Her Heart Her Terms (Lily and Xavier)

Lily needed to report to Lupier tomorrow. She secured that work opportunity through immense effort, so she couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"You must stay here." Terence shot her a reassuring look. "I'll handle things with Lupier. You can report to them after you get discharged from the hospital." Maryanne was afraid Lily would refuse again, so she joined in to convince Lily. "Your job shouldn't matter more than your health. Please stop acting tough and just let my brother handle it." Lily didn't want Lupier's employees to know she and Terence were acquainted. That would only give them the impression that she had gotten the job through connections.

She bit her lip in hesitation.

"You don't have to feel bad about it. My family couldn't enjoy the benefits of Terence's success when he left these past two years. Now that he's finally back, who else will he help if not me? "Besides, I'm the one who's asking him for the favor and owing him for his help. It has nothing to do with you," Maryanne declared.

She patted her chest reassuringly. Then, she waved Terence off, motioning him to sort out Lily's hospitalization procedures.

At that rate, Lily could only go along with the hospitalization.

It was 3:30 am when Lily finally got to her ward.

Maryanne stayed to accompany Lily. Terence had also remained, likely because he worried about leaving Maryanne behind. Although the two stayed in the ward with Lily, their presence couldn't fill the empty space in Lily's heart.

Lily lay on the bed and stared at Xavier's contact. He never bothered to call or text her. She figured he was probably at Sarah's and hadn't returned.

After thinking how long had passed, Lily felt there was a chance that Xavier and Sarah were busy making love while she was in the car accident.

Xavier wouldn't know where Lily had died if the accident was worse. Likewise, Xavier wouldn't have known Lily's whereabouts if a kind passerby hadn't saved her earlier.

That was when Lily realized she had dug herself into a hole. She knew she shouldn't have thought about Xavier. She shouldn't have made herself upset. Yet, she couldn't help but do those things.

It was unclear how long had passed, but the sky had brightened. The first morning light shined into the hospital ward.

Lily shifted on the bed and turned to look at the other side. She happened to meet Terrence's gaze. He was standing beside the window.

Maryanne was already asleep on the couch. Terence had placed his coat around Maryanne. Because of that, he was only in a dress shirt and a black vest. Warm sunlight enveloped his body, and a faint glow radiated around him.

"Are you feeling better?" He approached Lily. He reached out after seeing the loose strands of hair on Lily's forehead. Yet, he quickly and subtly retracted his hand before he could tuck her hair behind her ear. Lily nodded. "Much better. Thanks, Terence."

A warm smile lit up Terence's face while he spoke with a gentle but low voice. "Maryanne will join you for your meal later. I'm heading back to the company to postpone your official start date."

"Terence." Lily forced herself to sit upright by exerting force through her hands. She had just straightened her upper body when dizziness overwhelmed her. It made her hold her forehead and shut her eyes.

Terence sat on the hospital bed, reached out to stabilize Lily's body, and spoke. "Lay down. You can just say whatever's on your mind while lying down."

He then helped Lily lay flat on her back before speedily retracting his hands.

"I don't want the employees at the company to find out that we know each other. I can resolve any issues should they come up at work. Please don't trouble yourself with it." Lily still sounded frail despite composing herself. Her voice had an airy quality like her words lacked strength.

She didn't want to cause trouble for Terence, and he understood that.

So, he replied, "Don't worry. Nobody knows we're acquainted with each other. I'll arrange for the postponement of your first day at work through reasonable means. However, you can seek me out in private if there's anything you can't handle. Also-" Terence looked at Maryanne before continuing, "Don't tell Maryanne about

my

involvement in Lupier."

Maryanne assumed Terence had introduced Lily to Lupier, which led to Lily being hired.

Lily was surprised. She thought Maryanne knew Terence was involved with Lupier. Regardless, she didn't pry into the matter. "Alright."

Terence stayed for a bit before eventually leaving.noveldrama

The nurse came to check on things in the ward at 6:00 am, which awoke Maryanne. After that, the nurse suggested that Lily get some sun. She said Lily could take a wheelchair if she couldn't walk yet. Maryanne decided to wheel Lily out for breakfast.

Since Lily disliked hospitals and was unwilling to stay in the ward, she agreed.

Lily was in the VIP ward. Only two of these VIP wards occupied the entire floor.

She had just left her ward when she heard a woman's kittenish tone from the ward next door.

The woman said, "Let me get discharged, Xavier! My hand doesn't hurt anymore-I swear! Plus, you'd be delaying your work if you stayed here with me!"

Lily looked toward the source of the voice. Through the neighboring ward's half-open door, she saw Xavier standing at the foot of a hospital bed.

Xavier was facing Sarah, who sat on the single-sized bed in Xavier's coat and had some gauze wrapped around her wrist.