C3 The unknown

Lillian entered the room and landed straight on her bed, dumping her purse beside her. What was her father saying? What did he mean by she was getting married? And to a person she doesn't even know? What was happening?

All these questions ran through Lillian's mind, and she couldn't help to wish her dad badly was joking. The door opened again, and her mom came in. She paused for a moment before finally going to join Lillian on the bed.

“Tell me everything Dad said was a joke,” Lillian said immediately with pleading eyes, making Mrs. Helen sigh.

“Please, just tell me he was joking, that he was trying to pull my legs.” Lillian pleaded further, now kneeling on the bed and holding her mom's hands.

“I wished but........” Her mom tried saying but stopped when she saw the tears gathered in her daughter's eyes.

“You're truly getting married.” Mrs. Helen finally said what broke Lillian's heart. Lillian immediately let go of her mom's hands and got down from the bed.

“Even you too?” Lillian asked with her voice cracking.

“You're also selling me off?” She asked again, letting her tears flow freely.

“Darling, we're not......” Mrs. Helen tried to say but was interrupted by a crying Lillian.

“Am I so much of a load to you both that you finally decided to get rid of me?” Lillian asked yet another painful question that rendered Mrs. Helen speechless.

“First, you and my so-called father made me stay away from Los Angeles, not bothering to come and see me. You forcefully took me to Spain, where I felt like a prisoner all the days of my life, and now.......” Lillian paused still in tears.

“You're both still selling me off to a strange person.” Lillian finished, slowly falling to the floor.

“We didn't sell you off, Lillian. We just want the best for you.” Mrs. Helen said, trying to help her crying daughter up.

“Get away from me!” Lillian screamed in her face.

“Get out of my room now! Get out, I would rather not see your shameless face!” Lillian yelled with both anger and pain written on her face. Mrs. Helen, who was already hurt by Lillian's words, sighed, stood up, and left.

She went downstairs and saw their visitors were gone. She walked towards her husband who was now at the bar, sipping wine from his glass.

“How did it go? Were you able to convince her?” Mr. Jeffrey asked immediately after he noticed his wife's presence.

“I wasn't. She asked me out of her room.” Mrs. Helen said, wiping the tears that were trying to fall and this time, Mr. Jeffrey sighed.

“She was so angry at us and this time, I'm not sure if she would ever forgive us for this.”

BACK TO LILLIAN'S ROOM

Lillian threw her phone on the bed and groaned for the third time. She has been trying her brother's number, but it wasn't going through. She just needed someone she could talk to and a shoulder to cry on.

How could her parents betray her this way? Causing her to go to Spain wasn't enough for them? And now, they decided to marry her off? No, she wasn't going to give in to this. She would do everything within her power to prevent this and that was for sure.

She picked up her phone again and decided to call another person. He picked at the first ring.

“Hello, Mark!”

“Hey! I was trying to call you just now. So what was the problem?” Mark said from the other side.

“They want to marry me off to a stranger,” Lillian said as fresh tears started flowing down again.

“What!!!” Mark said. It was obvious he was shocked.

“But why?”

“What else? Probably, they were tired of me staying with them and wanted to finally get rid of me for good.” She said with a sad smile and sniffed.

“Oh, my goodness. Where are you now?”

“Still at home but I can't stay here any longer. I want to leave, away from them. I don't feel safe with them anymore.”

“Alright. Don't worry, I'll come pick you up now.” Mark assured.

“I don't think you can. They might not let you in.” Lillian said knowing her dad wouldn't allow her to go out now that this issue came up, just like he did eighteen years back.

“Lillian, do you trust me?” Mark said, but she only whimpered.

“Do you trust me?” He repeated.

“Yes but......”

“No buts. I'm coming to take you away now.” Mark cuts off and hung up. Lillian dropped her phone and hugged her knees to her chest with tears flowing down her cheeks.

******************

UNKNOWN PLACE*

In an old cranky room, a man was seen sitting behind a table smiling devilishly as he marked the pictures on the table for death. He continued doing this until the door opened, and he stopped smiling but didn't bother to check who it was.

“Boss, there's news.” The boy who entered said immediately.

“Good or bad?” He said as he lighted his cigarette and poured whiskey into his cup.

“Good boss.”

“Then start spilling already.” He said, glaring at the boy as he smoked from the cigarette and drank from his cup.

“Lillian Blake is back, sir.” The boy said and studied his boss's reaction, but it was neutral. His boss continued smoking from the cigarette before finally breaking the silence.

“When?” He asked, puffing smoke out from his mouth.

“According to our source, she was seen in Los Angeles yesterday.” The boy replied, making his boss scoff.

“And you're just informing me?” He scoffed off as he puffed out more smoke.

“I'm sorry, boss, but we wanted to confirm first, so we wouldn't give you any false information.” The boy explained, and he didn't say anything for a while.

“How sure are you she was the one?” He finally said.

“We traced her back to Blake's mansion.” The boy replied and he remained silent yet again.

“You should know what to do. I mustn't tell you everything.” He finally said after seconds of silence.

“Alright boss.” The boy bowed and left. The man busted into laughter that echoed in the room and suddenly, he stopped laughing.

“Wow. After so many years of waiting, I finally get to meet you again little Lillian.” He said in a deep frown that caused the skin on his forehead to fold, but then he replaced it with an evil grin.

“This calls for a great celebration.” He said again, and he poured himself more whiskey and smoked from his cigarette, puffing smoke out from both his nostrils and mouth.

“Little Lillian is back home.” He continuously sang with his rough deep voice as he celebrated.