CHAPTER 69
ROBERT’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 on my plate to worry about someone reporting us to the authorities for kidnapping.
“The only way to stop her from reporting us is to offer her some kind of reassurance or consolation…” he suggested hesitantly, his voice shaky as he scratched the back of his head. “Maybe money… or even a threat could work.” His words pulled my attention back to him, and he glanced around nervously under my gaze. “Either way, the only person who can handle this is you, boss,” he added with an awkward smile.
I whiffed out an exhaustive sigh and began making my way back to the room. “We’re not threatening anyone. I know what to do. Get me a knife or anything sharp.”
Frank zoomed off to the kitchen and returned seconds later with a small pairing knife.
As I entered the room with the knife in my hand, the woman’s eyes widened on seeing it. She began to shrink away from me in fear, her entire body trembling with tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Please don’t kill me… I’m sorry, I really am. I didn’t mean to kill that helpless old man. She made me do it…I’m not a murderer…please you’ve got to believe me…”
I grimaced in confusion, exchanging glances with Frank as I wondered what she was talking about. Frank shrugged his shoulder and gave me a blank look to show he had no idea. She said something like this when I first entered but I didn’t give it much thought, thinking she was just afraid we were going to kill her. But now this seems to have gotten serious, hinting at something more. Who was the helpless old man she claimed to have killed and who was the woman that made her do it?
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, my voice icy and my expression ruthlessly cold. “Who was the old man you killed, and who did you say forced you to do it?”
She was hesitant to speak, just shedding tears of sorrow and agony that were making me angrier and more impatient.
“Speak up woman!” I lashed at her and she flinched in fright, crying even more. I moved closer to her and pointed the tip of the knife to her throat, right on her jugular notch. I had no intention of slicing her delicate throat open and watching the blood spill. I just wanted to instil fear in her and show her how serious I was.
“The old man at the penthouse, Ronald Wilson. Scarlett Milson hired me to kill him and offered me five million dollars. But she had only paid me a million dollars and had disappeared ever since without a trace…” she confessed, her voice and breath unsteady from her sobs.
“Boss, isn’t Mr Ronald Wilson your grandfather who was unjustly murdered nine years ago?” Frank asked from behind me, his tone laced with confusion.
Reflexively, as if caught in a daze, I backed away from her and the knife fell off my grip. My breath began escaping in short quick gasps, heavy against my chest and nostrils as I found it extremely hard to believe what she just said.
She was referring to my grandpa. This woman who was acting all meek and innocent killed him in his penthouse apartment. She was the one who stabbed him multiple times in the chest and left him to rot in the pool of his blood under Scarlett’s command.
It all started to make sense as the puzzle pieces began to fall into place. Scarlett had hired her because of her striking resemblance to Lily so she could frame Lily for the murder and we will end up hating and blaming her. This woman was the same woman that left the crime scene in the security footage. After seeing that footage, we were all convinced she was Lily because she had the same slim physique, and facial shape and even the trench coat she wore was Lily’s. I had seen it on Lily on multiple occasions, further making us believe she was Lily.
My heart ripped to a thousand pieces in my heart, falling like ashes in my stomach. I felt so weak and disoriented I couldn’t breathe properly and get hold of myself. The true meaning of my dream began revealing like a movie before me. This was what my grandpa had been trying to communicate with me all along. Lily was innocent. She’s been innocent from the start. It was all Scarlett’s fault. Every bad thing that has happened to me and the company was all Scarlett’s doing and I was so blinded by fake love I failed to see it at that time.
My blood ran cold, causing a deep ache to settle on my skin as I remembered Lily’s last words after I forced her to sign her signature to terminate our contract marriage.
“The only crime I ever committed wasn’t murder, Robert. It was simply loving you. I don’t think anyone has ever loved you the way I did. I loved you to the point I was willing to sacrifice myself for your happiness. But not anymore. I’m over all that shit now. Sooner or later, you’ll regret what you’ve done, and you’ll realize what a huge mistake you made. And by then, it might just be too late.”
Her words cut deeper than the sharpest blade. I fought back the painful tears threatening to escape as guilt consumed me. How could I have let myself and my entire family blame her for a crime she didn’t commit? We treated her like trash, humiliated her in front of everyone, and even went as far as hiring the country’s top lawyers to make sure she received the death penalty. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for this. But worse, could Lily ever forgive me? She did say that by the time I realize my mistakes, it might be too late. Was it already too late?
My eyes blazed like a fiery furnace as I looked back at the woman. “You fucking murderer!…” a lethal look crossed my face as I growled like a feral beast.
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.