CHAPTER 35ROBERT’S POVAfter everything that happened, I was so heartbroken and angry I had to retire to bed earlier than usual. My half-sister, Ginny and one of the servants had informed me earlier that Jake was asking for me after he came back from school. He must have seen my car out on the driveway and known I was around. But I told them to let him know I was tired and off to bed. I didn’t have the courage to face him. I didn’t even know what to think or say to him. I couldn’t believe that for the past nine years, I had fathered and loved deeply a child that wasn’t mine. Sometime after he was born, people questioned his resemblance, saying he looked nothing like me. But since he had some of his mother’s features, we didn’t worry about that. Little did I know he was never mine. That it wasn’t the Wilson’s blood running through his veins. He shared similar features with Raphael – light brown eyes and tawny gold hair that fell in loose waves on his forehead. I had observed that cl
CHAPTER 36ROBERT’S POV “No Robert…” Scarlett shook her head desperately as tears streamed down her cheeks. But I should know better they were crocodile tears. “You can’t be saying all this. I love you…I came back because I truly love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”“If you truly loved me then you wouldn’t have hidden the truth from me.”I wanted to get up from bed and kick her out of the room like the vermin she was but she held me back on the wrist to stop me.“Can’t you see? Can’t you see that bitch Lily is the one doing all this? She’s out of prison by now and is properly orchestrating all these to get back at us for trying to secure her a death sentence and locking her away. Open your eyes and see the big picture, Robert!”“Let go of me,” I forcefully freed myself from her grip, causing her to crash back on the bed. “The only big picture I’m seeing right now is how much you’re going to suffer for what you have done. She was innocent. She was my company’s gr
CHAPTER 37ROBERT’S POV“Why did you have to come back? Was it so hard for you to stay in that shithole you call an apartment without me? You have succeeded in ruining everything for me. Are you happy now?” I heard Scarlett’s sharp voice echoing in one of the guest rooms as I strolled in. She and Raphael were there, taking it out on each other like a married couple fighting. They hadn’t seen me enter as their attention was solely focused on each other. After all these years, her bitterness towards him hadn’t changed. She couldn’t even at least show some gratitude knowing the father of her child was alive and well. She blamed the poor man for coming back for her and his kid she kept from him for a solid nine years. Only a cruel woman will do such to her husband. She was lucky Raphael overlooked that and her shortcomings and still wanted to take her back. If it were me, I wouldn’t take it lightly at all. I’ll blow up if I find out my wife or any woman I have a kid with hid my child f
CHAPTER 38 ROBERT’S POV “Mum calm down okay? She was just leaving,” I said as I tried to calm my mum. I came in between, stopping her from getting past me to Scarlett. She was so angry I could tell she wanted to strike Scarlett if I wasn’t preventing her. “You’re so shameless,” my mum threw her words like stones at Scarlett. “After everything this family has done for you, this is how you chose to repay us. You should have never come back from wherever it was you went yesterday or better died in an accident so I don’t get to see your disgusting face again. You are such a disgrace I feel like spitting right in your face. I can’t believe I thought of you as the perfect daughter-in-law and wife for my son…” “Mum please stop…” I kept urging her to stop but she kept rambling away, the heat that came with her rage palpable and unquenchable. For a long time, I haven’t seen her this angry. What Scarlett did really did pull a tight string in her. Yesterday, she was hell-bent on ca
CHAPTER 39LILY’S POVIt’s been a week since Cassandra burst into my office and threatened me. Miley told me it’s better I stay clear of her but truth be told, I wasn’t shaken one bit by her empty threats. I was ready for whatever she had planned out for me and more than ready to return the favour. Good thing she was suspended indefinitely and no longer coming to the office. So I had nothing to worry about.My shift just ended. I had to rush to my kids’ school in a taxi to pick them up. My car was being fixed at the mechanic and will be ready for pickup tomorrow morning. The school bus was also being maintained so they couldn’t bring school children back home and take them to school in the morning for the rest of the week.Taxis and unidentified vehicles weren’t allowed into our estate for security reasons. We had to drop at the bus stop close to the estate l. As we got out of the taxi and I paid the driver, I took my kids’ hands and we began walking into the estate. I couldn’t help
CHAPTER 40LILY’S POV“We need to get going,” I said as I quickly took their hands and started making our way to our house. I didn’t want any other person to start giving us a suspicious look like that lady. “We don’t want to be out here for too long and I know you two must be very hungry.”“Yeah, we are,” Lila answered, nodding.“Okay, let’s do this. If we can walk very fast and reach the house in less than two minutes then I will make whatever you want for dinner.”“Really?” Her eyes widened as she looked up at me.“Yes. Anything.”“I want Pizza!” She exclaimed excitedly. “It’s been long since we had one.”“Pizza it is then,” I said while smiling.“Yay!!” Leaving my hand, she started running, as far as her little feet could take her. She didn’t stop until she reached the front of our house. There she waited for us, grinning as she waved her hands and urging us to walk faster. But Liam wasn’t so enthusiastic. I could tell he was still thinking about what I said earlier about his fat
CHAPTER 41LILY’S POVLila’s question caught me off guard. Liam’s plate almost slipped from my grasp as I was about to serve him. This was the second time she had asked this. The first time was amid Noah when he came over for dinner. I almost choked on my food and was uncomfortable around Noah throughout the entire dinner up until he left.“Are you okay, mummy?” Liam asked in concern, seeing how disoriented I got.“Yeah,” I took in a deep breath in an attempt to get myself back together and managed a smile before steadying my grip on Liam’s plate and keeping it on the table in front of him. “Sorry about that.”I turned my attention to Lila as I walked back to the kitchen island, a bit infuriated with her. She can’t keep doing this and I nearly broke a plate. “We talked about this and I said no.”“Please, mummy,” she begged softly, looking adorable as she did. “If you say yes, I promise never to bother you about anything again, and I promise to be a very good kid to Uncle Noah as well.
