CHAPTER 129
LILY’S POV
~ “Don’t bother,” Nana Mae said firmly, like one holding onto the last shred of her dignity. “I have been working here for the past two years. I know my way to the door.”
She looked at me, her eyes glistening with hurtful disappointment. “I was wrong to think of you as a daughter. You’ve changed so much over these past few weeks I can barely recognize what you’ve become. If you keep up with this attitude, not only will your kids hate you but you also going to end up alone, feeling miserable and regretting your entire life.” She finished before furiously matching towards the exit. ~
“My kids won’t hate me because they love me very much and know how much I sacrificed for them to be where they are now, and I can never feel miserable and alone because I have them by my side!” I yelled at her scornfully but I don’t think she heard it because the door had slammed shut, proving she’d left.
If she thought her words would affect me then she was wrong because, at this point, I have hardened my heart and every other part of me like a rock. Nothing she or anyone will say or do can affect me.
She quit on her own accord so there was no use asking her to come back. Honestly, I can’t stay with someone who wants me to take back my shitty ex-husband even after I explained to her in detail everything he did to hurt and break me. Even a mother won’t give such advice.
I returned my attention to Robert. To my surprise, he wasn’t resisting my hold or pushing me away. Even though my strength didn’t match his and he still towered over me even in my heels, he just stood there with both his hands raised like a surrendered criminal, with a contrite expression on his face as if seeking forgiveness.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” he said genuinely and for a moment I thought he was on the verge of tears. “I’m a changed man. What more can I do to prove it to you? I’m ready to love you and the kids like you deserve, so please stop making everything difficult for me. Stop putting me through this pain and suffering because I can’t bear it anymore. If you want to keep me away from you guys forever then you’ll have to kill me, because as long as I live, I’ll continue doing all I can to win you back. To win my family back…”
“Shut up!…” I snapped at him, slamming him again against the wall, making him groan a little as a few more paintings and pictures on the wall continued crashing on the floor. “Just shut the hell up!!”
I could feel myself crumbling inside, tears forming at the back of my eyes. It was taking everything in me to stop his words from seeping into me and maintain this tough exterior. Robert was the only man who had ever made me weak in my knees and feel things beyond human emotions. I gave him my heart, my world, my all but all he did was toss it in the trash. He rejected me without a second thought, treating me like I meant nothing.
He broke me, ruined and damaged me beyond repair. What makes him think he can get me back after all that? Even though a part of me I couldn’t control might still be in love with him, I can’t give in fully to it. I can’t open my heart to him again because if I do, then I am only setting myself up for more heartache. Our love has turned to ash. He’d lost me forever. The sooner he realizes that, the better.
“I’m not the same Lily who fell for your charms and sacrificed everything to make you happy,” I said, locking eyes with him, my voice sharp. “I’m a different Lily now. I don’t care about you or your love anymore. Don’t you get it? I don’t want you. You had your chance, and you blew it. For the past nine years, the kids and I have been fine without you, and we’ll keep being fine. So stop whatever it is you’re trying to do and go back to Scarlett and the child she gave you. They’re your family, not us.”
“Scarlett’s dead,” he said with a lifeless expression.
“What?…” I was momentarily taken aback by his sudden revelation.
“Scarlett is dead,” he repeated, adding momentum to his voice. My hold on his collar slackened and I shakily backed away from him as if I had seen a ghost. I couldn’t help blinking in bafflement as I stared at him.
He took a step closer. “Scarlett lied. She never truly loved me. She was only with me for the money. Her pregnancy was never mine. And she was responsible for sabotaging you at the company and my grandpa’s murder.”
My brows pinched in deeply, my jaw dropping in bewilderment. My breath quickened and I could feel the air whooshing out from my lungs. I didn’t know what to say or how to react or how to even process this information. Was he telling the truth? Was Scarlett truly behind everything that happened even his grandpa’s murder and also dead? Or was this just another manipulation strategy, a desperate attempt to make me let my guard down?
While backing away, I almost tripped on one of the toys when Noah caught me. Robert’s expression quickly darkened with a possessive rage on seeing Noah’s hands wrapped around my waist.
“Take your hands off her!” He growled, marching close when I quickly stepped in between stops, snapping out of my trance.
“You don’t own me so you don’t have the rights whatsoever to act this way!” I shot at him, my voice harsh with anger.
He froze, a defeated frown settling on his face.
“You know what?… Just leave. I’ve had about enough of you invading into my life like a damn shadow, lurking where you don’t belong. I refuse to believe what you just said because I know it’s a lie, a manipulation tactic to disorient and make me ease up to you. But it won’t work. You can’t deceive me again.”
“I’m not lying Lily…”