Chapter 152 - An Argument

"If you ever need anything or my grandson hurt you, just come to grandpa, alright? I will give him a good beating." Marshall nagged and followed by a long list of reminders while sending Devon and Lewis off. 

"... also, just visit grandpa more frequently, alright? After your exam, grandpa will throw a celebration for you."

"Grandpa." Devon smiled subtly, patting Marshall's wrinkly hands.. "You don't have to, but I will visit you once the exams are over."

"Yes, yes! Just focus on your exams for now." Marshall chuckled heartily.

Devon's smile remained, squeezing Marshall's hand lightly before letting go. She turned to Lewis, who was leaning on the driver's seat door, watching them over the car.

"Grandpa, please promise you won't disturb her while she is preparing for her exams." Lewis cast Marshall a knowing look, making the latter huff.

"Of course! I am not unreasonable!" The old man argued shamelessly, and Lewis could not help but let out a shallow sigh.

"I will call you when I have time, grandpa." Devon came to the rescue before the two of them argue once again. 

Although it was barely called an argument since Lewis barely put his energy into it. It was safer to say Marshall getting angry that his grandson was less passionate about arguing with him.

"Really??" Marshall's eyes twinkled.

"Really." She nodded and chuckled. It was amusing how Marshall's mood kept swinging back and forth as if he couldn't get a hold of his own emotions. 

Bella and Mike had told her how terrifying the patriarch of the Qin Family was when she told them about meeting them finally. So, it was a surprise that Marshall was more like how Lewis described his grandfather.

Marshall was, indeed, unreasonably hyper.

"We will go now, Grandpa," Devon announced in a soft voice. "Thank you for taking care of us."

"Oh, that's nothing! Anything for my angel~!" 

She smiled subtly before glancing at Lewis again. Devon looked back at Marshall and bowed slightly, then glanced at Butler Xue, who stood not far away from Marshall. Butler Xue offered a polite smile and bowed.

"Take care~!" Marshall waved as Devon hitched inside the front passenger seat.

She rolled the window down and waved back while Lewis started the engine. Devon didn't mind Lewis and kept waving until they sped away.

A shallow sigh slipped past her lips as she rolled up the window. The smile she kept in front of Marshall slowly vanished, leaning her back against the leather seat.

Meanwhile, Lewis glanced at her while driving. "Everything's alright?" 

"Mhm." She nodded, stretching the corner of her lips into a forced smile. "Everything is alright."

"But your tone and eyes say otherwise," he muttered, setting his eyes back on the road.

Devon bit her lower lip with her eyes on his side profile. Her mouth opened and closed, unable to speak a word. So, instead of talking, she turned her head towards the window and they traveled in silence. 

"Where are we going?" she asked after a long silence, seeing that the road they were taking wasn't the way back home.

"Secret," he answered without a shred of excitement in his voice, making her frown as she cast him a look. "You'll know when we get there."

"Lu."

"Don't argue, my love. I'm already pissed and I don't want to say something on the spur of the moment and regret later," Lewis muttered as his grip around the steering wheel tightened. His jaw clenched, suppressing the fury that had been building up in his heart.

Devon pursed her lips, but just nodded and kept quiet. "I understand."

"Do you really trust me, Dev?" asked Lewis after a minute of silence. "I am trying to change my ways, to understand other people than me, and adjust to being a better person. It's hard, but I am trying."

"Of course I do," came out a weak response from her. "I trust you and love you more than anyone in this world but... I never forced you to change."

A chuckle slipped past his lips and glanced at her momentarily. "You didn't, but I want to, for you."

"Then I don't see any reason for this argument to ensue." Devon shrugged and faced him squarely.

"Hah..." Lewis chortled in ridicule, grinding his teeth. "No reason to argue?"

She swallowed down the frustrating tension in her throat and looked away. It was not she didn't understand his point before shutting him down. Her argument was more like a defense mechanism to stop him from probing because he would certainly figure it out.

