Lady billionaire's husband

Lilly abruptly stood up, clenching her pearls with her hands trembling, "What did you just say??". 

She began moving towards Linda, who was still overwhelmed with rage to even grasp the effects of her words, "Linda King what is it that you just said??"

Linda turned her head to the confusion and guilt that suddenly darkened Lilly's wrinkled pale face, she sighed, "Uncle didn't do it...I know what you said but he didn't do it...as much as I-" She was silenced by a thud sound as Lilly was suddenly on her knees on the cold marble floor, "What have I done?", she quivered making a worried Joseph rush to her aid, "Joseph...what have I done?", she whimpered,

"Oh honey....oh Lilly, honey...it will be alright..", he cried holding her tightly in his chest.

Linda remained frozen in her position feeling a wide cocktail of emotions and one of them was far too familiar and the worst she could feel at the moment - grief, exactly like she felt the day her parents died. She could no longer compose herself, without thinking and with a sinking feeling in her heart, she blurted out, "So, you truly covered up my parents' death because of uncle? Did you even love my mom? Wasn't she your child too? Did she not deserve-"

Fearing the worst, Joseph warned, "Linda! Stop it!", he could see where this was going, he couldn't afford to see his wife bedridden again, after all, she was never the same after the whole incident and he didn't want her to say things she would regret the following day. He exhaled and iterated more calmly, "Please honey, not tonight...you need to calm down and I don't think your grandmother can handle any more stress..."

Linda turned her attention to him, "What about you, Grandpa? How can you sit and watch...wasn't my mother worthy of your loyalty? You were her parents, and instead of seeking out justice for her, you covered it up. And you thought giving me Global Tech would make up for it? Do you know that by doing that, you put a target on my back? Uncl-", she finally broke down, "Uncle hates my gut because of you? In his head, I stole his livelihood - I am no different from my father...". Her chest tightened the more she thought about it, and her eyes became cloudy with tears threatening to fall, her heart was breaking right in front of them, and she could see they were sorry, but it didn't make anything better. One by one, her tears began streaming, "I wanted a relationship with my uncle for years. I knew I stood no chance because of Global Tech, but I hoped that one day, at least one day...", her knees gave in, and suddenly, she was on the floor with her grandmother, "I stood no chance. Who am I kidding? That man would have never liked me...being born from my father was reason enough..."

Lilly moved closer to cup her face, "Listen, Linda...it was never our intention to put a target on your back. We failed as guardians, we failed as grandparents - I was certainly never mother of the year-", she wiped off her tears, then pulled her in for a warm hug, "I have no excuse, I am ashamed....and I am not asking you to forgive me now,", she pulled her out, "But you are loved...beyond words could explain...and you earned Global Tech - YOU made the company what it is today - no one but you!"

Her grandmother's words were like gas to a fire. She exploded in tears, bawling her eyes out to the point of exhaustion and fever, they led her to her old room. Lilly changed her clothes and cleaned her up before putting her on the bed and waited until her fever went down. As she lay in the big white room decorated in purple, Lilly gently fixed the hair that fell on her face and whispered, "I have wronged you - so much, and I promise to get to the bottom of this -", she placed a warm kiss on her forehead before closing the door behind her.

She found Joseph standing outside, "Thankfully the medication seems to be working, she gave me such a scare", tears began streaming down her face again, "I have never seen her cry so much Joe. I am the one who did that-"

"No Lilly, we....we did that to her-", he said pulling her in his arms, "We did that"

She cried, "What do you mean? You tried warning me, even back then but I thought I knew better and look now....her heart is broken and is all my fault. I did that"

Joseph's phone dinged, "He's here", he said after reading the text

She quickly wiped off her tears, "Okay, that's better. Please go get him"

Joseph kissed her forehead before disappearing only to reappear shortly with Jeremy, "Hi Lilly...I came as soon as I received your call", he said anxiously,

She looked at his shoes and the inside-out sweater and chuckled, "I can see...your shoes". He looked down at his feet to see that he was wearing different shoes and he smiled awkwardly, 'This is embarrassing' he thought.

Lilly's voice got serious, "I called you because Linda kept calling you while she drifted in and out of sleep. Her fever has gone down now...but I think having you closer will make her better- I had the staff prepare a sleeper couch in there for you...please let me know if-"

Seeing her worried face, he took both of her hands, "I am sure she will be fine and thank you for calling me. I will take it from here. You both should get some rest too."

They said goodnight and Lilly went in to give her one more kiss before leaving her granddaughter in Jeremy's hands.

Jeremy took to the side of her bed to inspect her sleeping face thoroughly, "She must have been in pain", he thought, seeing a tear roll down her cheek, "She still crying even in her sleep". He took the cold cloth from her bedside and gently wiped it off, "I promise I will protect you..."

As if sensing his presence, she opened her eyes, although still hazy from the medication, she touched his face and smiled through the tears, "You are here...we have to make him pay. All of them, please help me." and with that, she drifted off again.

Jeremy suspected something may have happened, but now he was sure someone was responsible for her being in this state, and it was time he put on his knight amour, he now had something to protect.