CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

"what brings you here?" Cynthia asked Mr. Black.
"Are you still keeping malice with Mr. King? I don't blame you though"
"I'm not keeping malice with Mr. Ki... I mean Leonardo. I buried the hatchet long ago, once I realized that he wasn't to blame"
" You don't need to lie to me. He was your husband, you surely feel at least a little bit of hate for Mr. King"
" It doesn't matter anymore, he made a foolish decision and he paid for it with his life. It wasn't Leo's fault, I know that now"
" Then why haven't you accepted his invitation?"
" I'm not ready to face him yet, not after all these years have already passed by"
" Well sooner or later you are going to have to"
" I know. How is he doing? "
" He is still breathing and he is married"
" Really? My baby boy has finally moved on. Who is she? "
" What do you mean by move on? " Of course, Mr. Black already knew what she was talking about, but he needed more information than what he had gathered.
"When Lia died, she was his childhood friend. Anyways when she died, he became extremely upset. He wouldn't eat, or sleep, he didn't utter a word to anyone. He just sat all day and stared blankly at whatever was in his line of sight. Until he came up with the idea that Lia was still alive and waiting for him to find her. He is completely obsessed with her"
" Why would he do that when he would have obviously seen the body with his very two eyes"
" Everything was burnt down, the only thing recognizable was her father. The other corpse was beyond recognizable, But the autopsy confirmed that it was her body"
Now it was very obvious that someone was trying to hide the fact that Liana was still alive.
The same person that had been trying to find her for years. All that was left for Mr. Black to uncover was why there are two Lia's and who the villain of the story truly is.
And he solemnly believed he will find those answers when he finds Lia's mother.
" When can I meet her?"
" You can meet her as soon as you meet Mr. King"
" Can I at least see a picture of her?"
" Of course" Mr. Black brought out his phone from his pocket and showed Cynthia a picture of Mr.kings wife.
She gasped.
" Lia?"
" I guess you are already familiar with her"
" But how? she...she died"
" Everyone has questions. Even I do, so right now I need you to be completely honest with me and tell me everything you know"
"Is something wrong?" Cynthia asked, still shocked from her little discovery.
" Nothing for you to worry about"
Mr. Black showed her another picture.
" Who is this woman?" Mr. Black asked.
" She is Lia's mother and my best friend"
"What is her name?"
"Diana Smith, Smith was her husband's name. Anderson is her surname actually"
" Where can I find her?"
" I don't know where she currently is, she disappeared years ago. She could even be dead by now"
Well, she better not be, Mr. Black thought.
" When did she disappear?"
"Exactly two weeks before the car crash occurred"
" Was she ever paranoid before she left?"
" No, she was always calm"
" Did she have someone she was scared of?"
" Not that I know of, she always had a strong side to her"
" That will be all, Thanks for your cooperation"
" Ok, but why all these questions though?"
" Just curious, But I will let you know something. The girl in that picture just now, isn't the Lia that you know"
"Who is she then?"
"Let's just say she is someone else with the same face and name"
" Oh my poor baby, he must have been fooled by her looks. They look so much alike. Maybe that's why he married her."
"I will advise that you refrain from voicing out your thoughts, especially not in front of Mr. King. And also don't say anything to anyone about what I had just told you"
" But I can't let my son be blinded by that woman, what if she already knows about our Lia and she is using her face as an advantage"
" That woman knows nothing about the past, you can trust me on that plus it was Mr. king who approached her first"
" But isn't it too much of a coincidence to have the same name and face?" Cynthia wondered.
" I don't believe in coincidences, I will find out the truth Sooner or later. Now if you will excuse me, I will be taking my leave now, please try as much as possible to get along with Mrs. King"
" I understand"
...
" Brother" Liana ran and hugged Mr. Black.
" I missed you so much," Mr. Black said.
" Is brother ready to take me to live with him?"
" Not yet, but very soon brother will find the bad man and bring Liana home"
" No, I don't care about the bad man anymore. I just want to live with you again"
" You know you can't do that, at least not right now"
Liana suddenly pushed Mr. Black away from her.
" You are lying to Liana"
" What do you mean?"
" Brother is a liar, there is no bad man. Brother doesn't want me anymore"
" You know that is not true, brother loves you very much" Mr. Black tried to reason with her.
" Liar" Liana shouted.
" Liana," Mr. Black said as he tried to get closer to her but she only moved away from him.
"Leave me alone, I don't want to see you"
"Liana," Mr. Black said again and tried to touch Liana.
"No, don't touch me. You are the bad man"
"Don't say that"
"The bad man lies and you always Lie"
"Ok I'm sorry, please don't say that to big brother anymore"
"Badman, Badman, Badman..." Liana said repeatedly with her hands covering both ears. She didn't want to listen to what her brother had to say anymore.
"Liana, listen to me"
Liana repeated the words louder this time. She squatted and rocked herself back and forth as she continued talking.
Mr. Black bent down to lift her up, but before he could touch her she let out a curdling scream.
The nanny rushed into the room to see what was wrong.
She saw Liana on her knees uttering the word, badman repeatedly.
" Miss Liana" she called loud enough for Liana to hear her.
Liana ran over to her and hugged her.
Liana pointed her finger at Mr. Black without looking at him.
"I want him to leave, he is a bad man. Liana doesn't like badmen"
Hearing these words come out of Liana's mouth made Mr. Black's heart sink.
The nanny cleared her throat.
"Don't worry I will help you get rid of the badman. Please follow me outside sir"
Mr. Black and the nanny both went outside the room.
"Did you say anything that could make her act that way?" The nanny asked Mr. Black.
"No"
" Hmm, that's new. I have never seen her act that way before" The Nanny confessed.
" She doesn't want to see me anymore," Mr. Black said with a pained look on his face.
"That's not true sir, maybe she just needs a little time to clear her mind" The nanny tried to cheer him up.
" I'm leaving for a while"
" When will you be back?"
" I don't know, but I will communicate with you as often as I can"
" Is there a problem sir?"
" Not for you to worry about, but I need you to be super attentive to your surroundings while I'm away. If anything goes wrong, go to this adress immediately. Can I trust you on that?"
" Of course, you can definitely trust me, I won't let you down"
" I will give you enough money for at least a good amount of time"
" Ok sir"
" When are you leaving?"
" Today"