Avenger's coming back

Chapter 69 Substitute

After arriving at the destination, Lily probably knew who Andrew took her to meet.

If she guessed right, the person she was going to see was his mother, because the place he brought her was the cemetery.

"Brother Andrew, you..." Lily turned to look at Andrew, confused. She wanted to ask, but didn't know how to say.

"Get off the car now," Andrew gave her a bitter smile, "Today is my mother's Deathday. I'm taking you here to visit her."

After that, he opened the door and got out of the car.

Seeing this, Lily got off the car and walked up to Andrew. In fact, she wanted to ask him why he took her to see his mother.

But when she saw the loneliness on his face, she put up with it, and a sense of sadness rose from the inexplicable heart.

Looking at the graveyard in front of him, Andrew was a little depressed. He heaved a deep sigh and turned to Lily, "Let's go."

"Yes." Lily nodded.

They walked along the concrete road, one after the other. There were very few people in the alley except them.

After walking for about ten minutes, Andrew stopped. He looked ahead and said in a low voice, "Here we are."

Lily stopped and followed him to look ahead. There was a man standing in front of the tombstone not far away with a bunch of lily flowers in his hand. That man was no one else, but Kerr.

The most eye-catching person was not Kerr, but the maple tree beside the tombstone, with exuberant leaves hanging on it.

"He only did three things in his life." Andrew spoke indifferently, as if he was talking to both Lily and himself, "maple tree, lily, I..."

After hearing that, Lily turned to look at him in confusion. Just when she was about to ask, he had already walked over.

She had no choice but to follow him.

When they were in front of the gravestone, Kerr bent over and placed the lily in his hand in front of it. Then he turned to look at Andrew and said, "Here you are."

When he saw Lily following behind him, he frowned and asked, "Why do you bring Lily here?"

Andrew laughed, with a hint of almost invisible sarcasm in his voice. He didn't look at Kerr, but stared directly at the tombstone and said indifferently, "I think it's better to let her know something. It's good for you, for her and for aunt, isn't it?"

"Andrew..." He looked at his son helplessly, but didn't know what to say. He treated him like this every year.

The conversation between the two made Lily a little embarrassed. At the same time, she also noticed the change of Andrew's mood. He had never talked to Kerr in such a cold and alienated tone before.

She wanted to persuade them, but she didn't know how. After all, it was their family affair and it seemed to be related to Andrew's mother.

As her eyes fell on the tombstone, she opened her eyes wide in shock the next moment. The woman on the black and white photo on the tombstone was incredibly similar to her mother!

Lily was not stupid. She knew exactly what he meant. She just did not expect that because of the love he had for her mother, he found a substitute!

She couldn't help but feel pity, especially for that smiling woman on the photo.

"If you have finished, you should go back early. Aunt Tina hasn't recovered from her cold yet. She needs someone to take care of her." He was talking to Kerr, but his eyes were fixed on the gravestone.

Kerr sighed, "Andrew, I know you're mad at me. But I don't want you to blame Lily and her mother. They are innocent."

"You are wrong." Hearing this, Andrew turned to his father and said, "Father, I don't hate you. I won't get them involved in this. I'll support you whatever you do now. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness. I just can't get over the problem in my heart."

Kerr looked at him deeply, patted his shoulder, and turned around to leave. Before he turned around, he glanced at Lily with a faint smile, and then walked away. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

As a father, he understood what his son was thinking, but he was indeed embarrassing him.

After Kerr went far away, Andrew turned to Lily and said with a smile, "Surprised? I was also surprised when I saw the photo of your mother."

"Brother Andrew..." Lily opened her mouth and tried to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say. What position should she use to persuade him?

No way!

"I know what you want to say." "Now you must have known my father's feelings for your mother, don't you?"

"Yes." Lily nodded with some guilt, "I didn't know it would happen."

"You don't have to feel guilt." Andrew took a look at her and sat down beside the tombstone. Her sight fell on the black and white photo and reached out his hand to stroke it softly. "In fact, my mother has been very happy all her life. She met someone like him."

