CHAPTER 98 LILY’S POV ~ I picked up the fork and strengthened myself up. I was about to hand it to him when the sight that greeted me had my jaw falling to the table. Noah was holding out a small opened black box towards me. Inside the box was an expensive-looking diamond ring beautifully sitting on the plush casing. ~ The fork I was holding fell from my grasp as I froze. My eyes which were large from my shock locked unto Noah’s. He had a dreamy smile spread across his face. “Lily Jones, meeting you and spending time with you has been some of the best moments of my life. You are the perfect woman for me, and I want what we share to last forever. So I ask, will you make the happiest man on earth by agreeing to marry me?” The question reverberated in my head over and over again. I felt like I was caught in a daze. Like my reality was twisted or something. What could possibly make him think I was ready for marriage? What made him think I was the perfect woman for him? Was it
CHAPTER 99 LILY’S POV My heels went click clack as I raced into the building which was the venue for the meeting. I was almost breathless and flustered as I was running dangerously late. The meeting was scheduled to hold at 10:00 am but it was 10:30 already. In important meetings like this, every company representative needed to arrive early. I didn’t want anyone looking down on me as if I were unprofessional, and Noah wouldn’t be happy with me if I missed it. I woke up this morning only for Liam to come complaining to me he was feeling pain around his right eye. I checked it to see a boil growing inside, under the base of his eyelids. Because of that, he couldn’t go to school which resumed for a new session today. I had to take him to the eye doctor. That was what made me arrive late. However, upon entering the boardroom where the meeting was held, I was fortunate and relieved to see they were about to start. Everyone was taking their seats. I didn’t expect to see this man
CHAPTER 100 ROBERT’S POV “Don’t you dare call that name again! You lost the right to do that nine years ago. Stay the fuck away from me and keep pretending I don’t exist to you. I’m not the same Lily from nine years back. If you fuck around with me I’ll show you the other side of me. And if you ever think of following me, I’ll call the police on you and make sure you taste what it feels to be locked behind bars.” Lily barked at me and slapped me. A powerful one at that. No one has slapped me this hard before. In all my time of knowing her, I have never seen her this angry. She was always calm and collected even in the worst of situations. But now, it was as if a wild beast of anger and hatred had been festering inside her all these years and saw this as the perfect opportunity to unleash its ferality. I held my cheek where she had slapped me. It was throbbing with pain yet I was oblivious of it. I just held it and continued staring at her, almost on the brink of tears as I
CHAPTER 101ROBERT’S POV~ “Who does he think he is?” “We’re all CEOs, he’s no better or richer than us.” “What makes him think he can just walk in and out of this boardroom like he owns the place after that cringe episode with that lady?” “I bet he wooed her to his bed and fucked her and now, she had come to her senses, realizing what an arrogant jerk he is.” “If he feels he’s way above our league and can’t sit down to listen to what the chairman has to say then he should have continued fucking his whore and not bothered coming.” “Why is the side of his cheek red? He must have been slapped by his whore.” ~“Not only is his agency sinking lower than the gutter in the rankings, but he’s also stooped so low as to resort to screwing desperate whores and dragging them into professional meetings like this.”Their sniggering voices and prickly comments had me baring my teeth, hissing at them. I wanted to find whoever made the last comment and gouge his eyes from their sockets
CHAPTER 102LILY’S POVAfter I got out of the taxi, I quickly rushed into the house. I slammed the door shut and pressed my back against it as though I just encountered something horrifying. That horrifying thing was Robert. I broke down in sobs that I had been holding back all through the ride as I screeched my back against the door and crumpled hopelessly on the floor. I tried to hold back my outburst as Liam was probably upstairs in his room and I didn’t want him to hear me crying. But my sharp intake of breath was making it extremely difficult.Shaking my head in agony, I managed to get a grip and pushed myself up. I dragged myself to the refrigerator in the kitchen. I pulled its door open and rummaged through but didn’t find what I was looking for. A frustrated groan escaped my lips as I slammed it shut and checked the shelves but still couldn’t find it.I was desperately searching for a strong alcoholic drink to drown the storm of emotions raging inside me and hope it would som
