moment. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“There is.”
“No, Kyrian. There isn’t.”
Their eyes locked. Neither of them moved. The tension between them stretched thin. Then Lily looked away first.
“I don’t want to argue,” she said quietly. “Let’s just… sleep.”
Kyrian’s expression hardened.
“You’re avoiding me.”
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation.
Her immediate response caught him off guard.
“Why?” he asked.
Lily let out a soft, tired laugh.
“Because there’s nothing between us anymore,” she said. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
The words hung heavily in the air. Kyrian didn’t respond. Lily turned away and walked toward the bathroom.
“Thank you,” he said, causing her to halt midway.
“For earlier,” he continued. “For not telling Grandmother the truth.”
Lily slowly turned back to him. “Mmm,” she muttered. She'd rather keep her grievances to herself.
“You can sleep on the bed,” he said after a while, his voice quieter. “You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“That is no longer your concern.”
His gaze held hers. “You’re still my wife.”
Lily’s breath caught, but only for a second. “Only when it is convenient for you.” He had only held her close to convince his grandmother that they were still a loving couple.
Kyrian had no answer to that. The silence that followed was thick and painful.
Lily looked away first. “I prefer we sleep quietly. There’s nothing between us anymore.”
She walked into the bathroom before he could respond. Inside, she gripped the edge of the sink and stared at her reflection. Her eyes looked tired. Her face looked pale. She hated that being in the same room with him still affected her this much.
She sprinkled cold water on her face to calm herself. Next, she proceeded to take her bath, changed into the nightwear one of the maids had left for her, and stayed inside longer than necessary just to gather herself.
When she came out, Kyrian was standing near the window. He turned at the sound of the door opening, and his eyes moved over her for only a second before he looked away. That one second was enough to make her stomach tighten.
Without speaking, Lily climbed into the bed and lay at the far edge, turning her back to him. Kyrian eventually sat on the couch, but sleep did not come to him. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioner and Lily’s soft breathing.
He stared at her silhouette in the dim light.
He wanted to hate her for making him feel this way. He wanted to convince himself that Tracey’s return should have made everything clear, that his heart belonged where it used to belong.
But the more he watched Lily, the more confused he became.
Tracey was familiar, yes. She belonged to a past he once thought he wanted back. But Lily… Lily had become something else entirely. She was in the silence of the room, in the garden, in the meals he had grown used to, in the care he had once rejected but now found himself craving.
He wanted to go to her. He wanted to pull her close and ask why she had never told him the truth about her heart. He wanted to tell her that he missed her presence in the house. That he hated seeing her look at him like a stranger. That when she walked away earlier, something in him had panicked.
But then, like poison, the name returned.
Clinton.
The man she murmured in her sleep. The man whose calls made her panic. The man Kyrian believed had owned her heart long before he ever had a chance.
His jaw clenched. He forced himself to remain on the couch.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. He was not sure. Just when his eyes began to close, he heard Lily shift on the bed. Then came a soft sound. A broken murmur from deep in sleep.
Kyrian sat up slowly.
His heart began to pound.
At first, he thought he had imagined it. Then Lily moved again, her fingers gripping the blanket tightly.
“No…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Please… Clinton… don’t…”
Kyrian went completely still. This time, there was no doubt. She had said his name again.