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.