Lily arrived in the house and went straight upstairs. She made certain that she bowed her head as she made her way into the house. She had no idea what she looked like, but her cheek bone still hurt like hell and her scalp was also hurting bad. On Lily’s way back, she had to touch her head to be sure that blood wasn’t coming out, or to be sure that that area of her hair that Don Grander had pulled hadn’t become bald.Lily got to her room and opened her door, but she was met with harsh resistance.“Who the heck locked up this room?” Lily asked angrily. She shook the doorknob again, willing the door to open, but to no avail.“Who shut this door?!” Lily asked, her voice hitting the roof.When she had left this house a couple of hours ago, she had left an open room, and she knew that Christopher had not been at home, so who had the guts to shut her bedroom door in her absence? Being here, Lily realized that it would be better to actually act like Ashley Grander, because the domestic work
"Shit! Shit! Shit!” Lily became frantic as she thought of what to do quick and fast.“He cannot see me like this,” Lily said to herself.“Ashley!” Christopher’s enraged voice reached Lily in the room again. This time around, the voice was closer, and for Lily to hear the pounding of his footsteps against the stairs, she knew that he was enraged, and that was when Lily remembered that she had actually stepped out with one of Christopher’s securities who she never came back with.In fact, after Don Grander was done hitting her, threatening her, and ensuring that she never did anything that would jeopardize their chances of getting what they wanted from Christopher, Lily had had to jump a bus to get back to the house. It wasn’t a big deal for her, because all her life, when she wasn’t walking, she was jumping buses. Anyway, Lily had ensured that she bowed her head low enough so that no one would recognize her, because that would be more dangerous. “What do I do now?” Lily asked hersel
After the agreement, Christopher grudgingly left.Lily knew that he was dying to have the discussion of her whereabouts that day, but he could not, because there was nothing he would have said that would have made Lily opened the door for him. Her face was still battered and swollen.Lily took the ice pack and placed it on her face. She sat on the bedroom couch and tried to close her eyes so that the ice pack would be able to work its magic, but then again, her head started banging. She could not tell if Don Grander had done any real damage to her head, especially internally, because she could not feel any blood, but the pain was so excruciating that it caused a dull headache at the center of Lily’s head. Lily used the intercom in the bedroom to ring Maggie.“Get me some painkillers for my banging head,” Lily said into the phone.In less than five minutes, Maggie arrived with some painkillers. Without turning to face her, Lily said, “Just drop it where you are and leave.”But Maggie h
“Excuse me?” Lily asked, stupefied.For a moment, she had lost herself and forgotten whom she was supposed to be impersonating. In fact, she was about to say that they had never met before it booted in Lily’s head that she actually called Ashley, not Lily.The lady cleared her throat and said loudly, “Um, I was complimenting your makeup.”Christopher didn’t hear what she had said the first time, because she had whispered the words into Lily’s ears alone, so when she lied and said she was just paying a compliment, Christopher looked at Lily’s face, and in that moment, Lily felt scrutinized under Christopher’s gaze, almost making her uncomfortable. She feared that he was going to see her bruised cheeks, and even know that she was struggling with a bad headache with the way he stared at her, but instead, he ended his stare with a look of irritation and disgust. Fortunately, he reserved that look for Lily alone, so no one else in the living room knew that he was giving her a bad look. In
Ashley, two nights before your wedding, you were found at a nude club, why?” The words rang in Lily’s ears; she could not believe what she was hearing, neither did she understand fully what was going on. If Rosa said two nights before the wedding, then it meant that it was probably the night that Ashley had been found dea.Christopher had not only been shocked, he was also enraged, so much so that he jolted out of his seat in a rage.“What is the meaning of this?!” Christopher charged at Rosa.Rosa got up in fear and she staggered back, trying to get away from Christopher’s wrath. “That question wasn’t part of the questions Aimee sent to my mail that you were going to be asking, so what is the meaning of the damn question?!” Christopher barked.“I am so sorry, Mr. Bridger,” Rosa apologized. She probably did not expect that Christopher would react angrily to her question, and for a moment, Lily thought that Christopher might know something about it, and if that was the case, then Li
Lily began to shake dreadfully.“Don’t you dare bring that game on me, Ashley, because if I have to choke out the words from you, I will,” Christopher threatened harshly.“I have no idea what she was talking about,” Lily answered.She was being honest, because in truth, she had no idea what happened that night, because she never even knew that that night had existed, but the good thing was that Christopher would not read meaning to her words.Instead, Christopher stared at Lily; a worried expression on his face.Lily was confused, because she could not tell why Christopher was looking at her with such expression. He was supposed to be mad with rage and forcing her to explain as he threatened, but instead, he was more worried than confused.“What is it? Lily had to ask.Christopher stared curiously at Lily for some seconds before he said, “Nothing.”Nothing? Lily could hardly believe it. Now, Christopher was acting all weird and strange, and she could not fathom what was going on. “Yo
It was the weekend and Christopher knew that he shouldn’t be at work, but he just couldn’t help himself. Not that he had work to do, but Ashley Grander kept giving him reasons to doubt her.“Something is not right with her,” Christopher said to himself as he sat on his swivel chair and pondered on everything that had happened.Then recently, after she had mysteriously disappeared and reappeared, she had been wearing this heavy makeup that had made her look funny in a way; it just didn’t sit right on her face. Christopher checked his expensive wristwatch again and waited. When he arrived at the office, he had also called Aimee Landon to show up at the company as well. Aimee arrived just about that time, making Christopher relieved.“Mr. Christopher, I am here,” Aimee said as she entered Christopher’s office.Christopher felt as though he was seeing Aimee in a casual outfit for the first time, but then again, he could not recall seeing her in anything other than her official outfits.
