My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 171

David stepped beside her without making a show of it. He reached out gently and straightened the shawl over her arm. The touch was careful, like he didn’t want to break whatever small peace Lily had.

That little movement, so ordinary made Noah’s face go brittle. Her hands clenched at her sides.

“Don’t touch her!” she snapped before she could stop herself.

David turned to her, and for the first time that morning his control cracked a little. “Miss Blackwood,” he said, voice steady but sharp, “I respect because you are Lily's friend. But I don’t need your permission to take care of my wife.”

“wife, wife,” Noah muttered, bitter and incredulous. “You think saying ‘my wife’ fixes everything? You’re unbelievable.”

David didn’t argue the point. He didn’t need to. His attention was on Lily. “Let’s go,” he said quietly. “The car’s waiting.”

Lily’s answer was immediate, flat. “No. Noah will drive me home. You can go.”

David’s jaw tightened. He wanted to force the issue, to insist, but something in him pulled back.

Instead he gave a quick nod to Roy take the bag and stepped aside.

Roy moved forward, hesitating as he reached for Lily’s things.

Noah’s fists tightened; she looked ready to snatch the bag back. But Lily shook her head a small, decisive shake don’t make this harder. Noah swallowed whatever she wanted to say.

When Lily rose, the world tilted a little. She swayed, and reflex brought Noah’s hand out first steadying, gentle. Before David could reach her, Noah had her arm. The action was protective, automatic; she wasn’t going to let David’s presence crowd Lily.

“You don’t have to act like you care,” Noah said, voice low and ragged. “Where was this concern when she needed you?”

David didn’t answer right away. He looked at Lily, then at Noah. “I’m here now,” he said simply.

Noah let out a short, bitter laugh. “Too late for that,”

she said. Her words were an echo of everything Lily had been through, everything she’d seen him do and not do.

Lily turned to her, tiredness in every line of her face. “Please, Noah,” she said softly.

That quiet plea stopped Noah in her tracks. It carried no expectation only exhaustion and the faintest flicker of trust.

Noah’s chest heaved. “I just hate this man,” she whispered under her breath, more to herself than to anyone else. “I can’t help it.”

Her hands fluttered, like she wanted to rip something apart but instead folded them into a steady, controlled fist.

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