Lilly Rose return

I believe her

In Groger family's mansion, Adrian dutifully carried out Alfred's instructions. He tried to persuade his wife and her family to accept Lily Rose back into their life once again, but Mr. Tom made his fear of Lily Rose's return abundantly clear. His reason? Revenge for what her mother had done.

Adrian asked them, "Isn't Lily one of us? Wasn't she married to the man she loved? What has changed?" The father and son exchanged uneasy glances, but then Odelia agreed with her husband, saying, "You are right, my dear. Lily is an old and dear friend to us, much closer to me than any other. I don't see why an old friend would turn into an enemy. That's why I'm with you."

Mr. Tom laughed sarcastically at his daughter's words and said, "My dear daughter, it is said that old friends are the most likely to become the fiercest enemies."

Adrian replied, "I've always appreciated your analytical mind and perspective on different matters, but I won't do it this time. Now, I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Good night."

Odelia said, "I'll go with you, my love. Good night, Father." After they left, Tom ordered, "Take off that jacket, boy."

Simon replied, "It's okay, I'm comfortable like this, Father."

Tom said, "I said take it off, now." And he did.

Meanwhile, Harry was still standing in the empty garden, while the tree remained there for hours. He only noticed the sunrise when he heard the birds singing a new symphony among the trees.

The next morning, Mr. George received an email that made him jump out of his seat. He quickly called his partners for an emergency meeting and rushed off to the company, leaving his wife and daughter stunned. At Harry's house, things weren't any better. He had sneaked into the house in the early morning and changed into clean clothes. He prepared the breakfast, then he went to wake up his daughter, who was looking at him spitefully. She wanted him to tell her the truth himself, but when he didn't, she refused to eat and refused to let him take her to school.

At that time, Carol was carrying the good news to Lily. They had their enemies surrounded on all sides, and they would soon have them in their hands.

As George sat in the metting room with Odilia and Alfred, she informed him of her husband's absence that morning, and the discussion turned to the matter of their meeting. "Never have I seen the company so dark as on this day," he began. "Emails are flooding in from all the lenders who have granted us loans. They will not wait any longer. The workers are protesting outside the company gates. I had to sneak in through the back door to avoid them, and our stocks are still plummeting. We are in our worst position yet."

"But didn't you say that you had contacted them all and they agreed to give us a grace period?" Alfred interjected.

"It seems they have changed their minds," George replied. "When I tried to call them today, no one answered. Each one of them concocted a different excuse for their absence."

"We have only one solution left, Mr. Bernard," Odilia said.

"I agree whole heartedly, for the sake of our daughter, Lily," Alfred added.

"But this is a working agreement, and in this place, the father does not acknowledge his son," Odilia reminded them.

"Let us take a deep breath first and then decide. If we don't reach out to Lily, we will surely drown," Alfred reasoned.

"1.5% is the same as 100%," George interjected.

"As a consultant for many companies, I can say from my modest experience that we should take the risk," Alfred offered.

"So what is your final decision, Mr. George?" Odilia asked.

"Remember that if we accept Lily's offer, we will have to make some concessions, all of us," George warned.

Harry arrived at his aunt's house, seething with anger. No one was in sight, not even his beloved cousin whom he longed to see. He began to shout and search for Olivia until she finally emerged before him.

"Here you are. We need to talk," Harry said in a firm voice.

"In regards to what?" Olivia replied coolly.

"What happened on New Year's Eve in 2006. Lilyvtold me what occurred, but I want to hear it from you," Harry demanded.

"Did she tell you everything? Tell me, what did she say?" Olivia inquired.

After Harry relayed everything that Lily had told him, Olivia burst out laughing with a mocking tone. "What a painfully ludicrous story to believe! A girl living in a world of delusions and attempting to drag you into it. To think that she has succeeded when you are standing before me now, in front of your aunt who raised you to hold her accountable."

"But how can everything she said be a delusion? Lily was raped in this house She was accused of stealing here, became pregnant here, and was thrown out of here. How can all of that be a delusion?" Harry argued.

"Is that the complete truth though? Wouldn't it be more plausible and logical for her to have engaged in a secret relationship with someone she brought into her room? And when we discovered it, she hurled false accusations at us. And he himself stole our jewel in collaboration with her. But when things turned sour and their actions were discovered, they returned it. Her mistake was her own doing, and now she is casting her filth upon us only because we didn't ignore her mistakes," Olivia retorted.

"Lily was my girlfriend at that time. It's impossible for her to have done such a thing, especially with someone else. She was a pure and shy girl," Harry said.

"If her account is closer to logic, doesn't she forget what happened? She claims she fell and lost consciousness, and when she woke up, she knew what happened to her. But she was too embarrassed to tell us. Is that a story that can be believed? I've heard it and asked her a thousand questions, but no one knows anything. She is the only one saying all of this because she is the one who invented it," Olivia argued.

"Even if none of you believe her, even if the entire world doesn't believe her, I believe her," Harry declared.

"Do not believe us, your family, but you believe that bitter viper of a woman," Olivia sneered. "You can't bear the thought that she betrayed you, so you are in this state. Wake up from your illusions and don't follow them, they will lead to your destruction.". She continued

Harry: "Yes, I believe her. Lily was raped here on that fateful night."

Olivia: "Do you know what you are saying? You, my niece's son, whom I raised, do you realize what your words can do? You are accusing my husband George, who raised you since you were a child, whom you consider as your own father, the respectable Mr. Groger and his partner Alfred, your close friend Adrian and Odilia's husband, Simon, your future cousin's husband. Do you realize what you are saying?"

Harry: "I know, damn it, I know, but what stops any of them from doing it?"

Olivia: "Nothing, but which one of them is dirty and low enough to do something like that? How can you do this and believe her?"

Harry: "Why did they marry her then?"

Olivia: "To keep her from being alone. It's hard to raise a child alone, especially at her age."

Harry: "What about you guys?"

Olivia: "That's beyond my capability, Harry. You know our family, and if the rumors that Lily speaks of were to spread in the newspapers and among society, our family would collapse. That's why I had to remove her, but I never excluded her as a member of the family. She is the one who isolated herself and ran away."

Harry: "I can't comprehend anything anymore. Too many answers are worse than too many questions by far."

Olivia: "Be sure that what I told you is the whole truth, and I hope you think carefully about removing Lily from your life, because if she stays inside you, she will gradually and slowly pollute your soul."

Harry left the villa like a lifeless body. Millions of thoughts were running through his mind, but he was unable to turn them into words. He passed by his car and didn't get into it. He walked a lot until he found himself sitting on the side of the road in one of the streets. He stayed there for hours thinking about what his aunt said and what Lily said.