Lily had been feeling sick ever since she got back from the baseball game. She just could not shake off the feeling that not only did she see Don Grander there, but he shook hands with Joe.He shook hands with Joe!If anything happened to Lily’s brother, Lily would die. She literally lived for her brother, because he was all she had got, but now, more than ever, Don Grander had made her understand that he was capable of ending Joe’s life in a second. Lily thought that hitting her and grabbing her hair were all the threat and warning that she was going to get from Don Grander. She had no idea that he was going to get Joe involved. Lily only wished that Grander had left it at a handshake. Lily was restless as she paced about the room. She was supposed to be getting ready to fly off with Christopher, but Lily knew that she would not be at peace until she was certain that Joe was safe. Even though Don Grander already threatened that he would only kill Joe when she went against the plan,
“What?!” Lily was stunned and afraid and alert.Her mind instantly went to Monk and Don Grander’s threats that they would kill Joe if she failed on any of her tasks.“Yeah, and it was pretty weird. It made me feel uncomfortable,” Joe said over the phone.She could feel the discomfort in his voice, and Lily’s heart broke into more pieces. She even began to wonder how much heartache she could take at once.“I really wish you were here, Lily; I feel safe with you around,” Joe said warmly and sadly. “It has been over a year, and this is beginning to look creepy to me. Even Rudney does not exactly know where you are,” Joe admitted.Lily did not think that Joe would think too deeply about everything. She hadn’t even really been thinking about Joe and how her absence might have affected him. More tears dropped from Lily’s eyes in pain and regret. If only she could tell Joe exactly what was going on, but then again, she did not even have the liberty of brooding about that for so long, because
Lily felt like she had been hit with a ton of bricks at the harshness and cruelty of Christopher’s words, and when she managed to look into his eyes, she could see all the emotions right there.“Let me say what I came here to tell you, please,” Lily begged deeply.“How did you manage to bleed like a virgin when everyone knows that you are not, huh?” Christopher asked bitterly and angrily.Lily opened her mouth to say that it was because she was a virgin, but no words came out of her mouth, and Christopher mistook Lily’s inability to say the words as guiltiness.Christopher shook his head. “You are my worst mistake, Ashley, and I blame myself for not fighting this arrangement when I was told. After this party, you are going to return to your father’s house discreetly until this whole crap of a marriage is over; I never want to see your face again,” Christopher said firmly.Lily squeezed her eyes shut as the words sliced through her heart. She felt like Christopher had literally taken a
Lily could not wrap her head around everything that the old maid had revealed to her.Ashley Grander was alive, and no one knew!A tiny part of Lily was relieved that she was, because after all she had found out about her, it just didn’t sound fair that she would have been murdered. Indeed, she played her game well. Another tiny part of Lily wanted to see Ashley, the only girl in the world that looked almost like her, but according to what the old maid said, Ashley was in a far away country where no one knew her and with a new identity. She was living with the old maid’s distant relative, and to ensure that she is completely safe, she and the old maid had had to keep off communicating.Ashley Grander was smarter than anyone Lily had ever met.Thinking away from her now, Lily thought about herself. As much as she was relieved that Ashley wasn’t truly dead after all the evil that surrounded her, she had been the unfortunate person forced into living her life, doing her job, and cleaning
“What?” Lily was stupefied.She could not believe that she had been played so well, but then again, a lot of questions were already running through her mind. Now, nothing seemed clear and she needed it to be, so she sat back down again.“You knew from the beginning that I wasn’t Ashley,” Lily stated.It was a statement that required an answered, a clarity of some sort.“Even if Ashley was truly dead, I would have known,” the old maid responded. “I raised her, you know,” she started as tears gathered in her eyes. “When her mother mysteriously and tragically passed, she was left in my care, and I loved and nurtured Ashley like she was my child. Do you know how heartbreaking it was for me to see her being constantly maltreated and punished?” The old maid asked.Lily could feel the raw pain in her heart as she spoke, and she shuddered at it.She would never be able to grasp the life of the wealthy and powerful. The more she thought she knew, the deeper the whole thing went. When she worke
