CHAPTER 115
LILY’S POV
~ “How?” She was so curious. “Tell me everything, Lily.”
I wanted to when the door pushed open and Noah stepped in. ~
“Hey Lily,” Noah smiled brightly on seeing me but was also surprised that I was in his office this early in the morning.
“What brings you to my office this early in the morning?” He asked as he took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack beside the door.
I gave him an awkward smile as I tried to end the call with Jane.
“Can I call you back Jane?” I spoke closely into the phone. “I have to go. My boss is here.”
“Okayyy,” she drawled. Somehow, I could tell she was tempted to tease me but was holding back.
Normally, whenever I mentioned Noah in our conversations, she would tease the heck out of me, asking if I had finally shot my shot with him. But the urgency and seriousness of the situation at hand didn’t leave room for that. I hadn’t even told her he had proposed and that I had turned him down. She’d go bananas on me and torment me for life. And I had no plans of ever telling her about that.
“Please don’t forget,” she squeaked.
“I won’t,” I reassured her, managing a smile. “I promise I’ll tell you everything once I’m done.”
We said our goodbyes before I ended the call.
Noah had kept his work bag on top of the table. He leaned casually on the edge, just a little beside me, waiting for me to finish. I won’t deny he looked sweet. Maybe a little too sweet in his sleek dress shirt, the sleeves neatly rolled to his elbows, tucked into impeccably tailored slacks. His tie hung loosely around his neck, adding an easy elegance to his polished look.
Things such as this made me regret turning down his proposal. But it was for the best. Since then, we’ve been a little awkward around each other. But I don’t want this or anything to ruin our relationship which was why I was putting in efforts to prevent that from happening.
The only way he could move on from that and get me off his mind was if he had another woman in his life. Being close to him, I knew he wasn’t romantically involved with anyone else, despite being this good-looking and successful. I had planned on matching him up with a beautiful and decent lady but hadn’t had time to focus on that because of the chaos Robert was putting me through. Once again, I hate Robert. I’ll keep saying that for as long as I can.
“Noah…” a bitter frown etched on my face, my expression bleak as I called him.
“Lily…” His expression suddenly became serious and he looked at me alarmingly. “You’re scaring me. What happened? Does it have anything to do with the kids?”
It felt good to know I had someone by my side who cared about my well-being. Someone willing to act immediately when I’m in danger and risk his life for me. Yet, I wasn’t giving him the same in return, not the way I should. I still felt kind of guilty for that.
I answered his question by shaking my head. “The kids are fine,” I mumbled.
“Then what’s the problem?” He straightened up, his brows pulling in as he stared at me intensely.
“It’s Robert,” I said, watching as his temper flared instantly. “He showed up at my place yesterday. I don’t know how he managed to do it, but he did. He saw the kids, and they saw him too, but I didn’t let them get close to him. Now they won’t stop asking questions about him. I’m scared, Noah… I don’t know what to do.” I breathed out helplessly.
He slashed out a sharp breath and looked away, his jaw tightening. His fist tightened too, his knuckles turning white at his sides. “I think it’s time I paid that coward a visit and taught him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
“No…” I grimaced in disapproval. I held his cheek and brought his focus back to me. He was furious, boiling with anger. “That’ll only worsen matters. We have to do this quietly, so please tell me you found something we can use against him. Something we can use to destroy him.”
He let out a sigh. I couldn’t really tell if that meant he had good news or bad news. I just hoped he found something. No matter how little, as long as it’s potent enough for us to use against Robert, I’m satisfied.
My eyes followed him as he walked to the other side of the table, pulled out his seat and sat down. He pulled open the laptop in front of him and his finger started clacking noisily almost furiously against the keyboard.
“Noah…” I called out softly, the suspense eating deep into me like a gnawing hunger. “I know it hadn’t been up to 24hrs we talked about this. But please tell me you’ve got something we can use…”
He stopped typing and looked at me weakly, huffing out a loud deep breath. That was enough for me to discern he got nothing.
“I’m sorry Lily,” I could feel the pain and anger laced in his voice as he said that.
“Fuck…” I muttered as I squeezed my eyes shut in extreme agony, wishing reality could have been different. Wishing I heard anything but that.
“Robert comes from a line of very powerful family with a spotless record in all their dealings. No matter how much I tried to find a loophole to use against him, I just couldn’t. His company is based in New York, far from here. If it were closer, maybe I could find a way to infiltrate it and take him down. Even if I tried using an anonymous identity to slander his name in public, his family has too many connections and contacts all over the country. They’d find out. They could file a defamation lawsuit, and I’ll end up losing everything.” He explained sadly.
My head lowered in despair as I floundered in grief and defeat. I never thought it’d come to this. This has shown that I’m powerless against Robert and his family. I couldn’t do anything to hurt them back and make them pay for what they did to me even when the future of my kids depended on it. Shit… I’m such a failure.
I had put so much hope in Noah, believing he’d find something so that by now we would start planning how to swing into action. I never imagined he’d let me down like this. It was the first time it had ever happened. He’d always been there for me, providing solutions to all my problems. Or maybe it was my fault for putting so much pressure on him and expecting him to do the impossible.
Even though I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t keep Robert away from his children forever. He was relentless and wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. The kids too won’t stop asking questions about him. The only way I know they can stop them from asking is if I kept ignoring him long enough for them not to see him again forever. But how can I make that happen? How can I make Robert disappear from our lives within 48hrs at least?
“But I do know another way,” Noah said, catching my attention as I quickly lifted my gaze to him. “A way we can use to get rid of him fast and once and for all.”
“Please tell me…” I stuttered in a desperate plea.
“I know a professional assassin who can finish him off once and for all so he won’t get to bother you and your kids ever again.”