Chapter 48
Liliana bit her lip, her mind racing through every possible outcome in a mere two seconds, mentally mapping out each consequence. She realized she couldn’t take that gamble.
“Finn,” she murmured, a look of guilt washing over her face. “It was me. I didn’t mean for those people to go after Ms. Sullivan online. I was just so scared. Please, don’t blame me.”
She gently clutched Finnian’s sleeve, tears cascading down her cheeks, making her seem heartbreakingly vulnerable.
“You know how much Mr. Kevin Everly despises me. Only Mrs. Grace Everly liked me, but she’s no longer with us. When you finally divorced Ms. Sullivan, I thought we had a chance. But then all those things happened. I was just so afraid. I’ve waited for you for so many years, and I can’t wait any longer. Neither can the baby I’m carrying. That’s why I did something so foolish.”
Liliana placed a hand on her stomach, her sobs growing louder, yet she cried beautifully, evoking a sense of
pity.
Finnian’s face remained stoic as he stared out the window, the room silent except for Liliana’s soft sobs.
After a long pause, Finnian turned back to her, gently patting her shoulder, his voice softening a bit. “I know it’s been hard for you over these years, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But you shouldn’t have done that. Amara is innocent.”
In those fleeting seconds, memories of the past with Liliana surfaced in his mind.
He remembered a time when he was inspecting a construction site, nearly hit by falling debris, and Liliana had pushed him out of harm’s way, saving his life. But in doing so, she had earned a nasty scar for herself.
That memory always left a warm feeling in his heart whenever he thought of her.
Liliana wiped her tears, guilt evident in her voice. “I understand. I won’t do anything like that to Ms. Sullivan -again.”
“Good.” Finnian nodded. “Take care now. I have to go.”
As he left, he took the copy of the statement Amara had written. Liliana couldn’t quite grasp his intention.
She paced the room anxiously. Amara’s statement had caught her off guard, and Finnian’s reaction was unexpected too.
Ordinarily, Finnian should have found Amara’s statement absurd or felt insulted, but instead, he came to question Liliana, as if he saw nothing wrong with Amara’s actions.
This didn’t explain much, though. Truth be told, Amara’s face was Liliana’s greatest comfort. Still, Liliana felt things were slightly off–track. Eyes darting around cunningly, she assumed she needed to change her strategy. Back in her apartment, Amara was exhausted. She didn’t even make it to the bedroom before falling asleep on the couch. Her phone buzzing woke her up that evening–it was Finnian calling.
She wasn’t sure what Finnian wanted to discuss, but she had a feeling it was related to the morning’s events. She answered, “Hello, what’s up?”
“Amara,” Finnian’s voice, rich and resonant despite the faint static, came through the line.
“I found out that Liliana was behind that article online. I warned her, and it won’t happen again.”
Amara was taken aback. She had suspected all along that Liliana was responsible for the article, so that wasn’t surprising.
What surprised her was that Finnian had uncovered the truth and, instead of covering for Liliana, he had come straight to Amara with it.
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