CHAPTER 103LILY’S POV~ I lifted my head and looked at her. “What about Liam?”“He’s playing a video game in his room.”I smiled, glad he was doing well. But didn’t he hear the sound of the glasses shattering? It was loud enough and could even be heard from outside the house. Since Nana Mae was coming from upstairs on hearing it, that meant he too must have heard it. Why didn’t he come rushing downstairs? Was she sure he was really upstairs in his room or was there something she wasn’t telling me? ~“I know what you’re thinking,” Nana Mae said as if she could read my mind. “You don’t have to worry. He has earphones on. He didn’t hear anything. And I think he’ll probably take a nap when he’s done playing to rest his eyes.”I sighed in quiet relief on hearing that. The eye doctor had mentioned that the antibiotics she prescribed would make him feel drowsy and inactive for a while, so it was important to let him rest and take time off school as needed. I fell silent, staring into sp
CHAPTER 104 LILY’S POV The next day I went to work earlier than usual. I couldn’t sleep properly last night because of what Nana Mae had told me yesterday. It kept ringing in my head over and over again. I spent the entire night restlessly rolling around on the bed and going to the kids’ room to check up on them. Was I feeling this miserable and angry because I was still in love with Robert? He was my high school crush, the only man I had truly opened my heart to, the man who took my virginity, the father of my children. Were all that truly the reasons I was finding it hard to forget him? Because of this unbreakable connection we share. No…no…no… I was restless as I pushed my chair back away from my table where I was working on my laptop. I couldn’t focus on work. Since yesterday, I couldn’t bring myself to focus on anything. I can’t stop thinking of Robert and that stupid look on his face. He said he wanted to tell me something but I didn’t give him the chance. What did he
CHAPTER 105LILY’S POV~ “I’m sorry, Noah,” I said genuinely. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. Anything you want.”He didn’t say anything. He just sighed dejectedly and shook his head. Turning the door, he grabbed the handle and jerked it open only to nearly collide with the company security guard who was standing by the doorway. I didn’t get what he was doing standing there. Was he eavesdropping on our conversation? ~For a split second, I thought he was but he wasn’t. In his hands was an extravagant bouquet of deep red roses, along with a sleek, elegant envelope. The sight of it made the air between us three tense and awkward.“Miss Jones, this just came in for you,” The security guard said, bringing it forward to hand it over to me.“Thank you…” My brows furrowed as I hesitantly accepted it. He bowed slightly before leaving. I closed my door and walked to my table, keeping the bouquet on it. Noah didn’t leave my office again like he wanted to. Instead, he followed closely behi
CHAPTER 113ROBERT’S POV~ The sudden beep of my phone in my pocket startled me a bit, pulling me from my thoughts. I quickly pulled it out and glanced at the screen to see it was a notification from none other than Martin. After leaving me hanging for hours, he finally responded to my chat, his reply shocking me. ~“Robert, I understand perfectly. You don’t have to worry about anything. I’m only this way towards her because she’s my friend and I care for her. You married her, she’s all yours. Just do your best to bring her and the kids back. I promise I won’t overstep my boundaries.”I stared at the phone screen for quite some time, contemplating my response. His reply wasn’t quite what I expected. Can I truly trust him to stay clear of Lily? Their close relationship in the past, while we were still married bothered me so much that I wanted to stop her from seeing him entirely. If he took this long to reply to me, that meant he thought deeply about this. That meant he still had feel
CHAPTER 112ROBERT’S POV~ “Stay away from us and never come back here or else I’ll alert the estate security!” Lily shunned me fiercely. She didn’t even wait for me to utter a word as she quickly pulled the kids inside and slammed the door in my face, leaving me to stand there in crushing silence, staring at the closed door as the weight of my past mistakes pressed heavily on my chest. ~“Lily…! Lily…!! Please you can’t be doing this. You can’t keep them away from me…” I kept calling her name but there was no answer. She was ignoring me on purpose.I wanted to bang at the door, even knock it down if I had to. But I realized doing that would only be to my detriment as it was getting dark and I’ll be drawing the attention of the neighbours, and people passing by the estate road. The estate was very quiet and serene, so any little noise could constitute a nuisance.I rushed to the windows, desperate for another glimpse of them, but the thick, drawn curtains blocked my view entirely.
