CHAPTER 74
ROBERT’S POV
~ “Wow, Robby, you’ve really outdone yourself,” Mum commended, smirking sinisterly as she looked at the lady. “I must say I never expected you to find her in such a short amount of time or even find her at all. But you’ve surpassed my expectations and I’m proud of you for that. Now, where are the twins? Once we have them in our care, we can go ahead and give this cold-blooded, heartless murderer the punishment she deserves….”
“What twins?” Everyone stares at her with an electrifying curiosity. ~
“Sorry for not telling you guys earlier,” my mum said. “Turned out this bloody murderer wasn’t a barren desert like I had thought. She had Robert’s babies without his knowledge while she was serving her sentence in prison and escaped with them right after she was released,” her gaze shone with lethal intent as they settled on the lady again. “She has been hiding the grandkids I desperately longed for for the past nine years and would have continued hiding them from us if Robert hadn’t found her.”
A collective gasp was heard in the room, led by Ginny, whose shock was more evident than anyone else’s.
“But no need to worry,” my mum added confidently in reassurance, a satisfying smirk playing on the corners of her lips. “I’ve already devised a plan to secure custody of the kids for Robert. We’ll drag the thing to court and prove she’s a deranged serial killer who shouldn’t be allowed to raise kids for their safety. To strengthen the case, we can even stage evidence of drug abuse-meth or even cocaine, to make the process quicker and her punishment harsher. That’s more than enough to convince any judge heading the case to grant custody of the kids to Robert.”
“Y…you’re a father?…” Ginny asked me with wide eyes, not giving me enough time to process my mum’s evil intentions towards Lily. I couldn’t tell if she was elated or sad or angry or only just surprised by the news. She likes kids but wasn’t so skilled at handling them as they always cry or make a mess around her.
Yes, I am a father. But the irony of the matter was that I was a father who hadn’t set his eyes on his kids for the past nine years and counting. Just a couple more years and those kids won’t know what it means to have a father because they have adapted for a long time, learning to live without one. They’ll never acknowledge me and will despise me forever if I show up by then as it will be too late. I doubt they’re even bothered to want to know me and see me wherever they are because Lily will be filling the gap of my absence well or maybe another man was. What if she has already remarried and they have a stepfather now? Goodness… I didn’t even want to think about that worst-case scenario to keep myself from losing my sanity.
“How is that even possible?” Martin grimaced in puzzlement. “Her stomach never protruded and even if she were in the early stages of pregnancy before leaving, we would have known. News like that can’t be hidden.”
“This still doesn’t change the fact she took the life of an important member of the family most brutally. That is something we can never forgive and forget.” My father chimed in, his voice cold and exact. “Your mother has said it all. Once we have proven she’s a deranged murderer who is mentally unfit to raise children and have the kids in our care, we’ll proceed to deal with her however we see fit without failing this time. You did a great job finding her in time, Robert. Now, sit back and leave the rest to us.”
“You pathetic excuse of a human being!” my mother growled at her, yanking a fistful of her hair and angling her head in a painful, uncomfortable position so that the lady was meeting her venomous eyes. Frank dared not intervene. “I’ll show you what it really means to be burnt by fire. By the time we are finished with you, you’ll be on your stupid knees begging for your own death. Only then can we be satisfied.” She hissed, her words carrying a menace that could shake one to the bones.
After all these years, their hatred towards her, their grudge and that undying desire to exert revenge still burned like a raging inferno in their hearts.
The lady couldn’t help crying helplessly, wave after wave of shock and fear slapping her as she wondered what was happening. How she’d gotten herself involved with people like my family, involved in this kind of mess? Her eyes were so puffy, so wide with terror I feared they might fall out from their sockets at any moment. Her skin is so red and parched it might crack open.
She tried to say something, anything even if it was a word to prove her innocence but the gag held her silent. A network of veins branched out from along her neck and forehead, a stark testament to her desperate, futile effort.
As I looked at her, a flood of despair and regret washed over me as memories of Lily surged to the surface. I remembered her tear-streaked face as I pushed her away with my cold and indifferent attitude. Her desperate attempts to prove her innocence when I fired her from the company, ignoring whatever she had to say. Her trembling voice, endless cries when she pleaded with me to let her keep the pregnancy after I told her to abort it and rejected her love without a second thought after she professed it to me. Her broken expressions and whimpers after I accused her at the station and tried to strip her of her dignity in front of everyone in court.
All that intense feeling welled up inside me to the point I couldn’t hold it any longer, feeling suffocated. My parents’ voice and Ginny and Martin’s still echoed in the background, intensifying that awful feeling. I couldn’t take it anymore. It was at that moment that I shouted at the top of my voice.
“If you all could just keep your mouths shut and listen to what I have to say!!” I barked, panting like a wounded animal as I had had enough of them talking about her like she was an object.
Everyone, including the lady, suddenly fell silent, a mix of shock and confusion crossing their faces as they looked at me. The weight of the silence thickened, spreading like a blanket to every corner of the mansion.
“Of course my son,” my mum said in a low cautious tone. She let go of her grip on the woman’s hair, intentionally pushing her as she crashed on the floor. “We are ever ready to listen to whatever you have to say. But please, just don’t stop us from what we are about to do to this…”
“This woman here is not Lily,” I cut her off.