Page 4 of Lillian

With more grace than anyone who came before her, she was polite and adorable, and more than my parents deserved.

And I broke her heart. She didn’t say it, but I saw the way her eyes guttered when I said she was just a friend. But she doesn’t understand my parents. They take everything beautiful in my life, anything that doesn’t directly benefit them, and they ruin it.

She doesn’t benefit them. She doesn’t come from money, doesn’t have any social status to exploit, isn’t in a job that they would approve of…

None of that matters to me, but they’ve run off my past three girlfriends for the same reasons. I won’t let them run off Lillian. Not when I can see a life, a future, afamilywith her in a way I never could with any of my exes. But I’ll need to proceed carefully with my parents. As I walk back down the hallway toward them, I think about what I’ll need to say.

Turns out I don’t need to because my mom doesn’t even give me the chance to speak. The second I’m back in the kitchen, she’s on me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She glowers at me.

“What?” I ask back with an already weary sigh. Her eyes are locked on me with no small amount of displeasure while my dad leans against the counter, looking bored. It’s not fooling me, though. He may not be as vocal as my mom, but he’s as disappointed in me as often as she is. She just happens to be their mouthpiece.

“Chasing after that girl like a dog. I raised you better than that.” I refrain from telling her she didn’t raise me at all. It’s only because of the herd of nannies that I turned out like a halfway decent human being. “And that girl… dating below your levelagain.How predictable.”

Ah, there it is. The real reason she’s upset. It’s not that I debased myself by chasing after someone. It’s because that someone isn’t ‘mother-approved.’

Ignoring the fact that even though I denied dating her, my mom saw right through me anyway. “And who should I be dating? Stephanie? I don’t even know a Stephanie, and I’d bet all the money in my wallet that you don’t either.”

A beat of silence from both of them is all the confirmation I need. But she ignores my accusation. “When were you going to tell us you were dating someone, anyway? After your wedding?”

The way she’s emphasizingdatingsounds…

“You guys weren’t eating on this side of town,” I say accusingly. It is starting to seem a little too convenient. They just happened to swing by to see me at the exact time Lillian was here. When they share a look, and I see my dad’s eyes dart briefly to my back door like he’s looking outside somewhere, it hits me.

My neighbors are close friends of theirs.

A couple they did business with years ago that they never fell out of touch with. Of course they’d run their mouths to my parents if they saw a strange car at my house. I suppose the only real surprise is we made it three months without a drop-in.

“Fucking Jensons,” I mutter.

My mother tsks. “They were just curious about the pretty blonde they’ve been seeing sneaking in at all hours of the day.”

“Nobody has beensneakinganywhere. Or did you forget this is my house?” That I bought with my own money, much to their chagrin. It’s why I live in a tiny little suburban three-bedroom instead of the million-dollar extravagance they tried to buy for me after my graduation from law school.

Don’t get me wrong—I make good money now. But when I was fresh out of law school and just starting with the family business, I wasn’t financially capable of buying a million-dollar home on my own.

When I turned down their bribe—I mean, offer—that came with an inground pool and a dining area suitable for any manner of party or business meeting, they were steaming. And when I bought this ordinary home that they wouldn’t want to be caught dead in, it was the final slap in the face for them.

But it was for this exact reason that I wanted to do it on my own. All their money and all theirgiftscome with this invisiblelittle string that they get to tug on anytime they want. Their house, their rules.

“How could I ever forget?” she mutters under her breath, looking around my modest kitchen with open contempt.

One more of those looks and I think I may explode. “Are we done here? You got what you wanted. She left. Your turn.” I throw my arm out for them to walk down the hallway to the front door. The sooner they’re gone, the sooner I can call Lil and explain why I acted like a douche. Except they don’t move.

“You’re to stop seeing her,” Mother dearest orders, crossing her arms.

It makes me snort. “Not likely.” Not with the way my search history is loaded with engagement rings. It may be too soon to propose, but that doesn’t mean I can’t buy one and keep it in a drawer for the right time.

My insolence pisses off my father who has straightened at my tone. “Watch how you speak to your mother, you little shit.”

“You guys come intomy house, interruptmy night,and I’m the one that needs to watch it? I’m not going to stop seeing her, and it’s time for you guys to leave.”

From the corner of my eye, I see my dad’s fists ball up tight, knuckles whitening, and I know he wants to take a swing at me. He hasn’t done that since I’ve gotten big enough to hit back. And make it hurt. My shoulders square and my muscles go tight, waiting for a blow.

But it doesn’t get that far because my mom says the words that drain any fight from me. The only reason they’re still able to tug on my leash. “How’s Rebecca this week, Jack?”

They both see the defeat in me, and my dad grins. “Still living a happy life up at that cushy resort. Though… it is starting to get pretty expensive.”

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