CHAPTER 42LILY’S POVUpon arriving at the company building, I headed straight to Noah’s office. The suspense and anticipation that came with finding out about what he wanted to talk to me about gnawed at me, leaving me panicked and restless throughout the ride to this place.He had called severally again while I was showering and getting ready. Due to the rush, I had picked something quick to wear, not taking my time to dress the way I wanted – a simple blouse and jeans, with my hair hastily tied in a messy bun.I also had to call Nana Mae to come look after the kids for me. Even though she wasn’t supposed to work at this time of the day as she was a part-time nanny, she agreed out of the kindness of her heart. I couldn’t leave Liam and Lila alone in that house. It will be a chaotic mess by the time I get back.I tapped on Noah’s office door and at the sound of a muffled voice that said, “Come in,” I entered and gently closed the door behind me.Noah didn’t bother looking at me to a
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 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 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 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 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 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 97 LILY’S POV Clad in a black evening gown with a thigh-high slit, I sat on my vanity, doing my makeup after fixing my hair. I was preparing to go on a date with Noah. He’d asked me out the day after our intense hot make-out in my office. I finally agreed to give it a shot because I know I have kept him waiting for too long. He’d been asking me out for over a year now and I keep making excuses on why I can’t accept. Accepting to go on this date with him will be like my own little way of thanking him for everything he has done for me and my kids. He’ll be taking me on a dinner date in one of those fancy restaurants in the city. Deep down, I kind of wished it was something simpler like a movie date or sightseeing just I don’t have to waste this much time dressing up like I was going to contest for a beauty pageant. After finishing my makeup, I used a setting spray to make sure it stayed in place. I cast one last glance at my reflection and I was satisfied with the res
CHAPTER 96 LILY’S POV ~ Suddenly, I felt his hands, warm and soft rest on my shoulders. My breath hitched and I froze like I had been poured a bucketful of ice cubes. “Noah…” confusion had me stuttering like a fool. “What are you doing…?” ~ But then my voice trailed off as I felt his fingers sink in softly into the valley of my shoulders, kneading and massaging gently. “If you won’t agree to go then at least let me make you feel at home,” his voice came off seductively in my ears. “You know, ease off the stress a bit.” I wanted to resist because this didn’t seem right to me. But the magic of his fingers had me melting like butter under this touch so I let him continue, enjoying the heavenly feeling as my focus completely drifted to my laptop. I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone for a massage or even had a steam bath in one of those luxurious spas. It made me realize just how much I needed this. I didn’t know Noah was good at giving massages. If his fingers
CHAPTER 95 LILY’S POV~ “So speaking about men,” she drawled dreamily before quickly adding. “Responsible men to be precise and not foolish ones like Robert, how is your boss doing?”“I think it’s time you got out of my phone…”“So I checked him out on IG,” she cut me off, completely ignoring me. “He’s really hot and is fast becoming one of the country’s most eligible bachelors. Now tell me Lily Jones, why don’t you want to ride that horse even though it’s coming to you!” She screamed on the phone, irritating my ear. Just then, Noah suddenly walked in on us. ~‘Oh my goodness…’ The shock of seeing him made my heart nearly fly out of my chest. I lost control as I flinched and my phone unknowingly fell from my grasp. My movements were awkward and embarrassing but quick as I reflexively caught it, preventing it from falling to the floor.I looked at Noah and a nervous smile made my lips tremble. His sudden presence when we were just talking about him had caught me unawares. He had a