Chapter 4 THE BURIAL

(5 Years Ago)

"We are here, ma'am," the calm voice of the driver brought Lilian back from her thoughts.

She sat in the car for a while, looking at the clouded sky as it drizzled down. She took her umbrella and stepped out of the car, her black gown falling to her knees.

Her once vibrant hazel eyes were now dull, and her face was swollen, showing that she had been crying all along. Her father, Mr. Hartley, was dead, and it all still feels so unreal to her. She wiped her face with her handkerchief and, with determination not to seem weak, she walked down to the venue.

With the umbrella over her head, she started walking down to the ground where her father was to be buried. She could hear the whispers of people as she walked, but paid them no attention.

Then, she felt someone hold onto her shoulder from behind, and without having to look back, she knew it was her twin. Lily Hartley is a tall woman with her beautiful blonde hair falling on her shoulders. Although she was dressed in black, one would think she was attending a party rather than her father's burial.

Her blue eyes had no emotions in them, making her unreadable to the people surrounding her. "I still can't believe Father is dead", Lillian said with a shaky voice.

"I can't believe it too, but I know he is in a better place now, watching over us", Lily replied with a calm voice. No one repeated a word till the Priest started the burial with prayers. All through the burial program, Lillian was lost in thoughts, reminiscing about her past with her father.

Of the twins, she was the closest to her father, so she felt the pain of his death much more than Lily did. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she was going to start another round of tears.

They both said their final words to their father before he was lowered into the ground and buried. The burial was over, their father had been buried, and all they had now were the memories they shared when he was alive. Many people came to express their condolences and left afterwards.

Soon, the sisters were alone, and they sat in a comfortable silence. They stayed like that for a while before Lillian broke the silence, "If only I didn't allow Dad go out for the business meeting that evening, if only I had been adamant about him staying with us and not going anywhere, maybe he will still be alive today", tears trail down Lillian's eyes, all the tears she could not shed during the ceremony-trying to be strong because of the people present started falling freely from her eyes.

"Lilian, you shouldn't blame yourself; no one knew he was going to get into an accident on the way. You can't keep taking the blame for something that you didn't do", Lily uttered with a hint of irritation in her voice, but she was careful not to make it obvious to her twin.

"Why is she always so extreme with her emotions? Hello, you are not the only one who lost her father; I did too. So, stop all this pretence and get your acts together", Lily pictured herself saying these things to Lilian, but she dared not. She had always portrayed herself to be the perfect twin, who cares for her lovely sister; she wasn't going to ruin it all now.

"Stop crying, Lee, everything will be fine, trust me", Lily said with a soothing voice. Lilian nods and wipes up her face with her handkerchief. There was an awkward silence for a while.

"You know what, I have an idea. Why don't I take you somewhere nice, just to get your mind off things?" Lily said with a bit of enthusiasm.

Lilian sniffed and asked, "And where can that be?".

"I know a perfect place", Lily retorted.

Lilian called her driver to inform him to take her car home as she would be riding with her sister. They both walked out of the cemetery, entered Lily's car, and drove off. If only Lilian had known, she wouldn't have gone with her sister that night.

**************

As the car drove into the compound with a magnificent skyscraper building situated right in the middle of it, with the inscription, Caldwell Industries, Grayson Caldwell stepped out of the car, dressed in a fitted suit, making him look taller than he already was; his black shiny hair brushed back, making him look extremely ravishing.

He entered the building and walked straight to his office, paying little attention to the people greeting him. As soon as he entered and sat in his chair, he called his PA through the intercom and said coldly, "Come into my office now."

Percy stepped into the office with a solemn look on her face, "You called me sir", she said.

"What is my schedule for today?" he replied coldly, and Percy stated every one of his appointments, the time he was going to have each.

"Cancel my 5 pm appointment, I have somewhere important to go by then", he informed without looking up from his computer.

"But, sir, the appointment is with your uncle; you have never cancelled any meeting with him," she noted, confused.

"Just do as I say," he insisted. Percy nodded and walked out of his office. He then picked up his phone from the office table and dialed a number.

Lily's voice could be heard when the call went through, "Hey", she said with a low voice.

"Hi, how's it going? I am sorry I couldn't make it down, work is quite hectic today," he spoke apologetically.

"It's fine, it's almost over anyway", she said disinterested.

"Are we still on for tonight?" he questioned skeptically.

She froze for a second before replying, "Yeah sure".

"Alright then," he responded with a smile on his face.

"Babe, I have to go, we will see later, yeah?" Lily said in a hurry and ended the call.

Although happy, Grayson was empty inside. Their relationship wasn't how it used to be, and he couldn't seem to understand why. At least he was going to see her later on; he would definitely make things right.

He continued his work and attended his meetings before he went home to prepare for his date with Lily.

***************

Lilian and Lily entered the bar and walked straight to the counter. A husky blonde guy attended to them and asked for their order. Lilian saw the exchange of looks that happened between the bar attendant and her twin, but decided not to pay attention to it; she was too sad to care anyway.

"The usual, please", Lily replied.

************

Lilian woke up with an intense headache, only to see that she was in an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar man in bed with her. "Oh my God, what have I done!!!" she shouted in horror, and it was at that moment that Lily entered the room.