CHAPTER 134
LILY’S POV
~ “And what exactly did ‘that man’ do?” Lila cut in as if that was the perfect cue for her to join in on the conversation, her expression mirroring Liam’s. ~
Occasionally, I glanced at the two of them, suddenly short of words and heartbroken from the way they were treating me. They no longer looked like my cute little angels but like strangers determined to judge me harshly and break me.
If only they were aware of what Robert did to me while I was pregnant with them then they won’t be treating me this way. They’d be forever grateful that I protected them from him. That heart-wrenching past wasn’t something I could tell them. They were too young to understand. Maybe when they grow older and learn of it they’ll realize I was only protecting them, doing what was best for them.
“I can’t tell you…” I said weakly. My gaze slumped and it was taking everything in me to hold back the tears stinging my eyes and threatening to fall my cheeks. “Maybe when you grow older and learn of it, you’ll understand that I’m not keeping you away from your daddy but only doing what was best.”
“The same thing daddy said,” Lila scoffed in a mix of disappointment and disbelief. “You can’t even say his name. You both are adults but keep acting like a bunch of stubborn teenagers caught in a never-ending fight.”
She said, drawing back my attention as I looked at her with an intense grimace, wondering where the two of them learnt to talk like that.
“I don’t know what problem you and Daddy have, but I want it fixed so we can be a complete family,” she said, addressing me almost like a command. “You should have seen the faces of our classmates after Daddy introduced himself to them. They now respect us because he is a world-class billionaire. Now that we have gained their respect, we don’t want them to know our parents are fighting each other and lose it.”
“Is it so hard for the four of us to get back together as a family?” Liam asked. His tone was calmer now but tinged with an emotional longing. “We want to walk down the school hallway and every other place holding both you and daddy’s hands. We want you two to come watch us together at the upcoming school games. We want to know what it feels like to have a daddy but you’ve denied us that privilege, acting on your own selfish reasons. You said he doesn’t deserve us but the truth of the matter is that you’re the one that doesn’t deserve us.”
He finished, eliciting a bewildering gasp from me. I couldn’t no longer withstand the rising agony as tears flowed freely from my eyes. My chest felt like someone was clawing at it from the inside, the remaining fragments of my heart shattering.
Never in a thousand years did I think they’d say such a hurtful thing to me. How could he say I didn’t deserve them even after everything I suffered to raise them? Every choice, every decision I had made in the past years was for their well-being, not mine. I love them more than anything. They are the reason I kept pushing forward, fighting to build a better life-one I never had but desperately wanted to give them.
Yet, seeing such a pitiful state they left me in, they remained indifferent and oblivious to my suffering. Did they think this was easy for me? Being a single mother? Facing rejection in the hands of the only man I opened my heart to? Trying so hard to shut him from my head, cage those feelings I harboured for him all those years and forget him completely like he never existed? If they thought I wasn’t suffering then they were wrong. I was suffering the most in this situation.
I stared at them with a desperate, pleading gaze, my words caught in my throat. It was obvious they wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say unless I told them what Robert did that made me not want him anywhere close to us. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I wasn’t ready, neither were they.
But what baffled me the most was how they were able to figure out Robert was their daddy in such a short time. It wasn’t like he just showed up at their school and told them he was their father and they easily believed without having any doubts. Robert must have done something. What did he do to convince them that quickly?
“Liam and I have decided to give you and Daddy a week to resolve whatever issue you have unless you’re both going to lose us forever,” Lila said indifferently, unaware of the weight of her words.
“What?…” I stuttered, bewilderment etched on my face.
But they didn’t let me say anything further as they headed to their room. They quickened their steps so I wouldn’t catch up and slammed the door shut once they were inside, leaving me to drown in the crushing silence of my solitude and misery.