Chapter 121. Where are you?
Lilly Bradley
And there was Jackson, making Georgina and Mr. Paige confess what they had done against me.
"Your name is finally cleared," my mother said, stroking my hand. My father was on the other side, and Leah was in the other chair. We had seen everything and I finally felt a great sense of relief. "He's a good man..." my mother whispered, looking at the TV in front of us. "He went to great lengths to clear your name," she then turned her gaze to me. "Do you still think he has something to do with that woman? Georgina Vans? Do you think he pretended to be with her out of love?" she asked.
"Jackson was playing a role in front of you to get the truth out of her when you unexpectedly went to the building, so it wasn't really a date," I smiled, hearing how my own family wanted me to react.
"Do you want the car keys?" my father asked with a big smile. I nodded.
"Thanks." I got up and went to my room, quickly got ready, and grabbed my phone. My heart raced just thinking about looking for Jackson. On the way, I put on the hands-free and called Jackson while driving straight to the building, but to my surprise, it went straight to voicemail. "Why do you have it off?" I thought about going to his penthouse first and waiting there in case he wasn't there. I parked across the street, wrapped myself well in my coat feeling the cold air hit my face, entered the building, and headed to the reception. There was the same man who had let me in earlier. "Good evening," I greeted and noticed when he tensed.
"Good evening, Miss Bradley."
"Is Mr. Johnson here?" he pressed his lips.
"Mr. Johnson left a little while ago."
"Then I'll wait in his apartment..." he quickly shook his head.
"Mr. Johnson has removed you from the access list, in fact, he has changed the elevator code." Hearing that made my chest tighten. "I'm very sorry."
"It's okay, thank you." I turned towards the exit, my hand slid to my stomach, I tried to calm down and not think about the reason without really knowing why he had done it. "Don't think about anything, Lilly. Don't make up stories in your head." I pushed the door open to leave the building and stood on the sidewalk, watching people pass by and cars come and go.
"Miss Bradley?" I heard someone call me. When I turned to look for the voice, I saw Richard, who seemed surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"
"I..." my lower lip trembled, I didn't have the words at that moment, the receptionist's words had thrown me off. Richard moved closer to me, and I noticed how his face softened. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," I confessed.
"You shouldn't have..." his words hit me deep inside. "Because Mr. Johnson went to your house to find you, he left about ten minutes ago in his Bentley." My heart raced.
"To my house? Why?" I shook my head. "One question, why is his phone off? I've been trying to call but it goes straight to voicemail."
"Since the press conference, his phone hasn't stopped ringing, so he decided to turn it off and go find you." I was about to ask him something else but stopped. "You can ask." I was surprised he could read me so clearly, and he smiled at my reaction.
"Why did he go to find me?" Richard pressed his lips into a thin line, looked around, and then let out a sigh, then he looked at me intently.
"From the press conference, you must imagine the reason for what happened in the penthouse when you arrived and found Miss Vans," I nodded slowly. "I'll tell you because I know he will never tell you, so I ask for your confidentiality."
"Sure, trust me, I won't say anything to Jackson." He smiled, and then my phone's low battery alert sounded. I cursed internally as it died. "My battery's dead. How will I know if he's coming or going?"
"Don't worry, I'll keep calling him."
"Thanks. I'll head home and wait to see him tomorrow."
"Yes, I'll escort you to your car and we'll talk..." And he did just that. As we arrived, I saw him adjust his coat, the vapor visible as he breathed.
"Jackson had a goal, to unmask those who had involved you. I had been monitoring Mr. Paige for some time, let's say I had a hunch, so I discreetly started watching him. He seemed nervous, like he was hiding something. I informed Jackson, and he ordered me to keep an eye on him. So that morning, Jackson went directly to show him the apartment sales. Jackson was surprised, and the strangest part was that Mr. Paige laid out all the pieces in front of him, something very unusual. I investigated further, and all the clues pointed to you. Jackson was informed, but he wanted to know why you supposedly did it. I knew something was off."
"That's why Jackson came to ask me directly that night at the restaurant."
"That night, we already had the evidence but still thought it was impossible. He didn't believe you were guilty and insisted on a detailed re-examination. So, he hired an external team. Do you remember going outside to take a call?" I nodded. "That was the company confirming what the first review had said. I insisted he say nothing until we got to the bottom of it, but..."
"He was impulsive."
"Yes, those reviews threw him off emotionally. It had been hard for him to open up to anyone outside his family. Then he found you, and everything changed..."
"And he thought I did it because everything pointed to me."
"But he immediately retracted that night. For the first time, I... reprimanded him for jumping to conclusions and saying what he did."
"We both said things in the heat of the moment, and now everything is clearer. Putting myself in his shoes, I don't know if I'd act the same, but... anything can happen."
"And I confess something." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "You changed him for the better. You made him care about someone other than himself." His words touched me. "He took a risk with a plan that might not have worked, but he knew he had to do everything to fix things and clear them up, even if it meant never seeing you again." I wiped the tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Thank you, Richard." I hugged him, catching him by surprise.
"You're welcome... Lilly." I stepped back and wiped my cheeks again.
"Now we just have to wait for..." Richard's phone rang. "It could be him." He searched and found it inside his coat.
"It's him."
"Don't tell him I'm here. Ask where he is, and I'll go to him." Richard nodded and answered.
"Mr. Johnson," he listened for a moment. "Yes, I will. Where are you?" I couldn't hear the response, anxiously waiting to know where he was. "Yes, yes, I'll do that. Maybe her phone died... Sure, right away." Then he hung up.
"Where is he?" Richard was silent for a moment, thinking.
"He asked me to locate his last known location because his calls are going to voicemail."
"And where is that?" My anxiety was growing.
"He's making a stop at the new place for an emergency while I try to find his last location. Depending on what I tell him, he'll look for you."
"What place?" I asked.
"It's a new restaurant opening in a few months... So, what do you want to do?"
"Can you help me with a plan?" He nodded, and I saw excitement on his face. "I want to surprise him, and for that... I need to get to his penthouse."