Chapter 11LILY’S POVI wanted to go visit my mother at the hospital but changed my mind after seeing how miserable I looked. It’ll only get her to worry about me and the last thing I wanted was for her to worry in her state especially now the doctor mentioned she was responding to treatment.I felt like a lost puppy – alone, lost and unsure of what to do next. I thought of going to the family house but after remembering Robert’s harsh words and false accusations, I quickly erased the thought. I wasn’t ready to see him again for now. I feared he might have told his family members I was on a mission to sabotage his company and steal it from him. They’ll see me as a bad person and might never accept me as a part of the family or worse, throw me out. I was already struggling to fit in. Robert might use that chance to convince his grandpa that I wasn’t the right wife for him, that I wasn’t the good, decent woman he believed me to be. If he manages to do that and his grandpa believes him,
Chapter 12LILY’S POVAfter spending time at the bar, I made my way back to my apartment, grateful today didn’t end as badly as it started. Robert will be pissed I haven’t completely moved out of the apartment to the family house but at that moment, I didn’t want to think of it. His happiness was my top priority but with everything that happened today at the office, I just needed some time away from him. I wasn’t ready to face him after he treated me harshly and unfairly.I tried to keep myself from thinking of the worst-case scenario of him telling his family members what happened at the office as I approached my apartment. However, I noticed something unusual.My apartment was already open and some men were carting away with some of my property. I thought they were thieves but thieves don’t come stealing in broad daylight and my neighbours would have alerted the police if they were. They were dressed in special uniforms, looking like construction workers from a reputable constructi
CHAPTER 13 ***Please note all the chapters of the book are written from Lily's point of view unless stated otherwise.*** My breath caught and my hand instinctively ran up against my mouth to hold back the gasp about to escape. I was in a rush to leave for work this morning so I forgot to hide the pregnancy test result. I had left it on top of the nightstand. Now he’s found it. Something I promised never to let him find out about till the time was right. How could I been so forgetful and careless? This is bad…very bad. My heart was pounding against my rib cage. I tried but unsuccessfully to steady it as I lifted my gaze to meet Robert’s raging eyes. I don’t think I have ever seen him this angry. Normally, couples are supposed to celebrate the news of pregnancy especially if it has taken a long time to come. Any husband will be happy about this. Any husband but Robert. Was pregnancy really that bad a thing for him? Did he despise it, or did he just hate the thought of me carr
Chapter 14With that said Robert turned and made his way to the door. But I said something that dragged back his attention.“So it’s okay for Scarlett to be pregnant with your child but not me?” I asked with painful tears that hurt my eyes streaming down my face.“What did you just say?” He turned and asked, his brows knitting in sharply like he didn’t hear me correctly.Trying to maintain a tough demeanour, I vigorously wiped the tears off my face and tried to blink away my tears. I looked at him directly in the eyes. “I know everything. From how you got her pregnant and have been sleeping with her behind my back to your plans to get rid of me once your grandpa is no more and this contract marriage is over,” I scoffed in disbelief, that feeling of hurt and betrayal I felt when Scarlett told me all this creeping back into me. “I know you don’t love me like I love you, Robert but the last thing I expected you to do is betray me like this. All these years all I have done is stay true a
Chapter 15The TV was playing and the noise that came with people talking and walking around could be heard as I was seated in the waiting room of the hospital. But I barely paid attention to any of that as I was drowned in my thoughts. Robert’s hurtful words and the doctor’s message last night daggered my mind, leaving me feeling very anxious and uneasy. The thought of having this abortion only made it worse. I hadn’t done it before and didn’t know what to expect. As much as it scared the hell out of me, it was the only way I could get the money I needed to save my mother. I had to report back to Robert later in the day with the proof of the abortion procedure for him to give me my monthly paycheck for the contract marriage agreement. I couldn’t wait to get the procedure over with so I could go see how my mother was doing and give Robert what he wanted.Last night after Robert left, those men came back and carried the remaining furniture in the apartment which was my bed. I proved s
Chapter 16Someone tell me I’m dreaming. Tell me this isn’t true. Robert can’t be dead. He just can’t. I had just seen him yesterday. Even though he rejected my love and treated me cruelly and harshly, I still loved him with all my heart and didn’t want him gone at all. I had grown so attached to him I could barely go a day without seeing him and knowing how he was doing even though he might not want to do the same for me.I couldn’t seem to understand how someone could have done something this heartless and pinned it on me. He didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. The last thing I’ll do on this earth is kill someone, much less the father of my unborn child. The love of my life. My lifelong crush. If the police had come for me, that meant the news had probably gone viral. What will his family and the entire city think of me now? What do I tell my child when he grows up and wants to know what happened to his father?My head was bowed low in despair as the police car sped through. I h
