Chapter 4: The Evidence
1062 Words
LILLIAN'S POV
I took a deep breath before opening the study door.
“Edward,” I whispered. My voice was small, hopeful, trembling. “I… I need to tell you….”
The words froze in my throat.
The room was wrong.
Wrong light. Wrong energy. Wrong everything.
Edward sat behind the massive desk, his expression unreadable, colder than any winter night. On the desk were papers, a tablet, photos scattered like evidence in a crime scene. And Victoria Victoria sat beside him, eyes wide, lips trembling, almost like she was crying.
My stomach dropped.
“I… what is happening?” I asked, stepping forward.
Edward didn’t answer immediately. He simply looked at me, his eyes sharp, cold, calculating.
Victoria’s voice cut in before I could speak. “Lillian… I….”
“Why are you here?” I demanded. My voice cracked. “What… what is all this?”
Edward gestured toward the desk. “Sit.”
I hesitated. My instincts screamed not to. The evidence whatever it was loomed between us.
Victoria inhaled sharply. “It’s… it’s just… we need to talk.”
“Talk?” I echoed. “About what?”
Edward’s hand rested on the tablet. “Do you recognize these?”
I leaned forward. My eyes flicked to the images. Hotel receipts, dates, names I didn’t know. Photos me entering places I’ve never been, standing beside men whose faces I couldn’t place. Messages on a screen, conversations I never had, words I never wrote.
My heart froze.
“I….I don’t… that’s not me,” I whispered.
Edward’s gaze sharpened. “Really?”
“Yes!” I cried, stepping closer. “I’ve never…never….”
“You’ve been lying,” Victoria said softly. Her voice shook. “Why are you lying?”
I spun toward her, desperate. “Victoria? You….you said you were my friend! You know me! You know I….”
Victoria’s eyes dropped. “I… I just… I don’t understand why.”
I whirled back to Edward. “None of this is true! It’s…someone’s trick! I….I haven’t …..”
“You’ve been meeting men. Secretly,” Edward said flatly. “For months. I’ve seen the receipts, Lillian. The messages, the photos.”
“No! No!” My knees wobbled. “I swear, Edward, I haven’t done any of this! I haven’t! I….”
He raised a hand, silencing me. “I don’t want excuses. I don’t want stories. I want the truth.”
“The truth is… I’ve been alone! I’ve been… ignored! I’ve been… waiting for you to notice me! I’ve been waiting for you to love me!” I screamed. My voice shook, my face hot with tears and anger.
Edward’s expression didn’t change. “And this is your idea of honesty?”
“No!” I cried. “This is me! Me, trying to explain that none of this. …none of it…is real!”
Victoria’s lips trembled. “Why…why are you lying?”
“I’m not lying!” I yelled. “Everything ... .everything you’re seeing. ….is fake! I…”
Edward’s hand slammed against the desk, making me jump. The room felt smaller, tighter, suffocating. “Do you hear me? Stop lying!”
“I’m not lying!” My voice broke. “You have to believe me!”
“Do you expect me to?” Edward asked, calm now, terrifyingly calm. His voice dropped, quiet, deadly. “After everything I’ve seen? You think I can just… trust you?”
“I’m….pregnant,” I blurted, my throat raw. My hands trembled as I pulled the test from my bag, holding it up for both of them to see. “See? I…I….”
The room went silent.
Edward stared at the small stick. Then at me. Then he laughed.
Not a kind laugh. Not a gentle laugh. A low, cutting, bone-deep laugh that made my chest ache.
“Don’t insult me with another lie,” he said quietly. “You think a stick can change anything?”
My lips trembled. “It’s not a lie! I swear it! Please…please believe me!”
He stood slowly, each movement deliberate, heavy. I stepped back instinctively.
“I’ve been patient,” he said, voice low. “I’ve tried to see you. I’ve tried to… wait for you to… be real.”
“I am real!” I shouted. “I’m standing here! I’m right in front of you!”
“You have no idea what it really means,” he said, stepping closer. His eyes burned. “Not tonight.”
“I…I haven’t done anything wrong!” I sobbed, wrapping my arms around my stomach, pressing my body tight as if it could shield the baby inside me.
Edward stopped, just for a second, studying me. Then he advanced. Slow. Controlled. Menacing.
“Lillian,” he said softly, almost a whisper. “You’ve embarrassed me. You’ve humiliated me. You’ve turned everything into… this.”
I flinched. “Edward… please…”
“I said….stop!” His voice rose. The sound echoed in the room. “Do you think I don’t understand what you’ve done?”
“I didn’t do anything!” My voice cracked. “I just…”
“Just what?” He leaned forward. “Just ruin my life? Just destroy my reputation?”
I shook my head frantically. “I… I love you! I’m trying to tell you….”
Edward’s hand lifted.
I instinctively wrapped my arms around my stomach tighter, bracing. My knees buckled, and I sank to the floor. My eyes filled with tears, blurring everything.
“Please…” I whispered, voice breaking. “Don’t… don’t touch me. Please… not like this…”
Edward froze mid-step. For a heartbeat, I thought he might stop. Then he exhaled slowly, the tension rolling off him like a storm gathering strength.
Victoria stepped back, eyes wide, hand over her mouth. Her expression was unreadable, a mixture of horror and… relief? I couldn’t tell.
Edward’s eyes were fixed on me. Cold. Angry. Unyielding.
I pressed myself to the floor, trembling. The pregnancy test clutched tight, a flimsy shield against the storm of his rage.
He took another step.
The room felt like it was shrinking. Every heartbeat pounded in my ears. Every breath was impossible. Every second stretched into eter
nity.
And then I realized this was only the beginning.
The hand lifted higher.
And I could do nothing but protect myself.
- Writer