After Lily left Don Grander’s house, she could not afford to go back to Christopher’s mansion. There was still Hedge’s threat hanging over her head, but now, even Christopher’s life, reputation, and company are at stake here.Lily did not want anything to happen to Christopher Bridger at all.Then something struck Lily; to use Ashley’s phone to get across to the old maid! Why didn’t she even think of that all this while? She could not believe that she had allowed something as helpful as that escape her memory. She did not have enough time now, as the weekend event is just a few weeks away. Lily knew that Hedge wasn’t joking when he made a threat to Christopher’s life, because if he could release the sex video he had of Ashley, then he could certainly try to kill Christopher.The thought of it sent shivers down Lily’s spine.Thankfully, the old maid’s phone rang, and Lily waited with desperate anticipation for her to pick up.“Please pick up. Please pick up,” Lily prayed, and eventuall
Lily could not stop thinking about what she read and the possibility of what might be. The thought of it made her really scared and confused.Was Ashley’s body found? What truly happened that made Don Grander and Emily believe that their daughter was dead?These questions disturbed Lily’s mind as Christopher’s driver drove her to Don Grander’s house. She would have loved to ask Don Grander these questions, but she knew him too well now. She knew that talking to him about it would raise suspicions, and if it did, he might want to get rid of her. The only person that Lily could have been able to ask without fear was the old maid, but she had been fired, and Lily did not know where to find her.“I have to find her by every means possible,” Lily told herself.Don Grander had to be the worst parent that Lily had ever known. How could a man treat his own daughter like that? Lily’s father might be dead, but when he was alive, he loved, provided for, and fiercely protected their mother along
Lily went to the guestroom and pondered greatly. So after everything, Christopher meant it when he said he was going to reinstate Aimee, and not just that, he had picked her to plan an event as important as this one.Lily knew how important this was to Christopher, because she went with him on the business trip and she knew everything that happened there…or almost everything, and yet, it was Aimee Landon he chose.“What is it with him and Aimee?” Lily asked herself.She was frustrated, but she was downright jealous. Lily’s heart ached just thinking about it, and now, tears filled her eyes. She would never mean anything to a man like Christopher Bridger, whether as Ashley Grander or Lily Bashwood. Deep down, Lily wished that Christopher would at least like her, that is Bashwood’s daughter, but that was only a wild dream.Unfortunately, when Lily wasn’t even hoping to, she had fallen for Christopher Bridger.Why wouldn’t she fall in love with him? Christopher was the only man aside from
Lily woke up in a different mood; Hedge’s threat was still hanging over her head, and she did not know the right approach to it, and then there was this business thing that Christopher asked her to get prepared for.Lily did not want to be a part of it whatsoever, majorly because of the presence of Mr. Yang, but she really did not have a choice. Ever since Don Grander kidnapped her and forced her into this life, she had not done anything of her own volition. Maybe she would just find something a little fitting and throw on, because her mind wasn’t really on it, or maybe she would feign sickness on that day to excuse her from attending.The landline in Christopher’s house rang, and Lily wondered if she should pick or not. It barely ever rang, so she could hardly tell. At the end of the day, Lily decided to ignore it, because she did not want to mess things up for Christopher, just in case she wasn’t supposed to take the call.A few minutes after the landline stopped ringing, Ashley’s p
“Miss Aimee, your attention is required in the boardroom,” Christopher’s new secretary said to Aimee.Aimee had arrived at work in a jolly mood, certain that she had been able to manage every situation to the best of her knowledge. She was not even bothered about Derek, because she knew that he would be so busy fighting to win Trisha’s love back to even think of him.“Such an asshole,” Aimee cussed. “Who the heck falls in love with someone they ought to have killed?” Aimee scoffed.She should have known that Derek was incapable of tasks such as the ones she required of him. Anyway, Aimee was thinking about finding a more capable person that would carry out tasks without questions, delay, or even falling in love, when she got the message.“In the boardroom, right now?” Aimee asked, wanting to be sure if she heard correctly. Since Christopher demoted her without a conscience, she had not been asked to come to the boardroom, knowing that only the senior staff members were allowed in ther