My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 230

Lily shot him a look that could cut steel. “First you hire bodyguards to follow me, now you want to follow me yourself? You are unbelievable.”

“Mum, let Dad come.” Danish spoke softly but firmly. “I’ll stay with Dad when you go meet people.”

Lily froze.

Her son. The one who always clung to her. The one who used to cry if she left the room… suddenly wanted David too.

She looked at Danish’s hopeful face, then at David’s pleading one. It irritated her more that both were giving her the same expression.

“Please, Mum,” Danish added, tugging her hand gently.

David nodded like he was supporting his son’s words. “Please, Lily. I really won’t disturb you.”

Lily stared at them for a moment. Her jaw tightened. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like how easily Danish was already getting attached to David. And she didn’t like how David kept pushing himself into her life.

But she also didn’t want Danish sad.

She sighed heavily. “Fine. But don’t get in my way.”

David almost smiled but quickly controlled his face.

“Never,” he said softly. “I’ll just stay behind you.”

Lily warned them with one last glare, then began walking toward the exit. Danish grabbed her hand with one hand and David’s with the other. David looked down at their joined hands and felt something strangely warm spread inside him.

Lily purposely acted like she didn’t notice.

They walked out together, but Lily kept her face straight. Inside her chest her heart was beating too fast and she hated that she couldn’t control it.

She hated that David still affected her.

And David, walking behind them, kept staring at her small shoulders.

When they reached the car, David waved his hand at the bodyguards. “Go. I don’t need you right now,” he said. The guards nodded and stepped back.

“Get in. I’ll drive,” David said to Lily.

Lily didn’t answer him. She walked to the back door and grabbed the handle, but before she could open it fully, David slammed it shut.

“What are you doing?” She glared at him with anger rising in her face.

“Sit in the front,” David said.

“Why should I sit in the front? I’ll sit wherever I want,” Lily snapped and reached for the handle again. Before she could pull it, David caught her wrist.

“Sit in the front, Lily,” he said again, his voice firm and low.

“Then I’m not going with you,” she said through her teeth. She pulled her hand back and turned to walk toward her own car. But David stepped in front of her so fast she almost bumped into him.

“But you’re a busy person,” Lily said with a frown. “And we aren’t going anywhere. You can meet Danish later after finishing your work.”

David didn’t respond right away. He stared at his food, shoulders tense.

“Who knows?” he said quietly. “You’re good at running. You promised you’d wait for me. You said you needed one night to think. Then you disappeared for seven years.”

He said it so flatly, so calmly, yet Lily felt the words hit her chest like a weight. He didn’t look at her or at their son. But his knuckles were white around his fork.

Lily’s heart trembled a little. She remembered that night too clearly. The way he stood in her apartment doorway… the way his eyes looked almost scared. He told her he would come back in the morning. She told him she needed one night alone. And before morning came, she got on a plane and left the country.

She swallowed. “That was the past,” she muttered.

“Past scares me the most,” David said. He still wasn’t looking at her, but the heaviness in his voice told everything.

Lily watched him closely. This wasn’t the same man she knew years ago. The David she knew never showed weakness, never let anyone see what he felt, especially not her. But this man sitting across from her… he was showing cracks. Emotions he used to hide so deeply she wondered if he ever felt anything at all.

Olivia’s words came back to her. She had said David changed after she left, that he wasn’t the same, that something broke in him. But Lily still found it hard to believe. This was David Hardison, not some fragile man who falls apart. She’d known him for nearly ten years. He had never softened toward her, not once. Why would he now?

She took a breath. “I’m not running away anymore. If I wanted to, I wouldn’t have come back with my son. So stop worrying about it.” Her voice was calm, steady. “I need to see Noah. So we’ll go there. Finish your work. And if you want… you can come later.”

David finally lifted his eyes to her. He paused, just staring at her like he was searching for something in her face. Lily didn’t look away. She stayed still, meeting his gaze straight on.

It was David who looked away first.