CHAPTER 78
ROBERT’S POV
It’s been a week since I uncovered the truth about my grandpa’s murder. The murder charges against Lily have been dropped. Carina has been arrested and taken into police custody, waiting to face trial. Given the severity of her crime, she could be facing a possible life imprisonment a fate she has accepted without resistance.
Jake arrived a few days back and has been staying with us. I made sure to urge everyone especially my mum to make him feel at home and act like nothing ever happened. During the trip to pick him up, I took the opportunity to see Scarlett’s body, confirming her death and putting everyone’s minds at ease. Raphael was still finalizing the arrangements for her funeral, scheduled to take place in a few days.
Meanwhile, all hands were on deck to find Lily and bring her back. My father has reached out to his contacts from across the country for assistance and mum has been backing him up. I know it won’t take long for them to find her. It brought me huge relief and happiness to see my parents acknowledge their mistakes and actively help in the search for Lily. Both had come to terms with their past conflicts with her. They no longer saw any fault in her and welcomed the idea of us reuniting to become a family again-a big, happy family. It was a dream I held close to my heart, and I couldn’t wait for it to come true.
Since the day after I brought Carina to the mansion, my mum hasn’t brought up the topic of my marriage arrangements with Rosaline again. Ginny mentioned she called it off and Rosaline has been heartbroken and furious ever since. That was the best thing to do. I couldn’t imagine myself marrying someone I barely knew and had no feelings for. Rosaline is better off with another man who will genuinely love and cherish her the way she deserves.
Ginny spent most of her time with Jake, playing games with him and making him feel as comfortable as possible. Martin on the other hand hasn’t been himself lately. Ever since he found out Lily was innocent, he’d been miserable with regret, blaming himself for turning his back on her.
He seemed more affected than me. I understood his pain because he was the closest to her in the family. But it made me think he might have feelings for Lily which I certainly don’t approve of because Lily was mine and mine alone. Martin no longer had an interest in doing things he loved doing before like playing golf and hitting the gym. Instead, he spent most of his time locked away in his room, like a frustrated, heartbroken teenager. It was unsettling to see him like that.
Though I knew the only thing that could make him feel better was if Lily came back, once my schedule clears up, I’ll make time to sit down with him and have a serious talk. He needs someone to pull him out of this darkness, and I’ll be there for him, no matter what because he was always there for me when I needed him.
As part of our ongoing search to find Lily, I decided to visit the hospital where her mother was admitted. I was meant to visit her a week ago but have been occupied with uncovering the truth about my grandpa’s murder and going to pick Jake. Today, I finally summoned the courage to visit her.
As I walked into the hospital, my mind raced with a mix of nervousness and hope. The last time I saw her mother was nine years ago. Lily had introduced me as her husband but I don’t think she knows our marriage was fake and based on a contract. I hope she remembers me. And I wondered if she knew what happened between Lily and me. If Lily had told her already then she’ll hate me and won’t want anything to do with me. The last thing I want is to escalate her current condition which I know is a partial stroke.
Approaching the reception desk, I cleared my throat. “Good afternoon. Please I’m here to see Mrs. Jones. She’s the mother of my…uh, my ex-fiancee.” I said as I scratched the back of my head. I had wanted to say, wife.
The receptionist flashed a small smile before glancing at her computer screen, her fingers typing softly.
“Mrs. Jones?” she repeated, raising a brow slightly, and I nodded. “Are you sure you came to see the right person?” she asked, her tone cautious yet curious.
“Yes,” I answered, my brows furrowing slightly. “Why do you ask?”
She lifted her gaze to me and let out a small sigh. A slight frown settled on her tender features as if to sympathize with me, her expression gentle and apologetic. “I’m sorry, sir, but Mrs. Jones passed away… nine years ago.”
My breath caught, and I froze in shock, unable to process her words.
“Nine years ago?” I asked with wide eyes, my face contorted in shock.
She lowered her gaze to her computer screen before looking back at me and nodding in confirmation. “Yes, I’m sorry.”
I stepped back a bit, my mind reeling. I wanted to ask her to check again but it was pointless since she’d already confirmed it. How did this happen? How had I not known?
A look of concern crossed the receptionist’s face, and I realized how strange I must have seemed, showing up to see someone who had been gone for nearly a decade.
“Please can I know how she died?” I asked, still disoriented from the shock of the discovery.
She checked her computer again. “Uhmm…she died due to complications during her brain surgery.”
That meant her partial stroke escalated into something far worse.
Though I didn’t know much about her and always refused when Lily asked me to come along to the hospital to visit her, I knew she was cheerful to be around and the first time we met had treated me like a son. Guilt stabbed me, like a dagger through my chest. I felt so miserable and helpless anyone seeing me now might think I was responsible for her death.
“Anything else you’d like to know sir?” The receptionist called my attention, snapping me from my troubled thoughts.
I shook my head. There was no use asking further questions. If she died nine years ago, that meant Lily would have probably taken her body from the hospital morgue to bury after she left prison or perhaps before going to prison, all without telling me.
After thanking the receptionist for her help, I left the hospital in silence, the weight of Lily’s mother’s death pressing down on me like never before. The devastating news crushed my hope, and my chances of finding Lily now seemed even slimmer. While I still held some optimism about my father’s contacts, they haven’t made any progress and I didn’t want to rely entirely on them. I want to find Lily myself. That’s why I’m putting in all this effort. I wanted to be the first person to find her and tell her how her absence in my life had created a big irreplaceable hole in my heart that was making it difficult for me to breathe.
As my chauffeur opened the car door for me to get in, I received a phone call from Frank. Normally, in times like this when I was feeling down, I’m meant to ignore the call and perhaps switch off my phone for the rest of the day. But since it was Frank, I couldn’t help but answer it. He was my eyes and ears in the tech space in this journey towards finding Lily. He might have some good news for me.
“Boss, I’ve got a new lead on how to find Lily, and this one will definitely work this time,” his confident voice boomed through the phone speaker.