Chapter 12

She hoped that meant yes.

Liliana was jolted awake on Saturday morning by her phone ringing. She answered without looking. "Hello?"

"Liliana, it's Stoddard. I'm outside your house. I made some soup for you and Cedric."

The familiar voice of Cedric's father sent a shock through her. It was Stoddard Forrest.

"Dad, you shouldn't have come all this way! We were planning on coming over tonight," she said, scrambling out of bed, her mind racing. Saturday was always family dinner at the Forrest estate.

Stoddard chuckled warmly. "Your mother and I have a gala to attend this evening, and your grandmother is out of town, so we're canceling dinner. I made the soup this morning and didn't want it to go to waste."

"Oh, well, I stepped out early this morning. Could you just leave it by the door?" she lied, her voice trembling as she rushed to get dressed. Cedric was nothing like his father. Stoddard was kind and gentle, a stark contrast to Cedric's cold, aloof mother.

"Of course. I also have a file for Cedric. Make sure you get it to him at the office. And tell him to take care of himself. You too, dear. It must be tiring looking after him."

Stoddard was always fussing over Cedric's health, and he had always been wonderfully kind to her. The entire Forrest family had. The thought of the impending divorce filled her with a profound sadness.

Hearing she had to go to Zephyr Group made her throat tighten. The image of Cedric and Sylvia together was still painfully fresh. But if she refused, the Forrests would know something was wrong.

"Liliana, are you still there?" Stoddard asked when she didn't respond.

"Yes, Dad, I'm here. I'll head home right now and take everything to his office."

Stoddard paused. "What were you doing out so early? Did something happen? Was Cedric not with you?"

"Oh, just... helping a friend with something. He's so busy with work, I didn't want to bother him."

She hadn't expected him to be so perceptive. But his next question caught her completely off guard. "Your car is in the driveway. How did you leave?"

Liliana swallowed hard. "My friend picked me up."

There was a long silence on the

other end. Finally, Stoddard saidet

"Alright, then. Don't worry! I was just asking. I wanted to make sure

thing was okay."

"Everything's fine," she said, breathing a sigh of relief as she hung up.

She quickly got dressed and took a

taxi to the villa she had shared with Cedric. She grabbed the food container and the file from the

doorstep and headed straight for

Zephyr Group.

"Are you the housekeeper there, miss?" the taxi driver asked, eyeing the container.

"Something like that," she replied with a self-mocking smile.

The car she used to drive was sitting

in the driveway, already covered in a thin layer of dust. Cedric would rather let i rot than let her have it In his eyes, she probably ranked lower than a housekeeper.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Zephyr Group headquarters.