The Villain's Wife

"They must have already told you about me, right?" Claude said. Or, how would Lily know about what he said to those people? For a few seconds, he narrowed his eyes at her before shifting his gaze to Zhou Jingren as he tried to remember if these two were one of the people watching him that night.

"No. We weren't there." Zhou Jingren immediately answered. "We are new members. So… we don't know most of the stuff in the organization. We just follow what they tell us to do. However… your grandmother is a different thing."

"I can't seem to kill her without knowing the whole truth," Lily added. At this point, she was already sure that Claude was half-convinced that she and Jingren were members of the organization. She decided to keep up the act until the man would tell them everything. "So… the proof… what did you give them?"

"They were old photos of bombing and some assassinations. Some were articles that showed images — look, I didn't check them entirely, alright.i The one that I gave them… were only about five things. Two photos of Lilian meeting Mr. Neeson and another two guys then… one article with that one guy in Russia. He was like… I can't really speak Russian but I believe he was some sort of a politician? I don't know his name or anything like that. The other… should be an Asian. I believe the other two were Korean news articles. Again… I couldn't read them. When they saw it… They voted to kill me right then and there. Throw my body in the ocean and kill my grandmother in her sleep."

"But? You were able to convince them otherwise?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

Lily nodded. These words were enough to cement her previous belief that The Order might have realized that Madam Luo was holding onto something more important than their identities. But what could it be? What could be worth so big that they would let the woman live while risking their identities being exposed? Was it possible that what Madam Luo had was not enough to reveal their names?

"And my grandmother?" Lily said. Narrowing her eyes to the man in front of him, she added. "I know that you know something about my grandmother as well."

Seeing Lily's face turned stern, Claude's face turned serious. He gulped his nonexistent saliva. "She said that Lilian… was already a member of the organization long before she met your grandfather. At first… she said that Lilian was tasked to change the leadership of Luxembourg. Thus, she had seduced your grandfather. But then… she fell in love." He then held his hands in front of him, as if silently telling Lily that he did not believe his grandmother's words. "Please… Please… I know that is unreasonable. There is no way that Lilian would do something like that."

"And… how did she know this?"

"I don't know!" Claude said. "Even I don't believe her. I think — I think she was only planting these thoughts in her head so… I mean, it would make her feel better, right? She had lied so much that she started to believe her own lies." He gave an awkward laugh. At first, he was not planning to mention these nonsensical words to Lily. After all, it just made little to no sense.

However, she also wanted to let Lily see that his grandmother's mind was not sound. She might be pretending to be someone forgetful, but… he always believed that her depression had affected her so much that she had started to believe the lies that she had told herself.

"So… you think that she is only saying this to make herself feel better. And yet… you said that Lilian saved your grandmother. Why would she say something like that to the person who saved her?" Zhou Jingren asked.

"I don't know! Look… I really don't know what happened in the past. I am only… I am only telling you what she told me before. No more, no less."

"So… you only wanted to establish that Madam Luo is not someone in the right mind. So, even if she indeed killed my grandfather… we should just forgive her?"

Claude stared at Lily's face, unable to utter a word. If the organization was indeed here to kill his grandmother… then he really could do nothing to convince them otherwise. The only thing that he could do wad hope that they would not kill him. The thought of dying at such a young age almost immediately made him tear up. He lowered his gaze, his hands balled into tight fists as he thought of the things that he hadn't done yet.

He was only twenty-three. Young and brilliant, his future is still long and winding. Just how did he get involved in this dark organization and conspiracies of the world?

"You know… you are foolish," Lily said, a hint of disgust laced her tone. The smile on her face was long gone. It was replaced with something dark. "So… you called Mr. Neeson to try to convince him not to kill your grandmother while risking your life in the process. Foolish man." Lily said. "These people would spare anyone that could threaten their power. The only reason why they spared you is that… you are just like an ant in their eyes. They could kill you anytime that they want to."

Lily's harsh words made him frown. It was of course true. In front of world leaders, he was nothing. He was like an ant that they could just kill with their eyes close.

"Did you really think that they will let you go once your grandmother dies?" Zhou Jingren asked. "The Organization would kill you with their eyes closed and feed your remains to the dogs. And yet, you still dared to inform them that you know about them. What for?" Zhou Jingren asked. "To give your grandmother a few months to live with you?" He snickered. "Do you see us as fools, young man?" He then removed a gun on his hips and put it in front of him.

"Now… now… are you going to tell us what you know? Or?" Zhou Jingren smiled.

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