Chapter 2

"What are you doing?" She asked again when he said nothing.

"Are you going to date him?" He said and she turned her head to look at him in confusion.

She wondered what he was referring to and why he was asking her a question. She scoffed, removed her hands from his hold with force before folding them across her chest.

She looked at him with a questioning facial expression, "meaning?"

Chris turned around so he could be facing her properly. "Liam, what's your relationship with him?" He asked after debating within himself for a while.

Lily shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe he would ask her about her relationship and she wondered where he got the audacity from.

"It's audacious for me." She spat out.

As much as she was trying to control her emotions, she couldn't help but be harsh to him.

Chris rubbed his face with his palm. "Are you dating him?" He asked again and she rolled her eyes at him.

"How is that your business? The last time I checked you work for me, not the other way round." She said exasperatedly.

"I know that." He replied.

"Then do not ask questions!" She spat out. She made an attempt to walk away but he stopped her. He got so close to her that there was hardly enough space in-between them.

Lily's heartbeat began to beat rapidly from their close proximity. His hot breath fanned her face and her mouth opened slightly. She was starting to feel hot from his touch.

"Let..." She was cut short of her words as Chris interjected.

"Do you like Liam?" He asked.

"Is that your... problem?" She retorted.

"It's not but do you want to be with him?" He asks again.

She clicked her tongue, pushing him lightly off her. She didn't want him touching her as she was starting to lose control of herself.

"What's your problem Chris? You were the one who said we are from a completely different world and also you said even if we were of the same status, you wouldn't choose me! So what's your problem with me now! Why do you care what I feel for others and why do you keep doing this! Why do you keep hurting me and giving me mic signs!" She exclaimed but her voice wasn't loud enough to get attention.

Her eyes welled in tears as Chris' chest tightened. He knew she had a point and he knew he was a coward but was he ready to take the step? He asked himself.

He wasn't sure if he should take the take but he knew he had to and see where it leads to.

"You want to know something?" He asked and she looked at him with a confused expression masked on her face.

She sighed, "I do not want to har anything you have to say." She spoke weakly.

"Please." He pleaded, his eyes boring into hers melting her like butter.

"Fine!" She agreed.

"Not here," he said to her as he didn't want a situation where someone might see them talking and one issue to another arises.

"Okay. Where?" She asked and he took her with him back into her room.

She moved to sit down in her bed and folded her arms across her chest. "Speak, and listen. I do not have all day."

"My parents died at the age of six and I lived with my aunt until she chased me out." He began with a deep breath.

He didn't look at her eyes while he spoke and he didn't know why he was telling her about it but he felt the need to.

"Wow!" She gasped.

"I was taken in by a rich woman and from her, I learned...I...." He trailed off, scratching his brows as he thought of how to compose the story and tell it to her.

"She was my sugar mommy. I would sleep with her and she'd treat me well. She gave me everything I needed and I fell for her."

"Wow!" Lily said again, completely in shock of his revelation. She would never have expected him to be the type that was interested in older women, most times especially married women.

"She made me feel she felt the same way until her husband came. I didn't know she was married. She had lied and in the end she lied that I was the one forcing her and I was sent to prison."

"That's...that's brutal. She lied."

"She was the same one who made my time in prison short as I didn't know whatever story she came up with to tell her husband but I used a short period in jail and since then I promised never to get involved with rich women or heiresses. I learnt my lesson and almost lost my life because I had fallen for them."

"I learnt life the harsh way. Having to do things to earn money wasn't easy for me. My life hasn't been the best and during my time in prison, I realised that the rich could care less." He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"That's sad. She lied and put you in jail, wow!" Lily couldn't believe it.

She could tell he wasn't going into details and she respected that and at least it gave her a brief about his lifestyle and why he had pictured her to be the same as he former mistress.

"So that was why you judged me. You..." He interjected.

"You gave me the same impression. You literally seduced me, so what was I expected to think? The same goes for the woman I once thought I loved. She seduced me and lied against me, making sure I suffered."

"Maybe my way of approach was wrong but you called me all sorts of names and in fact she tagged me just the same way." She defended.

"Maybe if you had come with another approach, maybe then."

