Outside, in the living room, Lily nodded calmly at the woman and gestured her to sit down then also sat opposite.
" What would you like me to serve you, " she asked with a small smile and the woman shook her head.
" No, I'm okay... thank you." She smiled back then sighed inside and continued.
" Are you perhaps... her sister?" she asked with a small smile and Lily nodded with a small smile.
" Thank goodness." The woman sighed in relief then stared at the pretty girl regretfully, wondering how beautiful her sister would also look.
" What is your name," she asked softly with a small smile.
Lily glanced up at her and also smiled back a little and then replied, " My name's Lilian."
" Lilian... what a beautiful name. can I call you Lily?" She asked and Lily slowly nodded.
" Lily, I have come here to speak with your sister. . . however, I'm thankful to meet you here because I feel so ashamed to face her, " the woman started and Lily's smile faltered a bit.
" Please I want you to convey to her, everything I'm going tell you. . . okay?" She added and Lily nodded slowly while biting her lips then heard her continue.
" I'm very happy that my son had finally fallen in love. . . However, there is a girl that he's supposed to marry." The woman sniffed softly and Lily handed her a tissue from the tissue box on the table after watching the tear that had fallen from her eyes.
" We are very indebted to that family. . . my family. due to a terrible incident that happened in the past. "
" Vivian is my niece. . . and the only way for my father to forgive us is if Carl marries her and the poor girl loves him so much."
" I know my son is feeling guilty for what happened. He was traumatized for a whole year... we had to try so many means before he could come back to his senses. " she sobbed silently then continued.
" Please tell your sister to let go of him. . . if he marries Vivian, my family will finally be at peace and I know Carl would eventually fall for her. Vivian's a very decent girl. I know she would take very good care of him."
She slowly stood up then walked to the opposite couch and sat down the held the girl's hands who was now motionless on the couch as her words slowly sank in.
" Tell her to let him go. . . please. I want him to be free from all those regrets. I want my family to finally be at peace." Her sobs intensified and Lily stared at her with an indescribable emotion.
The woman does not seem like she was lying. But what about her sister, a tear streamed down her face and she bit her lips then slowly nodded.
" Thank you, dear. . . please make sure you tell her and also extend my heartfelt apologies. " The woman wiped her tears and stood up then walked out of the apartment with a sigh.
Lily sniffed back her tears while staring down at her intertwined hands. After some minutes She sighed heavily and carefully stood up then slowly walked inside the bedroom.
" Big Sis, " she gasped and looked down at her sister who was sitting on the floor and had her head buried in her laps with both hands wrapped around her legs while her shoulders shook violently.
" Big Sis." Lily knelt down and instantly wrapped her hands around her sister.
" Lily, what do I do." Clara looked up with swollen eyes and hugged her sister back. " I..I l..love Carl. . . I l..love him, " she whispered while her sobs intensified.
She had guessed that what his mother said was related to that baby's incident. ' B..But it wasn't his fault.'
" It's alright... please stop crying, " Lily whispered and hugged her tightly.
Clara nodded and shut her eyes tightly. How could she stop crying? If Carl's parent does not want them to be together__ " Is this over? "
Lily's eyes widened as her cries filled up the whole apartment." Big Sis, please stop. . . you'll hurt yourself. . . stop crying." She couldn't control the tears that had rushed down her eyes and also sobbed with her.
After some minutes, their sobs turned into whimpers and Lily held her up to sit down on the bed.
" Big Sis, you need to take a bath, " she said softly while wiping her sister's tears then walked toward the wardrobe and retrieved a bathrobe.
" Here, " she extended the robe to her and Clara slowly shook her head.
She felt her whole body limp, she couldn't even feel her legs. How could she bath in this condition?
" Please, " Lily pleaded softly then carefully helped her up and walked her toward the bathroom.
She sighed heavily after closing the door and could hear her sister's sobs from inside.
Walking to the bed, she sat down and picked her sister's phone from the bedside table to dial Carl's number.
She tried it several times but it was switched off and another sigh escaped her lips.
_____
Outside the apartment building, Zach turned back to look at his stepmother who was weeping on the backseat and he sighed exasperatedly.
"Mum, just what did you tell her?" He whined and stared into her puffy eyes.
The woman shook her head and sniffed. " Let's go, " she muttered softly and took out a handkerchief from her bag.
Zach's frown deepened and he shook his head then quickly unbuckled his seatbelts.
" Come back here!!!" His stepmother commanded after seeing him open the door.
" Mum,? " Zach groaned and sat back down.
" Son... can you please not tell your brother about this?" She started in a low voice and Zach sighed.
How can he not tell his Big Brother? Too bad he had traveled to see the specialists again and would have probably switched off his phone.
" Please." He heard his stepmother continued and slowly nodded. Even though he wants to tell his brother now, it would be impossible.