CHAPTER 111ROBERT’S POV~ Just then the door opened and a little girl of about eight years came running to her, shouting “Mummy! Mummy!” ~The little girl clung to Lily’s side, staring at me as though I was a strange creature that appeared from nowhere.“Mummy,” she called Lily that for the third time, looking up at her. “Who’s this man? Why is kneeling in front of you and what did he do for you to be screaming at him like that?”Lily was irritated by her sudden presence. She looked away to avoid her gaze, hiding her flushed face and trying to steady her laboured breath.Before Lily could get a grip, the little girl looked back at me again, her brows furrowing deeply. She was staring at me like I was something of interest. Something she was trying to understand.She rested her chin on her tiny fingers, her face adorably scrunched in deep thought. She cocked her head at me, throwing a question. “Hey Mister, who are you and why do you look so much like Liam?”“Huhh…” I grimaced in con
CHAPTER 110ROBERT’S POVMy chauffeur arrived late yesterday and got a car for me. We rode on it, following Lily from a considerable distance so she wouldn’t suspect anyone was following her. My chauffeur once drove for undercover operations for the FBI, so he was a master at that.Lily lived in a luxurious estate which made me believe her job was paying her really well. The security was tight. As a result, it was a bit hard for us to get in. Apparently, the security men at the entrance/exit gate won’t let anyone enter without proof in the form of an ID card showing you are a resident of the estate. And if you’re visiting, they’ll have to get a confirmation call from the resident you’re visiting before they can let you in. We were only able to get in because one of the security guards knew my family and I also tipped them.Arriving at Lily's house – a luxurious but simple bungalow with a well-manicured lawn, neatly paved driveway, a cosy porch, and walls painted in a soft cream hue,
CHAPTER 109ROBERT’S POV ~ “I’ll send you the details of her company. I need you to hack into her laptop and wipe out everything work-related. Can you do that?” ~Frank was silent for some time, almost as if he wasn’t on call anymore. What I said must have disoriented him completely. But I didn’t expect him to be that way.“Hey buddy…Are you still there?...” I brought my phone down from my ear just to make sure the call hadn’t disconnected. And it hasn’t.“Hey boss…” His voice sounded. It was low almost as if he was afraid to speak.“What happened?” I asked, bringing the phone to my ear. “Why did you suddenly black out on me?”“I’m sorry, boss,” he said, taking a deep breath. “But why are we doing this? Is it really the right thing to do? After what Scarlett made me do to her, I promised myself I’d never be part of something that could hurt anyone like that again. What I did cost Lily so much, and the guilt still eats at me. I can’t bring myself to put her through that kind of pain
CHAPTER 108ROBERT’S POV~ Noah sat down on the seat in front of her. He no longer had that troubled and angry look he once had. It had softened. I couldn’t understand what was happening between them. It was making me boil. As if that wasn’t enough, Lily reached across the table and took his hand in hers.“That’s it!” I said as I furiously got up and started packing to go. I can’t take this anymore. I’m heading there. I don’t care what happens. ~I was at the entrance of the building, about to enter when the security guard showed up to stop me. “Where are you heading, Mr. Robert?” He asked, his eyes wide as he was surprised to see me.“To her office,” I said through clenched teeth, fury propelling me forward.“No… no… no…” He scrambled to stop me, his hand pressing against my heaving chest. “That isn’t the right thing to do right now…”He was tensed as he glanced around furtively, making sure no one was watching as if afraid something bad would happen if anyone saw us together.“Why
CHAPTER 107 ROBERT’S POV ~ As I waited for him to return my chats, I peeped into the surveillance equipment. On seeing Lily had arrived and was already seated at her table, working on her laptop, everything else I was doing became history in the blink of an eye. I swept off the potato chips and beer from the tabletop, making a mess. My phone nearly fell too. But I didn’t care as I adjusted the equipment and began to watch Lily. ~ From the focused distance, I could see she was frustrated. She pushed her seat back away from the table. She ran her fingers through her lush hair, disheveling it and there was this angry look on her face almost as if she regretted doing something. I took my eyes off the equipment, my brows furrowing. She was too beautiful to be in this kind of distress. If she was acting this way, that meant she also had a bad night like me or even worse. Maybe she felt guilty for what she did to me yesterday. Maybe there was a chance she still loved me but was fi
CHAPTER 106ROBERT’S POVLast night was hell. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about Lily. Where was she? In her house or somewhere else? What was she doing? Who was she with? Will she ever forgive me and take me to see my kids so we can become a family? These questions daggered my mind throughout the night. I had to pass the time by drinking, eating leftover pizza and watching TV.I wondered if she was thinking about me too. Surely, she wasn’t. She hated me too much now to even care whether I existed or not. If I’m ever going to regain her trust and forgiveness and win her back then I had to put in a lot of effort. I’ll have to go the extra mile and do things the old me will never think of doing. I had to take gentle steps, give her the time and space she needed and prove to her I was a changed man who was ready to love her till the end of days.After I paid that security guard and promised to pay him more if he continued to give me all the information I needed, he spilt all the de
CHAPTER 105LILY’S POV~ “I’m sorry, Noah,” I said genuinely. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. Anything you want.”He didn’t say anything. He just sighed dejectedly and shook his head. Turning the door, he grabbed the handle and jerked it open only to nearly collide with the company security guard who was standing by the doorway. I didn’t get what he was doing standing there. Was he eavesdropping on our conversation? ~For a split second, I thought he was but he wasn’t. In his hands was an extravagant bouquet of deep red roses, along with a sleek, elegant envelope. The sight of it made the air between us three tense and awkward.“Miss Jones, this just came in for you,” The security guard said, bringing it forward to hand it over to me.“Thank you…” My brows furrowed as I hesitantly accepted it. He bowed slightly before leaving. I closed my door and walked to my table, keeping the bouquet on it. Noah didn’t leave my office again like he wanted to. Instead, he followed closely behi