"What changed your mind?" She asked him, wanting to know why he suddenly changed after all, she could tell he hadn't successfully moved on from the hurt.

He sighed, "I do not know."

She clicked her tongue. "Chris, you can tell me what changed your mind, you know. I mean you suddenly approached me and asked if I was dating Liam and now you are telling me your story of the past, now get into details, what's going on your mind?"

"I want to change," he muttered but Lily heard him clearly.

She raised her brows in a questioning manner. "I get it so what changed your mind? Why are you curious about my relationship with Liam and what do you want? You will never be able to move on if you do not completely heal."

"I know." He answered.

"If you do not want to speak then I'd advise you to leave my room." She said firmly and sternly.

"You said something about the both of us," he pointed at her and then at him with his index finger. "About us giving it a try." He said.

"And?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest as she pressed her lips firmly.

"How about I say I am ready for that."

To say Lily was shocked would be an understatement. Chris the man who never went back on his words and stood on his grounds wanted to give them a try.

She blinked her eyes. "You said what?" She asked wanting him to repeat himself so she could he sure she heard him right.

"You heard me well. Lily," he walked closer to where she was seated on the bed. He squats down so that he could face her eyes while he spoke and he grabbed her hands with his. "Let's give us a try." He said firmly.

Lily's heart skipped. She let go the feeling she had repressed and her stomach danced with joy as if she had butterflies in them.

His hold on her sent an electrifying feeling on her skin and a smile made its way to her face.

"You are joking right?" She asked.

"I am not." He said.

She took her hands from his hold. It was now her turn to make him hurt a little for what he had done to her. He didn't know what she went through and he constantly hurt her with his words and actions.

"Easy for you to say," she scoffed.

She turned her back against him. Chris was shocked by the little action.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confusion laced on his tone.

"What do I mean? Are you seriously asking me that?" She scoffed.

"You literally hurt me with every chance you got and made me feel irrelevant and suddenly you want to give us a try?"

She turned to look at him, "Really Chris?"

"What changed your mind? Why? What do you feel for me? How am I sure you are not doing this for a selfish reason because the last time I checked, you liked Bella and you wanted something with her." She deadpanned.

Chris was confused. He might have said such a thing but he didn't mean any of it. "I do not like Bella." He defended and she laughed hysterically.

"Easy to fool! Do you think I am a foolish person?" She asked him.

"I never said such a thing to Lily," he defended. He wondered why the sudden change of her behavior. She was acting fine just earlier but now she is acting differently.

"You never said such but you think so, don't you? You do not like me right? You do not have to lie. So tell me what the deal is?" She asked him, her eyes boring him.

"There. Is. No. Deal!" He said, making emphasis on his every word.

"I like you. I fought that affection for a long time but now I cannot, which is why I decided to no longer be a coward and face you." He confessed.

She clapped her hands, "What if I say I do not believe you? What if I say you are doing this for your own reason?" She spoke.

"What do I do to prove you wrong?" He asked her.

"Show me and not tell me." She said to him.

"Okay." He replied.

"Now that you are done, leave my room." She said after a while.

Chris raised his brows in confusion. "Really? We aren't done talking," he sais to her.

"Oh well, but I am done talking to you and from the last time I checked, I am the boss here and not you."

"Okay." He swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight," She said to him.

He turned around to leave. Just as he closed the door, Lily heaved a sigh of relief. She had tried her best to control her emotions and not jump into his arms.

Most times she had to ask herself what it was Chris had that attracted her to him but then again you cannot control the heart and Chris had amazed her heart and was there to stay.

Liam suddenly popped up in her head and she sighed. He had come into her life and had helped her to realise what she was and what she wanted. He was her genuine friend and she didn't want to hit him.

Now that Chris wanted to give them a try, she wasn't sure if she should go ahead with him and hurt Liam. She knew she didn't want to lose Liam's friendship and most especially dating Chris would mean taking a huge step.

She sighed. She fell on her bed in her back and stared at her ceiling. "What do I do?" she asked herself.

"Will everything be alright Liliana? Are you ready for everything? You will surely be fine. You will survive Liliana." She said to herself before closing her eyes to relieve herself from every thought.

She didn't want to pressure herself much and left the situation to handle itself when the time was right.