'I couldn't tell him just yet, right? Quentin will harm him for sure.' Devon told herself, nodding mentally. Maybe it was because she had feared him all her life or just the sheer thought of having Quentin back in her life brought back the old habits of the past.

"This is annoying," he mumbled, eyes glinting menacingly.

"I'm sorry." 

"Sorry? Sure, you are." 

Devon glanced at Lewis and let out a sigh. "Lu."

"Dev, I think we had lived together long enough to know that there's a problem. If you don't want to tell me and want to figure it out yourself, so be it." Lewis clicked his tongue as he held back from saying more. "Speaking out of anger and overwhelming emotions will not lead to any good outcome. I will respect your silence, but I hope you respect the reason I am angry."

'Lu, I'm sorry.' She bit her lower lip as her chest moved out and in heavily. 

After Lewis' request to respect each other's silence, they drove to their destination without making the slightest noise. The air inside the car thickened the longer the silence reigned, but neither of them broke it.

******

After three hours of silence, Devon furrowed her brows as her eyes landed on the shore not far away. She had only seen one on television and books, but she was never been into one.

She turned her head to the driver's seat only to catch Lewis' cold side profile. Her mouth opened, but she closed them again and shrink back in her seat.

"You said, in your previous life, he had promised you to take you to places you wanted to go." Suddenly, Lewis spoke in a deep tone. "Forget about him because I can do that."

"Lu, are you trying to compete?"

"I am." His answer was quick, casting her a look. "My love is on the line, and I'm fighting for it."

Her breath hitched, and she gulped, seeing the fire burning in his eyes. She couldn't tell whether he was angry or being competitive, or something else. But one thing was for sure, he had a lot to say but was holding back.

"Alright..." she rocked her head and hanged her head low.

They didn't speak once again until Lewis drove up to the shore where he could park his car. Once they stopped, both of them didn't move or speak and just stayed like that inside the car.

"This is too much," he mumbled, rolling down the window on his side. The sound of waves immediately sang in his ear as the mild breeze blew past him.

Lewis draped an arm over the windowsill, closing his eyes while leaning back on the driver's seat comfortably. He relished the tranquility of the beach as he organized his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Devon gazed at him, studying him in silence. A sigh escaped her mouth as she turned her head to the window on her side. She pressed the button to roll it down, staring at the waves, and subtly smiled at its beauty.

"Sorry." She spoke after the prolonged silence. "You are right when you said there's a problem... I am the problem."

Devon was aware that Lewis had nothing to do with the raging emotions in her heart. It was all on her and her deal with Julian. Lewis didn't deserve this sort of treatment and frustration, as he had always been kind to her.

"I'm scared, Lu." Her eyes softened, still staring at the shore. 

"I'm scared, angry, confused. I don't know which is dominant among all other emotions I am feeling, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Devon added and breathed out sharply, voice shaking. "I... I don't know what to do or how to resolve things without running over into someone."

She gazed down at her hands that were on her lap. She bit her lower lip as hard as she could, feeling her eyes burn as tears dripped down on the back of her fist.

Lewis slowly opened his eyes and sighed. He cocked his head to her and he couldn't continue being angry as soon as his eyes landed on her.

"If you don't know what to do, why am I here for?" he asked under his breath, sprawling his hand to hers. "Dev, look at me."

Lewis placed a thumb on her chin and raised it to him. His eyes searched for her and his jaw tightened, seeing that her tears came from unimaginable fear and trauma. 

"We are together not just on our best days, but we will be together even during our worst day, hmm?" His brows raised, wiping her tears with his thumb. "We will figure it out together, okay? Together, Dev. Like always."

"I am scared, Lu." She forced her words out of her, hiccuping.

Lewis let out a deep breath. "I am too." Because his instinct told him that someone important to him was involved in this. Dealing with Quentin De Luca was easy since they were nothing but business partners, but Julian was his brother.