"Ms. Lillian, I swear I can manage to do both work at the same time. Please, let me accompany you," Rei pleaded.
"You have nothing to worry about, Rei-chan. I'm only going for a vacation after my travels. I hadn't had the time to rest for some time, so I would take this opportunity to rest a bit," Lillian assured Rei.
"Is that so? Are you truly not going anywhere dangerous?" Rei asked again with worry etched on her face.
"I'm not. I think there's nothing so dangerous about where I am heading. I might even be bored at times when my work is done. But the signal might be a problem, so I might only contact you when I can go somewhere with proper connectivity," Lillian said.
Of course, the truth was, she would be turning off all her gadgets. Lillian lied to assure Rei nothing was amiss.
"It sounds like an isolated island or mountain," Rei was visibly suspicious.
"Haha. Not really. But as long as you are here, taking care of my work for me, I have nothing to worry about. So, you don't have to overthink things. Just do your job, and I will have a better time. Alright?"
"Understood. In case of emergencies, please contact me immediately. I will do my best to help or send help," Rei promised.
"Yes. Thank you!" Lillian sighed in relief.
It made her happy that Rei was worried about her.
However, Lillian would rather not involve other people in her problems concerning her husband. If a life was to be ruined, hers was enough. She did not have to drag people into it. She chose to marry Leo and accept his money, so she had to go through with it to the end.
With Rei in charge of all her business ventures, Lillian was assured that even if she was gone for a month or more, she would not suddenly go bankrupt.
She then focused on her plan to hide.
Lillian cleared any sign that she was home that day. She activated the security features Rei insisted be set up after this house was built, and locked up.
She brought only one suitcase and a sling bag for valuables. And she only brought clothes she had never worn before, and even changed her perfume.
Even her wedding ring was not on her finger, not that she wore it all the time anyway. Because their marriage was so sudden, only she and her husband knew that she was already married.
In truth, Lillian only wore their ring up to the day she parted with her husband.
It was because she did not know how to explain that she had suddenly married a man she had just met a month ago.
Well, no one could blame her. Only someone holy would say no to a deal like that. And she wasn't one.
Lillian was rather honest with her desires. Probably, due to never having what she wanted for the first 25 years of her life. Back then, she had only learned recently to also grant her personal wishes sometimes and Leo's offer was too tempting to decline.
Knowing that using her car might expose her location, Lillian hailed a cab instead. She went to purchase necessary items from several shops, such as supplies, gloves, and even included hair dye, wigs, and contact lenses.
She wore disguises in every shop she went to and only used cash. Thankfully, she had hidden a stash of cash at her home for emergency purposes.
Lillian then went to a hotel owned by someone she knew. She had an entire floor booked for her, but it was not reserved under her name so that she would not be tracked.
It was kind of scary for Lillian to stay on an entire floor by herself, but it felt safer.
If she did not have the entire floor booked, if one of her husband's enemies discovered her whereabouts, they might book a room beside hers, and she would not even know. Thus, she opted for the whole floor.
Other people might think she was just being paranoid. And she may indeed be paranoid and delusional.
However, Lillian had read too many novels about things regarding her current situation, and it was better safe than sorry.
Instead of waiting for the danger to catch her by surprise, she would at least try to keep herself safe and survive what was to come.
She had always been the type who prepared in advance and took precautions when she thought it was necessary. She felt like this was one of those times she must apply it.
Further, she still had to confirm whether her husband was truly dead or alive somewhere.
Surely, his parents would keep looking for him. And she prayed to all the gods she knew for his safety and that he would be found by trustworthy people before his enemy did.
***
Three days had passed, and her husband was still declared missing.
Lillian watched the news nervously every day in hopes of something positive.
The forest fire had been put out, and the remains of the plane crash had been searched repeatedly, but no survivors or bodies were found. They only found burned pieces of clothing.
The representative of Leo's company had turned visibly pale when remnants of clothing were shown to them, and they recognized a partially burnt necktie as the one that Leo wore when he departed with his entourage.
The representative of the Zhao Group quickly responded, though, that it did not mean their new Chairman was dead.
Lillian sighed deeply. Of course, the Zhao Group representative would deny it.
If they admitted their new Chairman was dead, their investors may pull out, and there may be fights and chaos about who would be the next to lead the group.
There were already a lot of rumors about the Zhao Group being on alert all the time, and their employees were tense and nervous about what changes might happen in case the Chairman had indeed perished.
All the rumors she heard were already expecting the worst.
Lillian held her head. It was hurting due to anxiety and lack of sleep.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she thought about what was going on and considered the possibility.
With news like this, it was highly likely that her husband was dead.
Perhaps out of desperation to know what was truly going on and one last hopeful act wishing he was fine, Lillian turned on the phone he had given her three years ago after she signed the deal with him.
Leo had strictly instructed her that she could only contact him using this phone due to its security features.
Lillian took a deep breath as she sent him a message for the first time in while.