Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Renee's POV

“Oh yes. How could anyone forget Peter and his lovely family? May their souls be blessed.” Sasha's voice radiated from the speaker of Alex's phone.

“Mom, Lily's alive” Alex said and Sasha gasped.

“Impossible. We looked for her for years!” She exclaimed, the shock evident in her tone.

“Who- where-”

“She's Cara. Cara Dorothy.” He said and a beat of silence passed.

“Renee's friend? The girl under suspicion?” She asked and I nodded, before realizing she couldn't see us.

“Yes” I said and she sighed.

“What happened to her?! How was she under our noses this entire time?!” She asked and immediately, we filled her in on what Cara had told me.

By the time we were done, Sasha was in disbelief.

“I can't believe my own brother did all these…” she trailed off.

“Poor girl must have been so alone. He killed her family and fed her lies?” she said, sadness sleeping into her tone.

I could tell she felt guilty for everything. After all, Bryan was her brother.

“It's not your fault mom” Alex said and she sighed.

“We need your help to clear things up. Could you tell us what happened back then?” I asked, effectively changing the topic.

“Definitely. Although, I don't know if I would be of help” she said.

“Anything could help, mom. We'll be recording” Alex said.

“Okay” Sasha said, taking a deep breath.

I clicked the record button and waited for her to start.

“I remember your father was sick back then. We heard about the incident back then and since he could barely even move, he asked to help him find Peter's daughter, Lily. The only one that wasn't found at the scene. He wanted her to move into the palace. We contacted the police and they assured us they would do everything in their power. Eventually, we were told she was simply nowhere to be found. Hearing that she came to the palace to request an audience makes no sense, because we were actively looking for her. Anyway, we never gave up. We later hired private investigators to look into it. Then your father died…”Sasha paused.

I looked at Alex and noticed he was trying to hold it together.

I held his hand and scooted closer to him. He smiled sadly.

Sasha cleared her throat before she continued, “Even after his death, the investigation went on for years with no results. It was like Lily was just… erased. Eventually, we had to give up. That's all I remember from this whole thing. Peter was a lovely person. An amazing chef and a loving father. You and Lily were basically best friends when you were little. Growing up, you saw each other less though. School and all that… I just can't believe she was right in front of us this entire time.” She sighed deeply as if relieved and sad at the same time.

“Do you remember anything else from that time?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, like something that has to do with Bryan and Peter maybe” I added.

“Ummm, I don't really-” she started but paused all of a sudden.

“Wait. I do remember something. There was this night, probably a few days before his death, I walked into an argument between Peter and Bryan. I never figured what it was about as it stopped as soon as they noticed me.” She explained and I hummed.

“There's something else. I can't believe I forgot about this.” she said and I sat up.

“The day of his death, Peter was going to tell us something. But his wife called him at that moment and he told us he would tell us later as he had an emergency at home. Later on, your father called him to ask if everything was okay and Peter said yes and that he would tell him everything the next day. And then… he died.” She explained.

“It's pretty obvious what happened here” Alex said and I nodded in agreement.

“Bryan and Peter argued over something and there's a high probability that was what Peter wanted to talk about. But Bryan shut him up and killed his family alongside. He missed Lily because she wasn't home. And then he decided to use her to his advantage.” I explained it from my point of view and Alex hummed in agreement.

“The question now is, what was their argument about? What was Peter going to tell you and dad?” Alex said and I sighed.

“There's only one person who can tell us that” Sasha said and I snapped my eyes shut, because we all knew the answer to that.

“Bryan” she said and Alex and I groaned.

“He's not going to say anything,” I argued.

Sasha hummed thoughtfully.

“Why don't I try?” she asked.

“It's worth a shot,” Alex said and I nodded.

I guess older sisters do have a different way of dealing with their siblings.

“I'll be back tomorrow. Besides talking to Bryan, I need to see Lily immediately.” She said before we said our goodbyes and ended the call.

I sighed and ran a frustrated hand across my face.

“The more we try to uncover stuff, we come across even worse things. He's such a demon.” I said and Alex just sighed.

“I just can't believe Cara is Lily. I can't believe she went through all that” he said and I turned to him.

This definitely hit him differently. I realized how terrible he must have felt.

“It's okay, Alex. It's all good now.” I said as I pulled him into a warm embrace.

He snuggled into my neck and I smiled.

“Wanna go break the news to her with me?” I asked and he froze, before he relaxed again.

“Yeah. I should be there” he said and I nodded in agreement.

As we walked to the investigation building, I could feel his nerves building up, so I held his hand tightly. Only then did he relax.

After exchanging pleasantries, Detective Ben led us to the room and I turned the door open.

I stepped in and Cara's eyes lit up. She immediately blinked it off.

“Two visits in a day? To what do I owe-” she paused as soon as she saw Alex step in behind me.

“What the hell is he doing here?!” She asked, anger evident in her voice.

The look on her f

ace was filled with hate and at that moment, it scared me just how far manipulation could go.