Husband With Benefits-Chapter 802: Aunt But...

"This is so funny!" Meredith giggled as Lily recounted the events of that morning.

Lily glared at her. "I won’t give you a muffin if you keep laughing."

Meredith shrugged off the threat, her laughter bubbling up again. "I’m not laughing at you! I’m laughing at the circumstances. Just picture it—what if you had confronted him? You walk in, upend a glass of coffee on his head, and shout, ’You bastard, you cheat! How can you two-time me?’ Then he’d stand up, all soaked like a little puppy, and introduce you to her, saying, ’This is my aunt!’"

Lily rolled her eyes at the ridiculous image Meredith painted, but a small smile crept onto her face despite herself. "She really doesn’t look like an aunt, you know... And it was nice meeting her..."

Meredith looked at her and sighed," At this point, I almost hope that she was not his aunt but his girlfriend. Or at least she was not nice to you."

Lily looked up from her book then," What do you mean?"

"He is the reason you were crying your eyes out, weren’t you? Last night?" Lily stilled. She had not realized that she’d woken up Meredith.

"I... My parents came to visit me... And my mother saw me with him." Meredith sighed.

Even though she had never met Lily’s parents, she knew that they had done a number on her. And understanding the history of this man, she could already imagine what kind of poison her mother might have spouted. Looking at Lily, Meredith sighed and spoke her mind,"It is a good thing that you are not going to see him again. You are already in too deep."

Lily stilled. "Meredith? I thought you would say that I should simply ignore watever my mother said and simply go out with him."

"So your mother did try to dissuade you from going out with him.... Even though her reasoning for this is probably screwed, I think she is right this time. Stay away from him. Gosh! I never thought I would ever agree with your mother over something."

Lily had already made up her mind. Even though she had not yet replied to Cai or told him her intention, she had decided that she would never see him again. But hearing Meredith say something like this, her heart felt uncomfortable.

"Why? Why do you think I should not see him?"

"Because you are already too deep in sweetheart! You’ve always looked up at him as if he were a pragon of virtue. He was the perfect man you jusged every date against. And you’ve only been on one date with him, if we don’t count this morning, and you were already feeling cheated. You guys are not exclusive. It was just a date, and yet, in your mind, you are already exclusive. Combining this, with your entangled past, it is better to keep your distance."

Lily gulped and realized that Meredith was indeed right. She was saying all the things that she had thought. So, why did she feel so bad about it?

Meredith clicked her fingers in front of Lily as she saw her distracted face," Tsk tsk! Don’t tell me you’re suddenly feeling all rebellious and want to date him just because everyone is warning you against him.

Lily gave a tired smile then and shook her head,"No. I am not thinking of rebelling."

However, she could not help but think of this morning... their second date.

After Dora had left with her take away food which she had forgotten, he’d sat there looking at her, and feeling self conscious, she’d turned her head down, concentrating on eating as if it were some sort of a mathematical problem that needed all her attention.

And then he’d said those words," Did you not sleep well?"

Her head jerked up then and she met his eyes. How did he know? Were her eyes still looking all swollen? But before she could ask him, he answered her," Your eyes are all red. And here you are at the crack of dawn. So, it means that you did not sleep well.Hmm. Were you thinking of me, maybe?"

"I slept like a log." She stated with a blank expression and continued," I usually get up at this time."

He’d laughed then. And she’d realized that she probably did not even know anyone who laughed so openly like that. "Ruthless! Well, I did not sleep because of you."

Her breath hitched and she looked into his eyes. Was he serious or was he joking. But then, he’d simply winked at her and she’d thought to herself that she was probably overthinking things.

Lily returned to the present now. Meredit was right. She was already in too deep. With a deep sigh, she brought out her phone and hurriedly typed out a message, "Hi, Cai. I think we shouldn’t see each other again. It was nice catching up with you after all these years, but I believe our paths are not meant to cross."

She paused, biting her lip as she contemplated whether to send it. The weight of her decision hung heavily in the air, but she pressed "send" before she could second-guess herself. As soon as she did, a mix of relief and sadness washed over her.

Lily stared at the screen for a moment, her pulse pounding in her ears. She quickly blocked his number, her thumb hovering over the option as the number turned red. But then, the weight of finality sank in. She hesitated, feeling a pang of regret.

Why was this so hard? There was a chance that he wouldn’t even reply to her. So there was no need to block him. But then she shook her head. No. It was better this way.

She looked at the phone again, her breath catching in her throat as she considered deleting his number altogether. But as she hovered over the option, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. There was nothing wrong with keeping his number, right?