William exhaled a deep breath. His boss is amazing with the business but useless in the matter of the heart.
"Graduation gift. Your wife will graduate next week. You aren't thinking of buying something for her?"
"My future wife happens to have my credit card. She could buy whatever she wanted for herself."
"You mean, this credit card?"
Matthew was taken aback. He had forgotten that Lilly returned the credit card that was under his name and just took the new one that was under hers. "She has a new one," he said and creased his forehead. He felt a tinge of annoyance that Lilly didn't take the card with her, even though, he clearly told her that she should keep it for emergencies. Was it because it has his name?
He got the credit card back from William's hand and put it back in his wallet. "Get her a graduation gift and send it to Morgan's residence."
"You aren't going to give it to her personally?"
He almost laughed out loud when Matthew's head snapped in his direction and glared at him.
"There is no reason for that. I wasn't invited to her graduation. And it's easy to think why." He waved his hand in the air as he bent down and picked up the papers that flew all over the place.
He was thinking of what Lilly said last time. She has a boyfriend. He scoffed at how things were such a big joke. He wasn't a romantic but he never thought that he would get married in such a manner.
His father's idea of marriage was for him to get someone decent enough to stand next to him in a photoshoot that needed to show him as a family man. And yeah, to give him future heirs. But with the contract that Mr. Morgan wanted him to sign it's impossible.
But then, he wasn't thinking of starting a family with Lilly at this point in her life. She's a kid for god's sake. She hasn't even enjoyed her life. She had to go to university, experience what a normal college girl should do…and then his thoughts came to a full stop. He remembered the girls back in his university days.
A strong urge of possessiveness gripped his heart and brought him dread. He didn't want Lilly to go through that phase of her life. He didn't want some bastards to teach those things to her but then, he exhaled a frustrated sigh. He wished that he was the same age as Lilly and both of them were in the university. It would be fun to drag her around into silly adventures.
"Stop it, Matthew. You're being stupid." He scolded himself loudly and focused his attention back on the mountain of paperwork that was waiting for him.
***
Pete jumped up on his seat when he heard the car's door slam shut when Lilly entered the backseat.
"Grrrgghhh!! So annoying!"
"What is annoying or is it a who?" He asked as he twisted the key in the car's ignition and slowly drove out of the basement parking of the Gray Empire building.
"It's a who! That Matthew Grayson is freaking annoying!"
"Can I ask why?" He asked as he eyed the traffic. The drive to Lilly's school would take time. "You're going to have a pictorial with your classmates and you're in a pissy mood because of Matthew?"
"I can't wait to leave for university!" She pulled out of her purse a small mirror to check her makeup. She had already forgotten that there would be a pictorial at school today because of what happened.
"Did you see my mother come out of the Gray Empire building?"
She watched Pete crease his thick brows and cocked his head to the side.
"Your mother? What will she do at the Gray Empire building?"
"It was my exact question." She heaved a deep sigh and returned her compact mirror into her purse. "I asked Matthew about it and he lied. He told me that my mother didn't come to his office when I saw her come out of his office with my own two eyes!"
"Did you ask your mother?"
She folded her arms over her breast and scoffed. "You think my mother would tell me? To be honest, I am more curious about why Matthew lied."
"That is the million-dollar question. What is Matthew's reason for lying? And by the way, were you able to ask him about your wedding plans?" He asked to divert Lilly's attention about her mother's reason for visiting Matthew until the time that he has a better idea of the situation.
"Yes, he agreed. He agreed so fast like he couldn't care less. He just wanted the wedding to get over with as if it was just one of the documents in his desk that he wanted to sign and be done with it."
She shifted her gaze outside the window and exhaled a deep sigh. She wondered where the disappointment she was feeling came from. It was what she wanted and Matthew didn't make a fuss and agreed to it, yet, she felt unsatisfied with his reaction.
"I just want things to be over and for me to be away for university," she uttered while staring at her blurry reflection from the car's window.
"Uhm, Lil," Pete cleared his throat as he called her attention.
"What?" She met his eyes in the rearview mirror.
"With the idea of leaving for college…have you talked to Matthew about it?"
"Why would I talk to him about my plans?" She asked, clicking her tongue.
"Because he will be your husband by then…"
Lilly stared long and hard at Pete and realization hit her hard and she cursed under her breath.
"But what is he going to do? I'm going to finish school. He can't expect me to put my life on hold for him, is he?" The panic in her voice was palpable. When her mother told her that her father made sure that she and Matthew won't start a family soon, she assumed that Matthew would allow her to finish school.