A Promise To The Beloved (Completed)

17. Dilemma...

Lilly looked at Ashton and found him talking to Elsie, his stepmother.

"What is she doing here?" Lilly frowned.

"Hey, aren't you going to greet your mother in law?" Eva asked.

Lilly turned her attention to Eva and gave a small helpless smile. "I don't think so. They both seem to be in a very serious discussion so I don't think it will be a good idea to interrupt them."

"It isn't that they are talking about something serious it's just that whenever the two of them meet each other the atmosphere around them turn like that."

"Filled with tension and discomfort." Lilly completed.

"Yes." Eva acknowledged. ''It's hard to understand why this happens but I don't think Ashton treats her this way just because she is his stepmom. I have met him quite a few times and he respects women. So there has to be a solid reason as to why he is like that with her."

"Ashton is someone who has secrets. A lot of them." Lilly said more to herself than to the girl in front of her. Every time she looked at Ashton there was an urge to know more about him, she smiled looking at the man who had his back towards her. Her curiosity which felt utter stupidity to her.
"He would never tell you what's going on in his heart or head. Even if he were in pain he wouldn't tell anyone. He is that sort of guy."

"You have fallen for him you know." Eva smiled at her. ''The longing for him in your eyes speaks it."

Lilly looked at Eva but then dismissed her words mentally with a smile on her face because there was no way she could fall for him. It was just her curiosity. The need and want to know more about him had nothing to do with love.

"You know men are egoistical creatures. They never tell their troubles to anyone." Eva smiled as she looked at Liam. "They feel telling others about their pain would portray them as weak but if there comes a day when he tells you his deepest sorrows and darkest fears when he tells you his secrets that he has never told anyone then just know it's because you have broken the walls he built around his heart. If he tells you his secrets then it's not because he is weak. No. It's because you have earned his trust. It would be because you have become someone special to him and that day you would know how much he loves you."

Eva looked back at Lilly as she continued, "He married you maybe because he saw something special in you. The day when you would gain his trust completely he will tell you all his secrets. Why his relationship with Elsie is so tense I don't know. Neither do Aaron and Liam. But I am sure you will succeed in breaking those walls around his heart. So Mrs King, don't worry I hope that day comes for you soon." she smiled.

"That sounds like a good luck wish," Lilly said returning the smile.

"Eva," Liam called for his wife. "Would you come here for a minute?"

" I will be back." Eva excused herself and now Lilly was left alone with her thoughts as she looked at Ashton from this distance. She could neither hear his voice nor see his expressions but looking at his body language he wasn't looking very happy.

"What's going on? Why is she here?" Lilly was getting worried every passing second.

As Livia returned with Aaron, Liam and Eva came back. Soon Ashton too joined them. After a brief conversation, everyone parted ways. Livia was pregnant and needed to rest. The newly married Richardson couple got a call from Liam's grandmother. Ashton's mood was so spoilt that it didn't go unnoticed. So after bidding farewell three couples headed to their destination.

Lilly and Ashton's journey to home once again was filled with silence but the silence this time was different from the previous one because now the tension filled the air like the calm before the storm. A storm Lilly was praying and hoping for not to come.