"Marriage. To you."

"Sorry?" she felt as if the ears were playing tricks on her. He didn't propose marriage to her...did he?

"I said we both will get married. You and I, exchange of rings in presence of a priest. Is it clear to your now foggy mind? This way Sam will have the King's surname and all the benefits that come along. You will act like his mother. Of course, that's what you have been doing since the day he was born and if you want to be by his side then I suggest you say 'yes' to this option, Ms Jones."

Still in a state of shock Lilly repeatedly shook her head as she said, "No...you... you can't be serious. We can't!"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No..."

"Good. Even I am not dating anyone at the moment. So we both are free and don't worry my past is clear so you don't have to worry about a girlfriend appearing out of nowhere."

"But that doesn't matter at the moment." she protested.

"Then what does?"

"The fact that I can't marry you because... I don't want to."

He stood as he adjusted his coat buttons. "We will meet in court then. Tomorrow. 10:00 a.m. sharp." he said as he made his way past her.

"Stop!" she quickly turned to hold his wrist bringing him to a halt. "I can't live without Sam. I can't..." Her eyes pleaded his.

"Are you begging me, Ms Jones?"

His words hurt her pride but she didn't mind begging if it meant he'll agree to her. Sam was the only family she was left with and she couldn't afford to lose him.

So she simply nodded her head in a yes.

"Yes. I beg you."

He looked at her for a moment before he finally said, "48 hours. I give you 48 hours to think about my offer again but if your answer is still in negative then you can forget about Sam."

She simply nodded her head because she had lost the will to speak any more words.

" I have some work to do," he said as he freed his wrist from her grip.

" I will take my leave then." He said. His voice is cold and unapologetic.

Before leaving he took one last look at Sam and smiled. "Bye, Sam. I will be back soon."

Sam looked up at him as he smiled and waved his hands happily in air.

"Baah..."

He walked to the door and turned his head to his right. Looking at Lilly from the corner of his eyes he said in a warning tone, "48 hours."

And with that, he left.

It was when she heard the main door close that she slumped to the floor and let the tears she had been holding for so long flow freely. A sob left her mouth.

Sam crawled to her and touched her cheeks. His lovely face looked a little worried and Lilly realised no matter how hard she tried the tears just refused to stop. So with that, she lost the second battle of the day and let her tears flow.

She took Sam in a tight embrace and cried to her heart's content. Cried till the tears dried. At the same time, she felt thankful to the little boy who had the patience of a saint and didn't cry looking at his aunt.

"I don't want to marry him, Sam. I don't want to."

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

He had given her 48 hours to decide whether she wanted to be with Sam for the rest of her life or was going to be adamant about not marrying him and end up losing Sam to him. 27 hours had passed and only a few more were left but she still was failing to decide what she wanted to do.

She had always dreamt of a Prince charming especially when she was around the age of 13 or 14 but after her parents' death when all the responsibilities fell on her elder sister's shoulders she at some point had realised that it was not a Prince charming she needed in her life to come and solve problems and sweep her off her feet.

What she needed was a good education so that she could get a good job and a good salary with which she would be able to lessen the burden her sister was carrying. She had seen how her sister used to work tirelessly for 15 hours a day or sometimes more so that she could just earn some extra bucks so Lilly wouldn't have to worry about the tuition fee.

So Lilly too focused her attention on books. She never made any friends because friends meant distraction. It meant going out and spending money and at that point in life spending money on outings was a luxury she couldn't afford. She had spent her teenage life like that lonely child who would just sit in a corner in the class or library with her head always buried in books.

She had never caused trouble to anyone. She had never thought of marriage especially to someone she did not even know, she didn't even like. Never had she ever dreamt of marrying a billionaire. Much less Mr Ashton King whom she hated with the passion of thousand burning suns. Who is the brother of the one who was responsible for her sister's death.

She had spent the last 27 hours tossing and turning in her bed and then pacing to and fro as if measuring the length and breadth of room. These negative vibes of her found their way to Sam because he was looking equally irritated now.

She sighed looking at the toddler who was pouting and frowning as he threw his toy on the wall. This was his new way of expressing how pissed and irritated he was. But what was the cause of his irritation Lilly had no idea.

Sighing, she went to him and picked him up.

