Taken

CHAPTER 126
LILY’S POV
~ “I have nothing to say to you,” I sneered at her coldly. “Just know that if anything happens to my kids, I’ll make sure you lose your teaching license and I’ll burn this school to the fucking ground. Now, where did he take them?!”
“I don’t know…” She squeaked amid the tears burning at the back of her shielded eyes. ~
“What do you mean you don’t know?” My eyes were wide as I stared at her in disbelief.
“He didn’t say…” she muttered.
I gripped my forehead, feeling the panic flood my system. How do I find them when I had no idea where Robert had taken them? I didn’t have his contact and didn’t know any means I could use to get to him. As far as I was concerned, this was a kidnap. Robert had kidnapped my kids.
Quickly, I rushed out of the office, determined to get to Noah and tell him because he’ll know what to do in this kind of situation. Miss Hampton tried calling me back but I ignored her like she didn’t exist. If anything happens to my kids, I’ll make sure she and this godforsaken school suffer for it. Once this is over, I’m pulling my kids out and enrolling them somewhere better.
Once outside the school building, I rushed into the car, startling Noah who was staring at his phone and giggling like he’d seen something hilarious.
“What the hell Lily?!” He exclaimed, his eyes widening. “You scared the shit out of me. What happened? Is someone after you?”
I kept quiet for a moment, reviewing everything that good for nothing teacher told me. Tears were prickling at the corners of my eyes. I tried to hold them back as I faced him but it was just too painful to bear.
“He…took them,” I mumbled in a tear-stricken voice, feeling the tears clog my throat to the point of choking me.
“What…?” His features contorted in confusion. “Who took who?”
“Robert,” I said quietly. “He took the kids.”
Saying his name alone filled me with so much pain and rage I felt my blood boiling, my heart hurting, my whole body shaking with anger.
Noah’s jaw tightened, and he let out a dangerous growl. “I warned you, Lily. We should have dealt with him. As long as that coward is breathing, he’ll never stop tormenting you and your kids. But you keep trying to play the saint and now see what it has cost you…”
I lowered my head in despair, trying to hold back the sobs that racked inside me as his accusatory tone made me feel worse.
I want to hurt Robert to the point he felt it deep in his soul to get back at him and make him stop bothering me and my kids. But how do I do that without killing him? Death seemed like the only way. Though I kept bringing up reasons not to, he wasn’t making it easy for me. He was pushing me to the wall and now has disappeared to who knows where with my kids.
Noah let out an apologetic sigh. “I’m sorry Lily, I didn’t mean to shout at you like that…” He said in a voice filled with regret. He just couldn’t live with himself anytime he got mad at me. He was a gentleman, unlike some lying bastards.
“It’s okay,” I sniffled in a heavy sob. “I deserve it…”
Suddenly, he kickstarted his engine and the car began vibrating, the AC blowing through my wet face to cool off the tears.
“Where did he take them?” He asked like one gearing up for a death race. “We’ve got to find them before it’s late.”
“I don’t know Noah,” I said hopelessly. “Their teacher didn’t say.”
“What?!” He grimaced in shock before turning off the engine. “How then do we find them?”
I explained to him how it all happened, everything their teacher told me. He listened attentively and after I finished, his expression clouded in anger.
“Surely you can’t let this slide,” he seethed, his features hardening with fury. “You have to sue the school management.”
“I will do that,” I said firmly. “But first, I have to find Liam and Lila. For all I know, Robert could’ve already flown them out of the city. He’ll want to turn them against me, and I might never see them again.” My voice trembled as I turned to Noah. “Please, tell me you have a plan like you always do. Should we call the police? Report him for kidnapping?”
He sighed and looked away, his expression clouded with deep thought. I could only hope he had a plan. No matter how desperate or reckless. As long as it was something we could work with, I was fine with it. Because right now, my mind was spinning out of control. I couldn’t think straight. I had never felt so clueless and helpless in my entire life.
“I don’t think that’ll work,” he said, looking back at me. “Considering he’s their birth father, the police will never see it as kidnap and it hadn’t been up to forty-eight hours since you last saw them.”
He finished, suddenly reminding me of that shitty-ass policeman who said they wouldn’t be able to take action immediately to find my kids after they were kidnapped in that amusement park till after forty-eight hours.
My jaw tightened and my nostrils flared as I tried to push that memory at the back of my mind. Now that the police were out of the picture, what other plan or suggestion did he have? I looked at him expectantly, my heart racing in my chest as suspense filled me. I prayed he’d figure out something good.
“You were married to Robert for two years,” he said, pulling my entire focus. “Where do you think is the first place he’ll take the kids if he had them?”
I bit hard on my lower lip, thinking deeply when it dawned on me. “At their family house, back in New York,” my eyes widened in sudden realization. “That’s where they’ll be.”
“That sums it up,” he stated, briskly turning the keys in the ignition to start the car. “We’re heading to New York.”
I fastened my seat belt, and just as he was about to pull away from the spot where he parked, my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Nana Mae. I picked up, hearing her soft voice come through the speaker.
“Hey Lily, I’m calling to tell you the kids are safe and home with their daddy. He bought lots of toys and is playing with them. I have finally gotten the chance to meet and speak with him. He’s such a nice man, Lily and charming also. Are you sure he’s the same man who hurt you?”
My mouth hung open and I slowly turned to look at Noah as we sped into the road