Lily knew whom 'him' referred to.

"My mother once told me that if she didn't meet my father, she would have a bad life. She was born in a poor family in the countryside. She was the eldest child of her family. And she had two younger brothers. She was born in a poor family which was near to be sold out. Her parents sold her to a family as their daughter-in-law. However, the man was cruel and violent. My mother couldn't stand it, so she chose to escape..."

After a pause, he continued, "When she ran away, she met my father. At that time, my father was not so successful as now, but he was a little strong. He gave the family money and some other advantages and helped her out. Later, my father took good care of her all the time, which can be said to be meticulous. He never let her do housework or let her be worried about anything. Any woman will fall in love with such a man, and my mother is no exception."

"That's why they got married. Later, they had me. When I was twelve years old, my mother got breast cancer. Before she died, she pulled my hand and said to me, "Don't hate anyone. Even if you met her one day." At that time, I didn't know why she said these words to me. Before I went abroad, only when I saw the photo that my father protected well will that I understood."

He paused and reached out his hand to stroke the photo of his mother on the tombstone.

After hearing that, Lily felt a little depressed. Andrew's mother was lucky to meet him, but unfortunately, she was someone else's substitute.

All of a sudden, the surroundings quieted down.

After a long while, Lily said, "Brother Andrew, I know I don't have a good position to persuade you. But I still want to say, don't be too sad. I believe that aunt doesn't want to see you sad either."

"Yes." He stood up from the gravestone and looked into Lily's eyes. "I always remember my mother's last words before she died. See the whole world with your tolerance. In fact, life is beautiful, so I think that everything is beautiful."

Lily reached out and pulled his hand, trying to comfort him. But her hand was held back. She felt a little painful.

Holding her soft hand, Andrew felt relieved.

"When I arrived just now, I told you that my father has done three right things in his whole life in my eyes." While saying, he pointed to the maple tree with his finger and continued, "The maple tree was my mother's favorite tree when she was alive, so my father had planted one in front of her tomb. In the yard where they lived before, there were also several maple trees and lilies..."

He pointed to the bunch of lily flowers in front of the tombstone and continued, "Lily is her favorite flower. He sent her a bunch of flowers every year on her birthday. And I. although he doesn't love my mother, he educated me well. He never hit me, scolded me or even blamed me. Perhaps it is because of his guilt."

There was a self mockery in his last sentence.

"Don't say that." Lily hurriedly consoled, "Brother Andrew, I believe that uncle Kerr loves you."

"Yes, he loves me. After all, I'm his own son, right?" Andrew smiled and said, "Now, do you still conflict my father?"

Conflict? Lily frowned in confusion. "I don't conflict uncle Kerr, and I don't object to his being together with my mother."

"Really?" Then why didn't you tell her the reason why she hid it from Lucia?"

Kerr told him about this before, so he knew it clearly.

"I..." Lily bit her lower lip subconsciously. Suddenly she understood why Andrew took her to the cemetery today and told her so many things about his mother. He thought she hadn't accepted Kerr completely. He even showed resistance. He was helping Kerr to persuade her.

Suddenly, she smiled and looked up at him. "Brother Andrew, are you helping uncle Kerr to buy off a cheap 'daughter'?"

"Haha..." Andrew laughed and patted her head. "We should go now. Or you'll be late for work."

"But I don't want to have class this afternoon." Lily said in a delicate tone that even she herself did not notice.

"You can't refuse to attend classes just because you do well in your exams," He glanced sideways at her with doting eyes.

"But I haven't had lunch yet I'm hungry." As she spoke, she deliberately licked her lips.

Seeing her little trick, Andrew shook his head helplessly and said, "Let's have dinner first, and then I'll drive you to school."

"Okay, let's go to eat."

On the way back, while Andrew was focusing on driving, Lily texted Becky to ask for a half day leave. For some reason, she wanted to keep him company this afternoon.