"Hey, Little Rosé, are we okay?"
Pete glanced at Lilly from the rearview mirror. He knew something was wrong the moment she got in the backseat and not in the passenger seat. She doesn't sit on the passenger unless she has to shimmy into an outfit.
She doesn't look like she was going somewhere with the clothes she was wearing, especially with the frown displayed on her face.
Lilly heard Pete's question but she chose to ignore him. She was too pissed off with Matthew that she could not even talk about what happened without getting angry all over again.
She kept her gaze out in the car's window, ignoring the questioning and worried look that Pete was giving her every now and then.
"Eyes on the road," she snapped at him without taking her eyes off the passing view. "I won't tell you anything…not now anyway," she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
When they arrived home, she got out of the car without waiting for Pete to open the door for her. The first thing she noticed when she entered the foyer was the new painting hanging on the wall.
She was gone for not even a week and there were a lot of changes in the house. She also saw new faces in the house when the butler rushed to meet her for she came unannounced.
"Miss Morgan…err, Mrs. Grayson," he said with a polite tone and a poker face, correcting his mistake. "We are glad to see you home."
"Where is my father?" She asked the butler with a somber tone.
"Your father is in the library. Would you like me to announce your presence?"
"No. I'll go and find him on my own." She turned around her heels and headed to her father's private study. "Also, please have my room ready." She stopped and looked over her shoulder, remembering that she told Matthew that she was staying out for the night.
"Come in."
She twisted the doorknob open when she heard her father's voice. She was taken aback for a few minutes when she opened the door and saw that everything in her father's study looked new.
Her brows furrowed and walked further inside the study, walking in the direction of her father's desk—the only thing that remained the same in the room. She didn't expect the changes that she saw in the house in the short period of time that she was gone. Her mother must be busy.
"How are you, darling?" Robert stood up from his swivel chair and kissed Lilly's cheeks. It didn't escape his observant eyes, the deep lines etched on his daughter's forehead.
"I need to hear something from you, daddy."
He kissed her furrowed eyebrows and the tip of her nose and asked. "What is it? Did Matthew do something?" He changed the tone of his voice to soothe his daughter's annoyance.
"Matthew told me that the two of you had already decided that I should not stay in the college dorm." She pursed her lips. She missed her father, thus, she circled her arms around her father's neck.
"Darling, you are now a married woman. Matthew is the CEO of his company and it won't look good if you're living a life as if you're still single." He explained carefully.
Lilly rolled her eyes. "But I want the full experience of my—" She stopped midway with her sentence when she saw her father's face fall, full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, darling." He removed Lilly's arms around his neck and walked to the couch. He sat down with a morose expression on his face. "I'm such a terrible father. I'm sorry."
"Dad, I'm just—" She sighed and sat next to her father. "Can't you at least talk to Matthew about letting me stay in the college dorm?"
Robert stared at her daughter pitifully. As much as he wanted to give her what she wanted, his plan won't happen if she won't be living under Matthew's roof twenty-four-seven.
"Lilly, dear, you understand how important is your role as Matthew's wife, don't you?" The tone of his voice changed, staring straight into his daughter's eyes.
"But Dad! My marriage is just for convenience!" She didn't expect her father to act this way.
She always gets what she wants and she was expecting it to happen the way it was used to. She stood up, stomping her foot, ready to throw a tantrum but his father avoided her angry gaze that drove her angrier.
"Dad, I have no plan to put my life on hold just because I married Matthew."
"I'm not asking you to. All I'm saying is, understand the situation that you are in now. It's breaking my heart that you have to suffer this predicament because of my irresponsibility." His voice cracked. "I'm so sorry, darling. If Daddy—" He lost it and turned around, his shoulders were shaking.
"Dad," Lilly reached out for his father but he stood up and walked away, refusing to face her.
"Kindly leave, dear. I promise to talk to Matthew about it." His shoulders were slumped and his head hung low with shame.
Lilly was overcome with guilt. She still has a lot of things to say but obediently stepped back and left the room.
Robert stood still, his back turned and he was staring at his shoes until he heard the soft click of the door being closed.
He cleared his throat and turned around. The pain in his eyes was gone. He pulled a tissue from the coffee table and dabbed the corner of his eyes from the sweat that formed. He didn't expect Lilly to come home tonight. He was expecting Matthew to handle things from his end.
He heaved a deep sigh and shook his head with disappointment. Matthew should learn to put a short leash on his woman.
He pressed the intercom and in a grumpy voice called for the butler.
He waited for a few minutes before he heard the hurried footsteps that stopped in front of his study.
"Come in!"
"Mr. Grayson—"
"Where's Lilly now?" He asked in an angry voice.
"In her room, sir."
"Call Matthew and tell him to pick up his wife!"