Again, Lily turned speechless. She started to wonder if the woman was only pretending. However, everyone around them always said that she had become forgetful. Was it possible that she was only fooling everyone?
“Alright.” Lily nodded as she responded to smile on the older woman’s face.
“Great!” Madam Luo took a sip of her tea before she glanced at the pond and let out a sigh, her eyes solemn, the smile on the face earlier completely vanished. “I was jealous of her. You know, this is something that I could not even admit to my brother.”
Madam Luo continued. “But I was jealous of Lilian. I hated her. My hatred back then was the only thing that fueled my brain and my ambitions. It was the only thing that convinced me to live another day. Do you understand me?” she looked at Lily. “When… Fredrick left me and the country. I wanted to kill myself. I knew I couldn’t marry anyone else, aside from him.” She sighed. “Since I was six, I already knew that he would be the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Then one day… he just came back with Lilian.” Sadness laced her words as she lowered her head and started at the tea in her cup. “Right then and there… I wanted to kill myself.”
“You know… it was like someone had put a heavy rock in my heart. I could not even cry or say anything. I just stared at Fredrick’s sparkling eyes as he looked at Lilian, with his gentle smile. His actions back then… it hurt me so much. But I never cried.”
“I can’t remember if I refrained myself from blinking so the tears wouldn’t fall on my cheeks or… if I bit my lips too hard trying to remind myself that I was in front of everyone else and that I could not embarrass my father and my family’s name.”
To be honest, Lily exactly knew what Mada Luo felt. She had been there. The feeling of betrayal, the feeling of helplessness as she watched Xuan Hui and Qin Fei back then. It was too much to handle, she wished she was dead. Now that she thought about it… was it possible that what she felt back then was a karma?
Maybe the gods wanted her to feel what Madam Luo felt back then because of Lilian.
“Well… I pretended to be fine. For a long time… I stayed quiet and stared at Lilian’s face, speechless. She was a beautiful but I thought… I was more beautiful. Then, the Grand Duke asked her of her background and when I heard it, I was flabbergasted. Her family was not royalty or even a noble! She came from a family of merchants in Italy! How could Fredrick chose someone like her?” Madam Luo faked a smile.
Then she continued. “Right then and there… I wanted to laugh. I remember… vividly. I raised my chin as I watched the Duke’s face become darker by the second. I knew he would lash out on her. I knew he would get angry and yell at Fredrick in front of everyone. And to be honest, I was happy. I wanted Fredrick to learn a lesson. He could not marry someone beneath us. He could not marry another woman aside from me.”
Lily nodded silently.
“So, the Grand Duke exploded and cursed at them. But then… I remember… Lilian stood there. Her eyes were cold, chilly even. I hadn’t seen a woman look at the Grand Duke like that before! And then she … Now that I think about it. That was a pretty, what would be the right term? . Bad ass. Yes, a bad ass move.” Madam Luo said. “What surprised me was when Fredrick followed her! When I saw this, I initially thought that he would come back crying. To be honest, I thought that Lilian was with him because of his influence and status. Of course… I was wrong. But at that time, I always thought that Lilian would leave him for another rich businessman or perhaps another royalty.”
The older woman shrugged. “So… I schemed and asked a friend to introduce her to influential people. Royalties and nobles. I wanted to show that she was another gold digger and that she would throw away Fredrick because he lost his status. Alas, I was wrong. I was so wrong.���
“Grandmother!” Claude’s voice interrupted the intense atmosphere. “I can’t find it. Are you sure it was a velvet box?” Sweat rolled down on Claude’s forehead. He frowned. “Maybe it wasn’t in your study? But I already tried to check your room. It wasn’t there either.”
Madam Luo frowned before she looked at her grandson. “What box?” When Claude heard this, he immediately took his seat and drank some tea. “Ah… velvet box? I don’t think I have a velvet box.”
“You asked me to get it for you.” Claude said before sighing. ‘Did something happened when I was away?”
“Why would something happen? This couple are pretty sweet. They were talking about their trip to Paris!”
“Grandmother… they are twins. Not a couple.” Claude said. “I’m sorry.” He apologized.
“Right! I remember now… these two are Lilian’s grandchildren? Beautiful people… right?” Madam Luo gave an awkward laugh. “I remember that you are here to talk about Lilian? Did you ask me a question? Did I forget to answer you again?”
“You were talking about your trip in London.” Qin Yuanfeng said. “When you went to see my grandparents.”
“I was?” For a few seconds, she turned silent. “Oh! Yes… I visited them in their mansion and that Victor was there… he was not a butler back then. I knew he was not a butler just by his frame.”
“What’s wrong with his frame?” Qin Yuanfeng frowned. To be honest, he also thought that Victor was pretty weird. He was quiet— too quiet that he found it hard to know his real intentions. To be honest, the feeling that Victor gave him was the same feeling that he always got with Bei Tian when the latter turned serious.
“Oh! I thought he was a weird man. Then one night…” Madam Luo leaned towards them, her face serious as she whispered. “I found out what he really was.”
“What?” Qin Yuanfeng also leaned a little closer, curiosity flashed in his eyes.
Madam Luo narrowed her eyes as a cold gush of wind moved past them.”A ghost.”
