CHAPTER 86
LILY’S POV
~ “The fake nurse,” he blew out a heavy sigh, his expression turning bleak. “It’s Cassandra. She has your kids.” ~
My brows furrowed as I tried to remember the name. “You mean Cassandra from the company?”
Noah nodded calmly.
“What?…” I couldn’t contain the level of shock I felt as my mouth fell open. “What in the world could Cassandra be doing with my kids?”
Noah half shrugged and let out a sigh. “I’m as surprised as you, Lily. I didn’t see this coming at all. She didn’t reveal much during the interrogation. She said she won’t talk further until she’s gotten her attorney and seen you. But one thing is certain-she has your kids. She took them from the park and has been the person behind all the attacks against you. The taxi driver confirmed it this morning after regaining some consciousness and learning you saved his life. He admitted that she paid him to drive you off the bridge. I’m also certain she’s the one who anonymously sent your prison records to my doorstep.”
I froze as I stared at Noah, too startled to even move my lips. To say I was shocked by this revelation was an understatement. My head spun, everything twirling before my eyes as I lost my balance. If not for Noah wrapping his hands around my waist to catch me in the nick of time, I would have crashed onto a trolley nearby.
“Are you okay?” He asked in an alarming concern. “Do you want to sit down?”
“No…” I shook my head, trying to get a grip on myself as he slowly let go of his grip on my waist. He made sure I could stand well on my own before completely letting me go. “I don’t just understand… Why would Cassandra of our people do this to me? What did I ever do to her to deserve this? We’re not friends neither are we enemies. I’ve never done or thought of doing anything bad to her or her loved ones. So what could possibly be her reason to want to kill me and take my kids from me?”
Noah breathed out heavily. He stared at me with sympathy glistening in his eyes, his expression making it known he was as confused and clueless as I am.
I recall Cassandra storming into my office several weeks ago and threatening me. She said I had earned myself a new dangerous enemy and that she’d hit me where it hurts the most. This was all because Noah suspended her indefinitely for challenging him openly at the small company party after he granted me the promotion. It was all making sense now because this was the reason she’d been plotting those attacks on me. She wanted to get back at me for the indefinite suspension she brought upon herself with her rude behaviour.
Miley had warned me to stay clear of her which I did. I didn’t take her threats seriously because I never for once thought she’d go as far as carrying them out. All this time, I’ve been blind, thinking Robert or Scarlett was behind the attacks and the kidnapping of my kids, not knowing it was that deranged bitch who calls herself Cassandra. I can’t believe she had the guts to come at me, even after I made it damn clear that I wasn’t someone to be intimidated or trifled with.
Seeing how I kept surviving her pathetic attempts to kill me, she went for the ultimate low blow, going after my kids. She crossed the fucking line this time, and for that, I’ll make sure she pays in ways she’ll never forget. She could mess with me all she wanted, pay those two filthy bastards to come assault me, but my kids? My kids are untouchable. I could burn the world to ashes for their sake. How dare she take them from me?
“Where is she?” My jaw clenched, my expression veering sharply to anger as I stared at Noah.
“At the police station.”
“Let’s be on our way then,” I said with a cold, emotionless tone, making my way out of the door and into the hallway.
“Wait…” Noah jogged to keep up with my fast pace. “What about your friend, Jane?”
“I’ll call her on the way and let her know we are at the station,” I said without turning back to look at Noah. My entire being was consumed with unbridled anger. All I could think about was where Cassandra was keeping my kids and how I could make her pay for the pain and horrors she made me pass through.
As we walked out of the hospital, I noticed some people mostly the nurses and other hospital workers, cheering and praising me probably for the same reason that the doctor said I was a hero.
*
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It didn’t take Noah and me long to arrive at the police station. It was the same police station the taxi driver was held in before being taken to the hospital for treatment. It wasn’t that far from the hospital.
Noah spoke with the detective handling the case, letting him know I was the victim who survived the car incident and the one whose kids were also kidnapped. The detective filled us in on the mode of behaviour we should and shouldn’t exhibit before granting us access to the interrogation room where Cassandra was held. But I wasn’t paying full attention to everything he said. My thoughts were consumed with rage and the burning urge to see that bitch and give her a piece of my mind.
We entered the interrogation room which was not so different from the one I was held in nine years ago a small plain room with bare walls, one window, a fluorescent light bulb and a few tables and chairs. There was a camera on the top of one end of the wall for observation and a tape recorder on the table where Cassandra sat. Entering that room brought back a lot of painful memories of what happened to me that day, but I did my best to push them at the back of my mind, focusing on the situation at hand.
A corner of the bitch’s lips curled up to a stupid smirk on seeing me. I glared at her, wanting nothing more than to smack that smug look off her face. She was still wearing that nurse’s outfit, her hands and feet bound together with chain cuffs. I noticed a black, swollen patch on the top of her head-no doubt from when I slammed her head against the door yesterday.
“Well, well, well,” she sneered, her voice dripping with mockery. “If it isn’t the infamous and heroic Miss Jones or is it Mrs. Wilson? Because last I checked, you were dumped and left to rot like garbage by your ex-billionaire husband and family. Must really…?”
I didn’t let her finish whatever nonsense she wanted to spill as I smacked her hard in the face with my fist, her head snapping sharply to the side as her messed up hair flew, covering it.
“Lily…” Noah called quietly, the warning in his tone hinting that I should control myself. I was pretty sure the detective had warned against something like this. But I couldn’t help it. Voices in my head screamed for me to hurt her, to torture the whereabouts of my kids out of her because I knew the police officers in this station were being soft as always on her and every criminal in the station.
She spat out blood and snarled at me like a provoked dog with a dangerously angry look on her face. I must have provoked the shit out of her.
“You’re so lucky I’m chained up right now; otherwise, I would have…”
She opened her mouth to speak again, but I shut her up with another punch that caught her off guard. A thin line of blood trickled from her nose. It was satisfying to see her bleed. But I wanted her to bleed more, to the point of death.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I yanked it down, forcing her to face me at an uncomfortable angle. She gritted her teeth, trying to suppress the pain, but I could see the strain in her eyes.
“Keep spilling nonsense and watch me decorate your face with my fist,” I said to her face. “Where are my kids?! Where are you keeping them?!”
She started laughing like a psycho, her voice like fingernails clawing on a chalkboard. “They’re safely locked away in a dark, empty basement where you’ll never find them. I must say they’re adorable little pies, but their endless whining and crying for their mummy nearly drove me insane. I can’t imagine the number of times I was this close to ending their miserable lives. But I can’t do that, no, no, no, not without you watching. Once my attorney gets me out of this shit hole, I’ll take you with me. And then, I’ll make you watch as I take away those precious things in your life, just like you took away mine.”