The Misguided

Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 12 - Unexpected Encounter

Lilian walked into the coffee shop and sat at a bounded table, and took her laptop out of the tote bag, hoping to get some work done; she had to earn a living somehow. One thing she couldn't think of when she murdered Daniel was the family income. He was the provider of the family, Lilian barely worked, and her blog is just enough to keep food on the table. Daniel's inheritance was nothing but petty pennies, except for a fancy sports car she knew nothing of and will probably be sold in exchange for cash. Lilian isn't a flashy person. She prefers to keep it low-key and cares more about intangible things, the feelings, the memories, the laughter.

The letters stopped coming; at such a convenient time, right after Daniel's death and Camila's confinement. She felt like she needed them; it reminded her to take care of herself through solitude. The coincidental timing couldn't help but make Lilian suspect all of it is connected somehow - the letters, the murder, the resurfacing history unveiling people's true colours.

She was sitting in the coffee shop, but her mind wandered elsewhere, stuck on the conversation with her mother at the funeral a few days ago. Darcie Ambrosio, that's a name stuck with her.

She cleared the blog tab and logged onto Facebook, where she searched "Darcie Ambrosio" on the people/ explore page. She scrolled through the list of users until she saw a profile picture with a blonde woman wearing sunglasses with the same shade of lipstick as she remembered from Daniel's arrest warrant. Her location stated she's in Tanzania, serving a profession as a teacher and child welfare worker, moving approximately 3 years ago when she last went missing.

Lilian reluctantly sent her a friend request - but to her surprise, she accepted it right away, likely due to their 2-hour difference. Lilian opened their direct messages and contemplated what to send. She has many questions, but how can she execute them so it's not creepy or stalkerish?

The loud chime of the push notification made her heart skip a beat. She put on some music and stared at her message for a moment.

"You are Lilian, Daniel's wife, is that right?"

"Yes," Lilian began writing back to her, "I hope this isn't too weird, the fact that I added you."

"No, not at all. I never knew your husband, Daniel, personally. I was shocked too when I found out he served a sentence for my murder."

"How is that possible? I found some of your items in Daniel's room, which were tested to have your fingerprints on them. It was an exact match."

"There are some heinous people in this world, Lilian. Not saying your husband is heinous. But his confession of my murder was simply a distraction for something else."

"As for my fingerprints, it was never officially registered in the US. I was born in Tanzania. My theory is that someone stole my identity, registering their information under mine, and they are likely still alive, breathing- possibly using my identity to get away with things."

"Why were you registered as missing then?"

"That's a long story. I came to the UK with an illegal passport, registered under the name Rose Adams, of some girl from Austria. I came here for a guy I met online and fell madly in love with. But they wouldn't approve my visa, so this is what I came up with. After I went through all hell to be with him, he was nothing as he seemed online, and our relationship quickly became abusive, so I fled the country without a trace - quietly through a fish import boat. The lady who let me on was so kind."

"I'm sorry you went through that. That must've been tough."

"It's alright. I only did it because I knew he would follow me if he found out where I was going. Unfortunately, the justice system wasn't of much help."