CHAPTER 17“What is your relationship with Mr. Ronald Wilson?”I swallowed a lump around my throat to find my speech coherence. “He is the grandfather of my husband. As such my grandfather-in-law.”She scribbled on her notepad and continued.“Do you perhaps have some personal grudge against him maybe because of a past conflict or disagreement?”Her question caught me off guard. Grimacing in confusion, I stammered, trying to reiterate my point, “No…no, I don’t. Why would I hold a grudge against a man who has been so good to me from the very first day he set his eyes on me…”“I don’t know,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “You tell me.”She was taking this the wrong way. Robert’s Grandpa and I have been on good terms right from the start. He was my late grandpa’s best friend. The long-standing promise they made to each other before my grandpa died was the only reason I got the chance to be this close to Robert as his wife after all those years of not seeing him and being far away from him. B
CHAPTER 18 “What?...” I grimaced intensely in bewilderment, feeling blood drain from my face. “I…I didn’t stab anyone…” “How then do you explain the fact that the forensic results show your fingerprints are all over the murder weapon?” She raised a brow, looking at me as if waiting for me to come up with a lie. “What…what fingerprints are you talking about?” I stared at the blood-stained blade on the table in front of me before looking back at her, completely clueless. “So you’re going to deny this one too?” She asked, her face crimson with stern rage. “You mentioned earlier you had a little misunderstanding with your husband yesterday, what caused the little misunderstanding?” I lowered my gaze and shook my head in despair, bitter tears making its way down my cheeks. My heart was clenching painfully in my chest. I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t. It was all too much for me to bear and understand, I might just go crazy. I have been wrongfully accused of a lot of things
CHAPTER 73 ROBERT’S POV~ As I tucked my phone back into my suit pocket and headed back inside, I saw that Frank had the lady all tied up and immobilized as if she were some dangerous criminal. As my gaze settled on her, I couldn’t help but ask, “Scarlett is dead. She committed suicide last night. Tell me, did you have a hand in her doing this?” ~Frank gasped from where he was standing beside the lady, his features distorting from intense shock on hearing that. “Scarlett is dead?” He stared at me with wide eyes and a slacked jaw, saying the words like one learning to talk. But I didn’t pay attention to him as all my attention was focused on the lady. I wanted to hear from her because, from the way I was seeing it, she just might be responsible for Scarlett taking her own life.She was shocked too, even more than Frank.“Don’t lie to me or else I’ll kill you here with my bare hands,” I threatened in an attempt to make her spill the truth.“No…!” She blurted out, grimacing in bewild
CHAPTER 72ROBERT’S POV~ “Just pass the phone to her,” I insisted, becoming impatient and angrier.“I can’t.”“Why?” My brows pinched in sharply.“Because she’s dead.” ~Noah’s words hit like a thunderbolt, leaving me confused and speechless. Blinking repeatedly, I brought the phone down from my ear and checked the screen to make sure I was speaking with the right person. And yes I was, Raphael Walsh – the same man Scarlett left for me, Jake’s biological father.“This is some serious talk, Raphael,” I said as I brought the phone back to my ear. “Are you being serious right now or is this some trick…?Did Scarlett tell you to do this so she can escape me and what’s coming for her? I know she’s there with you. Pass the fucking phone to her or else I swear I’ll come over there and make you regret it.” Anger lit up my tone as I vented my frustration on him.“I’m serious, Robert,” he said, his voice heavy and trembling, as if he was on the verge of tears. “I’m telling you the truth. Scarl
CHAPTER 71ROBERT’S POV~ I resisted Frank, swinging my elbow back as it connected with the side of his face. I tightened my grip on the poor thing’s neck and she gasped desperately for air that was fast eluding her system, her skin turning scarlet red like a swollen tomato. I wanted to squeeze the living breath out of her and watch her die that slow painful I wanted. ~But in the wake of the moment, I remembered Frank’s words and realized I was letting anger cloud my judgment. I wasn’t a bloody murderer like her and will never be.With a disgustingly defiant expression on my face, I released my grip on her neck and looked away from her pale face with a conflicted heart. She cradled her neck and coughed violently to regain her lost breath, looking at me like I was a monster straight out of the pit of hell. But I was only a monster she made. Before she killed my grandpa, I don’t think she bothered to conduct a background check on him to know the kind of family he came from. If she di
