CHAPTER 125: AN EXCUSE TO BRING HER BACK

"When?" Theo’s voice cut sharp, his gaze sweeping over the line of maids he had summoned before him. "When did she come?"

The silence was suffocating. None dared to speak, and Lily was still in her place, her face pale. Her fingers fidgeted nervously with her apron, and her eyes avoided his.

His eyes landed on Lily. "You... Tell me."

Lily’s hands twisted together in front of her apron, her knuckles white. But she kept her head bowed, lips pressed tightly shut. Not a word left her.

"Tell me!" Theo’s tone deepened, sharper, demanding.

Still, Lily said nothing. Her silence was louder than any answer could have been, a wall he couldn’t break through.

’Don’t tell him anything. Don’t worry, he won’t find anything. Just do it like this...’ Daisy’s voice echoed in her mind.

It had only been a week ago when Daisy called her. She had asked politely, almost pleading... if Lily could help retrieve a cute pink pouch she had left behind. Lily remembered her words clearly, ’Theo must have brought it back from the boutique. I’m sure of it. The same day George dragged me out.’

So Lily followed the routine she always did, cleaning the room every morning. This time, she slipped in Daisy’s trick... she nudged the pouch toward the dustbin as if by accident, then went on with her usual tidying, gathering trash from every bin in the room. That way, if anyone checked the CCTV, it would just look like part of her work.

Now, standing before Theo, her throat tightened. She gulped.

"I’m sorry, sir. But I really didn’t know when Madam came. Is there any...thing that I could help with?"

"This card!" Theo’s voice cracked as he swayed the black card inches from her face. "How did she get this card back? I remember it clearly, it was inside her small pouch!"

He looked nothing like himself. Though cold by nature, he had never been this messy, this... unhinged, as if he were losing his grip right in front of her.

Lily shook her head quickly. "I—I really didn’t know, sir."

Theo’s gaze only grew sharper, cutting into her. "Should I check the CCTV then? Who cleans my room every day?!" His voice thundered through the hall, the fury tightening his jaw until it ached.

That card, just one of Daisy’s lingering belongings. He had clung to it, convincing himself that one day she might return for it, for all of them, using them as an excuse to come back to him. But now? Now she had sent him a divorce letter. How was he supposed to face her when she wanted nothing more than to sever every tie?

He saw how Lily was trembling, her hands clutching tight on her uniform as if it were the only thing keeping her steady.

Theo dragged a hand down his face, trying to steady the storm inside him, but his grip only tightened around the black card. His voice dropped, raw and uneven. "If you didn’t know... then who does? Who the hell let her walk in here without my permission?"

Theo’s chest heaved, his breaths uneven. He could see her shrinking back, but he couldn’t stop himself, the question had already clawed its way out. The thought of Daisy slipping past him, choosing to come and go as she pleased, while he stood here powerless, it burned.

His knuckles whitened around the card. "Those things were supposed to bring her back to me," he muttered, almost to himself, his voice breaking on the edges. "Not shove me further away. I carefully put the pouch inside the dressing room..." his voice started to soften, "But now it’s gone."

"Pouch bag, sir? Is it pink in co—color, sir?" Lily took the opportunity, " but I think it was inside the dustbin the other day, so I threw it out... I—I really didn’t know..." Despite being shaken with fear, she tried her best to act, to save herself.

Theo froze. For a second, silence pressed between them, heavier than his shouts had been. Slowly, he lifted his eyes to her, and Lily felt her knees weaken under that look.

"You..." his voice was dangerously quiet now, stripped of the earlier rage. "You threw it out?" Each word dripped with disbelief, with something darker simmering underneath.

Lily swallowed hard, her palms damp, her nails digging into her apron. "I really thought—it was thrown out, sir. I didn’t mean..."

Before Theo’s hand snapping up, almost feeling like he wanted to choke Lily, Dally rushed in between them and bowed ninety degrees, "We are deeply apologising, sir!"

"We are deeply apologising, sir!" Every one of them followed.

Dally, with her lips trembling trying to calm her voice, "I will try my best to retrieve back the bag and return—"

Theo’s laugh was hollow, sharp, the kind that didn’t belong to humor at all. His shoulders shook with it, but his eyes were wild. "Do you people take me for a fool?" he hissed, his laughter dying into a snarl. "You think I don’t know when I’m being lied to?"

Dally’s bow deepened, her forehead nearly touching the floor. "N-no, sir. We would never—"

"Then why," Theo cut her off, his tone like broken glass, "does every word out of your mouth sound like a lousy excuse?"

Lily’s breath caught. Her knees buckled, but she forced herself to remain upright, even as tears pricked her eyes. Her throat tightened, no words coming out of her mouth. She swore this was the first time she had ever seen that kind of rage in her boss’ eyes.

Theo closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. "Leave! Everyone, leave!"

The command cracked like a whip. For a heartbeat, no one moved, just the sound of shallow breathing and the trembling of shoes against marble. Then, as if a dam had broken, the staff stumbled over one another in their rush for the door, muttering apologies as they bowed their way out.

Lily lingered a second too long, frozen by the weight of his fury. Theo’s head snapped in her direction, and that was enough to make fled, her footsteps echoing down the hall until silence swallowed the room again.

Theo stood there, alone in the empty hall, the silence pressing down heavier than any scream. Suddenly letting out a weak sigh, he pressed his palm over his forehead. "Damn it... this isn’t what I wanted. Not like this... not like this..."