Chapter 247: Let me prove you wrong

Lily’s face changed immediately. The guilt that had already been sitting inside her became heavier, and her eyes lowered before she could stop herself. "I am sorry, Cixi," she whispered. "I didn’t know. I really didn’t know it would turn out like this."

Her head hung lower, and from where Zoyar stood, the sight irritated him.

He did not like it. Not. One. Bit.

Cassian already ruled everything around him. Wherever the man stood, people either obeyed, feared, or calculated their words before speaking. People expected that from Cassian. He had built himself that way. But was it necessary for Cixi also to make Lily lower her head like that, even if they were friends and even if the words were spoken without viciousness?

Some things simply should not be done in front of him. And making Lily bow her head was one of them.

Lily, in Zoyar’s mind, was not meant to look small. She was noise, movement, temper, foolish courage, and the kind of freedom that did not ask permission before entering a room. She spoke whatever came to her tongue, often before sense had the chance to interfere, and somehow that made her more alive than most women he had met.

In the mafia world, women are bold too. They are dangerous, elegant, and trained to hide poison behind a smile, but Lily was different. She was bold without calculation and cute without trying to be. She could scold a man with coffee foam on her sleeve and still look as though the universe had personally offended her.

That thought made something inside him soften. A smile almost touched his mouth, though he kept it hidden.

Lily had no idea what she had done to him. Perhaps that was the most.

Cixi took Lily’s hand before guilt could pull her friend any further down. She knew Lily had done something foolish, but she also understood that the foolishness hadn’t meant to harm her.

Lily had panicked after hearing about Cixi’s falsified past from Silviya, and instead of asking Cixi directly, she had tried to solve everything in her own protective way. That made Cixi feel even closer to Lily.

Cixi squeezed her hand. "Next time, ask me before making any life-threatening plans. People are vicious, Lily. And you know that better than I do! Weren’t you the one who told me never to trust anyone easily?"

Lily looked into her eyes with guilt still sitting heavily on her face. "Yeah! I didn’t live up to my own standards... Next time, if anyone comes to me asking questions about you, I will kick their asses first and ask questions later."

"That sounds more like you!" Cixi replied and giggled alongside Lily.

For a few seconds, Lily only looked at her. Then a crease appeared between her brows, and her attention moved from Cixi’s face to her hair. In all the fear, guilt, and panic, she had not noticed it before. She had been too nervous at the gate, too busy hiding the truth from Cixi, too anxious about Silviya showing up, and too consumed by guilt after everything went wrong. But now, standing close to Cixi, Lily realised something that should have caught her attention the moment her friend arrived at the stadium.

"Cixi," she asked slowly, "were you wearing your scarf when you came here?"

Cixi blinked thrice before her fingers moved towards her head, but the moment they brushed the sore spot on her scalp, she winced and pulled her hand back.

"No," she admitted quietly. "I decided to stop hiding my hair. But after those bullies yanked on it as if they wanted me bald... I am having second thoughts. My hair..." Cixi tapped her head, wincing at the discomfort.

"You know what would be satisfying?" Lily’s tone turned steely. "Making Silviya bald. Every woman adores her hair—at least most do. I would love to see her reaction as she watches her hair being stripped from her scalp, never to grow back again."

Cixi’s eyes narrowed at Lily’s words. "That would be satisfying," Cixi muttered under her breath, and Zoyar mentally noted the two women’s wishes.

Lily’s eyes grew warmer as she listened. She reached out carefully and touched one golden strand near Cixi’s shoulder, gentle enough not to hurt her. "Your hair is meant to flaunt, girl," she said, and this time her voice carried the emotion she had been holding back. "Do not hide them because of those brain-dead actions."

Cixi gave Lily a single nod.

For years, Cixi had kept her golden-blond hair hidden, knowing it could attract the attention of human trafficking lords. However, she no longer felt afraid, thanks to Cassian, the enigmatic ruler of the mafia world. Though only a handful of people knew he was alive, his presence gave her a sense of security. After Cassian marked her, Cixi knew he would come for her, find her in every corner of the earth if anyone dared to take her away from him.

"And stop creating overprotective zones around you!" Lily complained.

Cixi gave her a look. "Overprotective zone?"

"Yes. The zone where you hide your hair, hide your problems, hide your past, and then expect everyone to behave as if you are perfectly normal."

"That sounds like a personal attack."

"It is friendship and honesty," Lily replied, then pulled Cixi into a tight hug before Cixi could argue.

Cixi hugged her back, though the movement made her smile against Lily’s shoulder. "Do not make me regret forgiving you within the next five minutes."

"I will try," Lily replied.

"You should say you promise."

"I do not want to lie so soon after apologising."

And they both laughed.

Zoyar watched and listened to both women and found himself unable to understand the direction of the conversation. A few minutes ago, they had been dealing with betrayal, danger, bruises, and guilt because of a plan Lily had hidden from Cixi.

He had expected anger. He had expected shouting. He had even prepared himself for Lily’s tears. But their conversation quickly shifted from one topic to the next in mere seconds.

It made no sense to him.

Mafia negotiations were easier to follow than those of these two women. He thought.

Zoyar, who had been quiet for longer than suited him, finally spoke when he saw both women still standing there as though bruises, swelling, and near-disaster could be settled with a few jokes between friends. "Ladies, you need to go to a doctor for a check-up."

The sentence had barely left his mouth when Lily turned and punched him on the arm. Zoyar looked down at the place she had hit, then slowly lifted his eyes to her face.

"Thank you," Lily said with complete sincerity.

His confusion deepened. "Does your thank you always come with a punch to my arm?"

"For you, yes," Lily replied without hesitation.

Zoyar stared at her for a moment longer, trying to understand whether he had been insulted, appreciated, or accepted into some strange category of people Lily expressed gratitude to through violence. With anyone else, he would have called the behaviour foolish. With her, it only made his mouth threaten to curve.

"I want to go home," Lily added, touching the side of her face with stubborn confidence. "These are just bruises. I will apply cream, and it should be fine."

Zoyar stared at Lily and her bruised, swollen cheek.

Lily lifted her chin, looking straight back at him with those large, energetic eyes that seemed permanently ready to argue with the entire world.

Cixi watched them from the side and felt a smile tug at her mouth despite the ache in her own body. Lily had no idea she was walking towards Zoyar. That much was obvious. Cixi enjoyed watching the two of them, each wearing a different expression.

Lily kept looking at him as if silently demanding to know why he stared at her so often and whether his eyes had no other work in life. Zoyar, on the other hand, looked at Lily with admiration for a man who probably thought admiration was a weakness to be strangled before it took root.

The difference between their gazes was almost funny.

Zoyar cleared his throat and looked back at the swelling on Lily’s head. "Lily, I can see the bump on your scalp from here. If you do not treat it properly now, it might get worse. You may even lose hair in that spot and end up with a bald patch."

Lily’s face changed instantly. "No!"

The word came out so fast that Cixi blinked.

Lily grabbed Cixi’s hand at once, all her stubborn bravery disappearing under the horror of one possible bald spot. "Let us go to the doctor now. I do not want to take any chances."

Cixi looked at her with disbelief. "A moment ago you were ready to go home and put cream on it."

"That was before he threatened my hair."

"I did not threaten your hair," Zoyar said.

"You absolutely did."

"I warned you."

"It all sounds the same to me when it comes from your mouth."

"I can easily prove you wrong with these lips you so eagerly accuse."

Lily’s heart stopped beating.