CHAPTER 70 ROBERT’S POV ~ I wasn’t thinking clearly. An unquenchable rage filled every part of me, driving my thoughts and control. In a swift move, I grabbed the knife from the floor and aimed for her left breast where her heart lay, right where she had stabbed my grandpa twenty times. ~ Frank came from behind to restrain me just in time before the tip of the blade could connect with the woman’s chest. Skillfully, like one trained to do so, he held my right arm where I held the blade and twisted my fingers a little in a way that made the blade fall off, and kicked it under the bed. The woman’s eyes bulged, as though they were about to fall out from their sockets, her face etched with the terrific expression of someone watching their life flash before them. Paralyzed by fear, she gasped and panted like one having a panic attack. Instinctively, she began cowering back until she reached the edge of the bed without knowing and tumbled off, hitting the floor with a hard cras
CHAPTER 69ROBERT’S POV“Grab a knife and cut the remaining ropes restraining that woman,” I ordered Frank with a firm tone. “We can’t be holding her here against her will when she has a life out there to live.” I turned and started making my way down the hallway to leave. I wanted to leave immediately for the hospital Lily’s mum was admitted. There wasn’t enough time as I still had other important business matters to attend to before the end of the day. But Frank said something that stopped me.“Boss, I can’t let her go,” he said a bit hesitatingly, his voice carrying a note of apprehension as if something bad was going to happen if he let her go.My brows pinched in bafflement as I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him. “Why?”“If we do, she won’t think twice about going to the police to report us,” he explained.My brows furrowed even more as I looked away in deep thought. Frank was right. I didn’t even think of that. What do I do about this now? I had already too much o
CHAPTER 68 ROBERT’S POV ~ I shot Frank a furious glare and slashed out a sharp breath, not saying anything. I returned my attention to Lily and took off the small sack bag covering her face only for my jaw to drop on seeing her. ~ “Please I’m sorry…” she pleaded desperately with eyes that were red and swollen from too much crying and dishevelled hair that plastered on her face due to sweat. “Spare my life… Don’t kill me…I didn’t mean to do it…” My brows furrowed deeply in confusion as I stared at her, scrutinizing every inch of her features. After giving her a thorough look, I concluded that the woman shivering and whimpering before me wasn’t Lily but someone else. Though she shared some sort of resemblance with Lily especially in terms of facial structure as they both had a delicate heart-shaped face that could easily fit into the cup of my hands, she was anything unlike Lily. The Lily I knew, my Lily had thick ebony black hair that always tumbled carelessly along her ba
CHAPTER 67ROBERT’S POVThe noisy buzzing of my phone disrupted my sleep as I groaned loudly in frustration upon waking up. I usually switch off my phone before going to bed to avoid disturbances such as this. But last night I was so tired and forgot to do that. Now my sleep was ruined, and it wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet.Who could be calling at such early hours of the morning? I just hoped it wasn’t Carrey. At this point, I don’t think I can take any more devastating news of the company losing another client or learning we’d gone lower in the ad agency rankings.Blindly, I reached across the bed for my phone which was on top of the nightstand, knocking down a few things as I did. Not bothering to check the caller ID, I answered the call and with a frustrated, sleep-deprived tone asked, “What is it?...”“Boss I finally found her!” Frank’s overexcited voice boomed through the phone speaker.“What?...” My eyes widened, the drowsiness in them suddenly vanishing like it was never there. As i
CHAPTER 66 LILY’S POV As I stared at that figurine, the gory image of me grabbing it and driving into the side of Noah’s neck over and over again before burying it there as blood flushed out filled my head, darkening my thoughts. I wanted to hurt him back. To retaliate most brutally. I wanted him to feel the tremendous amount of pain his betrayal had caused me. But in the wake of the moment, I realized I couldn’t do it. No matter how much I wanted to, how badly I wanted to force myself to grab the figurine and get this over with, I just couldn’t. I was helpless against him. The memory of all he had done for me, the good times we shared with my kids lit up in my mind, engulfing that dark thought. All I could manage to do was push him away which seemed easy because he wasn’t using much effort to hold me back. I landed a slap on his right cheek before yielding to the compulsive sobs that shook me like a violent earthquake, the tears in my eyes falling in torrents down my cheeks
CHAPTER 65 LILY’S POV ~ I looked back at him with my brows furrowing deeply in suspicion but worse, with tears stinging at the back of my eyes. “Noah… How did you manage to find me and know I was in danger?” ~ Noah scratched the back of his head and his diamond-shaped face quivered with a nervous smile as if he was finding it difficult to give me an answer. This only added to my fear and suspicion, a confusing mix of anger and heartbreak but mostly heartbreak making my heart quake in my chest. If Noah turns out to be behind these attacks, I don’t think I could bear the pain of the betrayal. Moving to this part of the country, he’s the one person I’ve come to trust and rely on in almost every situation. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be right now. Because of him, I was able get a quick high paying job that has enabled me take care of my kids. Because of him, the scars I sustained from my past relationship were healing. Because of him, I was gradually learning to love ag