"Hey Sam, I am sorry. I don't want you to worry about all this but everything is just so messed up and I don't know what to do."

Running her fingers in his curls she smiled a little.

" I don't want my sadness to find its way to you. So let's go out for a walk and forget this Ashton King. It will be just you and me and the fresh air of nature."

Placing him in his stroller and some of his essentials with her they both left for the nearby park. She saw one of his guards from the corner of her eye following them. They all were on high alert every time she left the house even if it was for 20 minutes. Though she was glad for the distance they maintained.

It was 10 and the sun was shining brightly. As they reached the park she helped Sam out of his stroller and gave him a ball to play with.

He looked happier now. She smiled as he started playing. Every now and then he would try to stand on his feet.

'Soon he will be able to walk.' Lilly smiled looking at him. He had become her reason to live. In this big world, he was the only one whom she could call hers. She wanted to see him growing happily each day. His first day to kindergarten, to school, when he will start speaking clearly. I want to be there for you always or maybe at least for as long as you want me.

Soon she was pulled out of her reveries by the shrill cries of Sam. Frantically she looked up and saw an old lady was holding Sam in her arms while Sam was trying his best to push her away with his small chubby hands.

She quickly got up to her feet and went to the old lady.

"He doesn't like to be held by strangers. Please give him back to me."

"But we are not strangers, Right Sam?" the old lady smiled at Sam.

But Sam refused to listen to anything. He just wanted to be out of her arms.

"Ma'am, please give him back to me." Lilly was trying her best to sound polite when all she wanted was to snatch her Sam from the old woman's hands who was hell-bent on making her dear one cry.

"It's an alright baby. Now stop crying. Grandmother will give you lots of toys"

"I think you are mistaken, ma'am. He is not your grandson. He is my son. His name is Samuel Jones."

"No. His name is Samuel king."

'His name is Samuel King.' the words repeated themselves in her head in Ashton's voice and she paled at that.

Quickly she snatched the toddler from the old woman's hands and hugged him in her protective embrace. Sam too pulled his arms around her neck as tightly as he could as if afraid to be taken away by the old woman again.

Lilly turned around and started walking away from the old lady.

"You won't be able to keep him with you for long. This is not the place he belongs to."

Lilly couldn't take more than this now. She turned around and looked at the old woman with her eyes blazing fire.

"His name is Samuel Jones and he is my son. I hope you will remember this and won't disturb us again."

She turned to leave again ignoring a furious old woman who was shouting the threat loud and clear.

"Try as much as you want but I will be the one fighting for his custody. So you have no chances to win against me."

Ignoring her Lilly took the stroller while still holding Sam in her arms and walked to her home as fast as her shaking legs could take her.

As soon as she entered the house she quickly closed the door behind her. She was breathing hard. She was scared. She was angry. No, she was furious. Sam had stopped crying but he was still sniffling against her neck and that only flamed her anger even more.

She looked for the card Ashton had left for her to call him when she decides the answer. She called on his number and he picked up just after the two rings but before the other person could even greet with a 'Hello' all her anger went into action.

"What the hell do you think of yourself? First, you come here to threaten me and when that doesn't work you send your mother after us."

"What?"

"She made Sam cry so much that he is still sniffling. And does the habit of threatening others run in your family's blood? First, you came to threaten me and now your mom. What do you and your family want from us? First, your brother entered my sister's life and became the reason for her downfall. As if that wasn't enough then you came barging in. Today your mom appeared, tomorrow maybe your dad will come and then the day after that your other relatives will start popping up from different corners of the world. You people are the most despicable ones I have seen in my entire life."

with that, she put the phone down angrily. It was a miracle that the phone didn't break into two.

Sam was still in a foul mood as she helped him clean up and changed him in a fresh set of clothes. She took him to the kitchen and asked, "Sam, do you want to eat something? Milk? Or juice maybe?"

She tried her best but nothing seemed to cheer him up and now she was regretting her decision of taking him to the park. Just then she heard the doorbell ring.

Balancing the toddler who at the moment was very much annoyed with all the living and breathing creatures on this earth, she went to open the door.

The person she wanted to see the least was standing right in front of her. Angrily she closed the door on his face. And she succeeded too. Almost...