Irresistible Touch

Chapter 11

Lilian:

After coming up against two accidents in a row, I was starting to get cranky.

No, this was no accident... This was attempted murder!

The woman who was hiding herself in the shadows no longer wanted to ruin just my face, she wanted my life!

At the thought of possibly putting my parents in danger because of me, I gritted my teeth in anger.

Oh, dear God Almighty! Please watch over my family and grant them a peaceful life! Please, you have to help me! I need to find out the identity of that despicable woman as soon as possible if I was to find peace!

I lived in a small town and there were only a dozen families nearby who were rich enough to hire a contract killer. However, our family has had nothing to do with them, and to make sure, I even asked my parents just in case.

We did not know each other and had never interacted with one another; we were nothing but complete strangers.

If I thought about it that way, then there should not be anyone among them who would hold such a deep hatred for me.

Could it be that one of the young mistresses from those rich families was jealous that I was prettier than her, and that was why she wanted to kill me?

I waved away the thought as soon as it emerged.

No way, that was impossible.

I had no ambition of seducing a man in power, so there was no possibility of me getting in the way of anyone's marriage. In that case, why should anyone waste their time on me?

It was a pity that my family lacked both money and power. I was not acquainted with anyone with any sort of standing either, so there was nobody that I could ask for help.

As soon as I thought about someone with power, Arthur popped into my head. I was so shocked that I almost dropped my cup on the ground.

No, Lilian! Why were you thinking about that damned man again?

Yes, it was true that he was the current Wolf King, and so, he should be the most powerful man that she knew. However, my relationship with him had broken off long ago! Was I still thinking of asking him to investigate my murderer for me?

"Goodness me, I feel like I'm going mad!" I muttered as I smacked my forehead in chagrin.

Next to me, my mother asked, "What's wrong, Lilian? Are you feeling sick?"

I had a start when I heard my mother's voice and turned around just in time to catch the concerned look in her eyes.

I quickly shook my head no and put on a smile. "I'm fine, Mother."

"It seems what happened the other day really got to you. Oh, my poor baby... why don't you go back and rest? You don't have to force yourself to be here with me." My mother stroked my long hair lovingly, her eyes filled with warm affection.

I did not feel good about leaving my mother to man the pastry stand alone, so I shook my head again. "Trust me, Mother. I'm fine, just distracted for a moment, that's all."

My mother frowned, clearly not believing me, but she could not win over me in the end. She sighed in compromise. "Very well, but you'll go home as soon as you feel unwell, you hear me? Don't make your mother worry."

"Yes, Mother. Don't worry."

After reassuring my mother, I cheered myself on and put my focus back on selling pastries.

I was no longer needed for errands and deliveries. William brought over a young teenager who was around 16 years old and told us that he was an orphan with nobody to turn to. He was willing to help us with the deliveries in exchange for some food.

My mother was always soft with children. She took pity on the child, and since she thought it was unsafe for a girl like me to be doing the deliveries, she agreed.

I knew that this was one of William's ways of keeping me safe. He was worried that I would be attacked again during a delivery, so he brought someone over to take my place instead.

I was very thankful for that. I felt extremely glad that I could have a friend like him.

I was on tenterhooks in the coming days, worried that I would get attacked again out of nowhere. Strangely enough, however, nobody came for me again.

Had they given up after failing twice? Perhaps they were deliberately waiting a few days so that I would let my guard down before making a sudden move.

The former seemed unlikely, but the latter was a very real possibility. Thus, I sought out William to talk about the matter.

I had no other choice. I could not tell my parents the truth about what was going on or I would make them worry. The only one who knew about what had happened and could help was none other than my good friend.

I invited him out to the usual place and after telling him my suspicions, he dropped his head in thought for a moment.

After a while, just as I was starting to get anxious from waiting, he looked up at me again. "Lilian, have you ever thought about moving before?"

"Moving?" Was he not going to talk about the murder? Why did the topic suddenly change to moving? I was baffled.

William came forward and stopped around half a meter in front of me, then he looked at me with a burning gaze and said in a sure voice, "Yes, moving. As in... leaving this town and moving somewhere else."

That made me even more confused. Move out of town? Why? Surely he does not actually believe that I could avoid being killed just by moving away, right?

Unless… maybe that was not what he meant.

My expression turned serious as I stared into his brown eyes. "William, you know something, don't you? Don't lie to me!"

He must have been searching for the killer while I was busy worrying about my parents. Why else would he say such a strange thing?

William averted his gaze. It was obvious that he was trying to hide something from me. He tried to make himself sound casual. "No, I don't know anything. You must be overthinking it, Lilian."

I watched him sternly, not wanting to miss a single hint.

His right fist was clenched tight and he looked nervous. I could tell he was avoiding me on purpose.

Sure enough, he knew something. He just did not want to tell me.

I took a deep breath before continuing. "William, we've known each other since we were just children. You're my best friend. You know that, don't you?"

"I do." William's response was quick, but he still did not dare to meet my gaze.

I could not stand it any longer. I grabbed him by the arm and shook him. "Friends shouldn't lie to each other, William! Look at me, look me in the eyes! What do you know?"

"I don't know anything, I really don't!" William frowned even deeper as if my questions were hurting him physically. He shoved my hands off and looked at me with pleading eyes. "Don't force me, please… you have to believe me. As your… friend, I would never want to hurt you."

With that, William turned around and left, breaking into a run midway through as if worried that I would chase after him.

I stood in place, my hands frozen in place after being shoved off, flabbergasted at the way he had reacted.

He must know something but could not tell me for some reason, and that was why he suggested that I move away instead.

William, my good friend. I knew you were doing this for my sake, but how could you forget what kind of person I was?

I, Lilian, would never choose to run away!