Chapter 97: Revelations

James could not believe what he had just heard. How dare she point at him and tell him he was the reason why she changed? It made absolutely no sense to him, but he decided to keep calm and not even argue about it. 

“What are you even trying to say? Exactly? What are you trying to say? What do you even mean? You must be very foolish. I don't want to say this to you, and I don't want to attack you. But that is just the truth. You are so dumb and foolish at the same time. How can you claim that I am the reason why you changed? Meanwhile, you were the one attacking me, pushing me away, trying to find a way just to get me evicted out of this school. Because you were trying to find a connection between me and Isabella, which you finally got, and you began to use it to threaten me. Are you forgetting that you were already bad right from the start? You were just pretending and concealing your real character. And now, due to anger, you are pouring it out. And what do you expect me to do? To just happily hug you and jump up in excitement just because of you? You tried to get rid of Isabella, and then you decided to change your mind at that minute while still almost killing her?” James said to Lily as Lily began to laugh. 

“What exactly are you even insinuating at? What do you mean? Because it makes no sense to me at all. Yes, I would not say anything otherwise, and yes, I would not even claim that I did not want to kill Isabella. But that was then, okay? That was then. I have changed. And the only reason why I wanted you so badly was because I wanted to be loved just as much as you loved her. But you never gave me that chance. You never gave me that opportunity. You continued to push me away like I was a nobody. And then I got angry, and I wanted to show you that I could do better than Isabella. If it was the wishes that satisfied you, I could do double of it. If it was her beauty, I am way more beautiful than her, and you know it. You know it. I have the style. I have the money. Isabella has none of it.” 

Lily yelled angrily as James immediately began to make a ticking sound with his mouth. 

“That is the thing. You don't have to tell me that you have it. I have to see it myself. I have to see that goodness in you. You don't have it. Yes, Isabella might have places where she is not really as good as you might expect her to be, but she's not as bad, as her mind is just as clean as anything,” James said, but he was not yet done with Lily. 

Yet, as he held to her collar and dragged her even closer to him, they were just a few inches away. At that moment, Lily was already having second thoughts, thinking that maybe James was going to give her a chance or prove to her that he cared about her. 

“I know what you did. I know your secret. Now, I might not tell anybody, but I want you to know. I know that you made Isabella lose all her memories. Now Isabella has no memory of anything. And I know you want to use that to escape prison, but you would not even get that opportunity. Trust me,” James said to Lily as she held her hand tightly in a fist, fueling all her anger, but she was still trying her best to hold it in because she knew what could happen if she tried to pour out her anger. 

She looked at James angrily with such a gaze that even James felt a bit concerned. 

“Why are you staring at me that way? Why exactly are you looking at me that way? Oh, you never expected anyone to find out about your secret. Well, I know. And I am telling you that I know because I know you cannot do anything about it. And if I like, I would go to the police station right now and tell everyone what you did. You know that you'll be accused of murder, accused of so many things, and you might end up spending the next 15 to 20 years in prison. But I decided not to do that. Not because I care about you, but because I'm about to make your life miserable.” 

James said angrily to Lily as she looked at him with a pleading gaze. Now she was not just the one with the upper hand, but instead, she was now the one in his mercy. It felt like she could even go down on her knees to beg him if he wanted her to. 

“Please don't do this to me. Please keep this secret between the both of us. I promise I will do everything you want,” Lily pleaded as James laughed. 

“I want nothing from you,” he yelled and pulled her even closer. 

“Let me tell you something. If Isabella does not get back all her memories within a month, I would make sure that the police hear about this, and you would be confined, and you would be jailed for years. You won't even be able to recognize yourself by the time you get out of prison. That is something I promise you. And just so that you know, I am watching your every move. You are now around my grasp. You make one mistake, and you lose everything. And just so you know it, you also want to use the fact that I had a team with Isabella to threaten me. I already told Alex myself that I love Isabella and I had something to do with her. So you have nothing against me. You have absolutely nothing against me. You just have to follow my orders,” James said to Lily as she still had a pleading gaze. 

She looked around, and she could still see students peeping around. 

“Please, just help me keep this little secret, and I promise I will do everything you want. I did not plan to do it like that. I never knew it would work. I thought the woman was just giving empty promises. That was the reason why I accepted the herbs. I did not know it would work. Please, I don't mind going to check on Isabella. Please just help me keep this between us.” 

Lily continued to plead, and James knew he had no choice. After all, he had given her terms, and she still accepted it.