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 back unlike this woman’s who was a bit shorter and a subtle blend of brown and black. Lily’s eyes were also larger, and more colourful and always had this brilliant intelligence that hinted she could get any job done without difficulty.
Grief and despair clawed at my heart as it dropped and like an anchor, sank deep in my stomach. All that hope I had arrived here to meet Lily, reconnect with her, convince her to return to the company and find my twins melted away like snow under a blazing sun.
I turned to look at Frank. With a gloomy, disappointed expression on my face, I shook my head. He sucked in air and a bitter grimace crossed his face on realization. He wanted to say something but I brought my hand forward to stop him, insisting it’s best we talk outside the room.
Like he said, the poor lady thinks we kidnapped her and is frightened enough. I don’t want to do anything to add to her fears. We held her here against her wish and tied her up. She’s suffered enough already. What if she has kids, work or serious matters to attend to?
“She’s not Lily,” I said to Frank as we stepped outside the room and he closed the door quickly behind him.
“How come, Boss?” he asked, still in shock. “That’s the Lily I know and worked with. Maybe you’re misjudging her appearance. You know it’s been a long since you last saw her. Maybe she’s just changed over time.”
“It’s not her,” I repeated through gritted teeth, keeping myself from getting angry. “I have known Lily for long, even more than anyone else and I can assure you that woman in there isn’t her. They share some similarities but it’s not her.”
He sighed heavily and looked away, still finding it hard to accept this to be true.
“Do you think she has a twin that we don’t know of?” He asked as he returned his gaze to me.
I paused in thought. Before Lily and I got into that contract marriage, my grandpa and I conducted a thorough background check on her and her family. She has no siblings not to talk of a twin or any close relatives that I know of. She is the only child of her late parents. Her father committed suicide due to some issues I think were related to his company crashing and financial difficulties while her mother had been hospitalized for as long as I can remember due to health complications.
Lily had already endured more than her fair share of hardship in life. Looking back, I can’t believe I sold off her house and the few family belongings she had left nine years ago. I thought she was the reason my company lost that million-dollar deal after that failed presentation and after learning she was responsible for my grandpa’s murder, was so angry I couldn’t think straight. All I could think of was hitting her where it hurt the most and making her pay.
“She has no sibling let alone a twin,” I said quietly after reviewing all that in my head.
Frank sighed with resignation and slumped his shoulders, a glazed look of defeat spreading across his face.
“I’m sorry, Boss,” his tone was heavy with regret as he apologized. “I swear, I had no idea it wasn’t her. If I’d known, I never would…”
“It’s okay,” I said, stopping him. “It’s not your fault. I would have done the same if I were in your shoes. You did your best and dedicated yourself to this job and for that, I’ll be employing you back at the company. You can start next week or as quickly as tomorrow if you like.”
His eyes widened with a gleam but it died down as quickly as it appeared on realizing the situation at hand and seeing how unsatisfied I looked.
“I promise I’ll make it up to you, boss,” he said resolutely. “I won’t stop looking for her, even if I have to search every corner of the world to find her, I will. When I do, I’ll bring her back not just for your sake. I too owe her an apology for what I did and I won’t rest until I tell her about it and she forgives me.”
“You don’t have to worry, Frank. You’ve done your best and I appreciate it. Get some rest and prepare to return to the company, I’ll take over from here.” I said with a small smile.
With the limited time frame I have, I can’t take any chances. If I do, my parents will intervene mercilessly. When it comes to situations such as this, they weren’t ones to be reasoned with. Not only will they find Lily with their contacts and take the twins from her but they might also see that as an opportunity to get the revenge they’ve been longing for on her for my grandpa’s murder. They’ll take everything from her and make her life a living hell. I can’t let that happen again. Even though she was responsible for my grandpa’s murder, he wouldn’t want that for her because he liked her very much.
Lately, he’s been appearing in my dreams-hearty, cheerful, and urging me to find Lily and make amends with her, insisting she didn’t kill him. I couldn’t make complete sense of the dream because the security footage during the investigation showed Lily leaving the building right after he was brutally murdered. By law, that was more than enough evidence to hold her accountable for the crime but my grandpa said otherwise in the dream. That meant there might be something more. Something I have to find out and the only way to go about that was finding Lily first.
Right now, her mother seems to be my last option for finding out where she might be. Surely, she’ll be aware of her only child’s whereabouts. I’ll have to visit her at the hospital from here. Fortunately, I can still remember the hospital and ward she was admitted to. I just hope she’s well enough to give me the answers I need.