Page 47 of Lily, Unwritten

Sod this. I grabbed it and carefully opened the sealed edge. A few sheets of paper stapled together, and a micro sim card were inside. The papers seemed to detail text messages from around the time Holly and Kye’s baby would have been born. I recognised Holly’s number right away, but the number for Kye was different to the one I’d seen on all our paperwork.

I tucked my feet up on the couch and began to read as I drank my precious wine.

It’s your baby Kye, I can’t believe you’re questioning me

We were together once; you could have been with a different guy every night that week

But I wasn’t! And I find that very offensive. I’ll get a DNA test as soon as the baby is born. Will just need a cheek swab from you

I’m not interested. I don’t believe you. I’m having trials for Man City soon, you know this, you’re just seeing pound signs

That is not true, and I didn’t know. I just want the baby to know its dad and be secure

Don’t contact me again

Wow, that was brutal of him. This proved he did know about the baby; his counter claim would be wiped out, and he’d be left with the costs. Plus, Holly would almost certainly win the maintenance aspect, so her and the little one would be secure, and Luke would get paid.

I let the papers drop to the floor as I blew out a long sigh and rested my head on the back of the couch. Of all the envelopes to have picked up, maybe this was fate? Kye must have posted this to Anna to be destroyed, something that could ruin her career if found out, it was an absolute abuse of her position, but she was exactly the type of person to cross that line, especially when a millionaire footballer was involved.

I could be in so much trouble for interfering in a legal case, too. But then… what was there to link me to this? No proof at all. It hadn’t been signed for, just sent in the normal post, which was pretty stupid of Kye. Plus, from reading those messages, he was not a nice man; he didn’t deserve to win this case over Holly.

I lay on the sofa, drinking and pondering for a good hour. In all honesty, it was a relief to think about something other than Zack. Before I could change my mind, I printed out the address of Adamson Hughes and stuck it onto a clean envelope – not wanting to risk my handwriting being recognised. Then after locating a couple of screwed up stamps at the bottom of my purse, I sealed the envelope up and traipsed back outside, determined to do this before I changed my mind. Holly deserved this, Luke deserved this, Kye deserved this, and most of all, bloody Anna deserved this. What I’d give to see her face when the whole case fell apart.

I walked back to the corner shop, which had a tall, red post box standing proud outside. I closed my eyes as I let the envelope drop into the post box, sealing one more dubious decision in my life.

Sixteen

Cassie hugged me; her hands rubbed my back in circular motions, I held on tight before eventually pulling back, at which point she headed to the car with the last bag. “Take all the time you need, sweetheart,” she said fondly as she looked around, saying her own goodbye to what had been such a happy home.

I looked at the marks on the walls where our photographs had been removed. I looked down at the coffee table, bare except for my keys and my engagement ring. I felt like I should leave a note, but what would it say? What could it say?

I’d tried to explain over and over; Zack wasn’t interested. He couldn’t see past his jealousy and anger, and this time, it didn’t seem to be fading away.

I closed the front door and paused for a moment, assaulted by happy memories which now, sadly, caused brutal pain.

Zack may have been right that it was Luke’s email that had chosen this life for me, but… I loved this life, I loved Zack. I wanted our future. It was gone; everything good was gone.

Cassie stroked stray tears from my cheeks as I slumped down into the leather seats of her car.

“I’m sorry, Lily.”

“I wish you’d never introduced us. I can’t cope with this.” I was heartbroken, not only for losing Zack, but for losing his family, his friends, the life we’d mapped out. I had to learn to grieve for a future that hadn’t even happened yet. I guessed it was similar to Cassie, grieving for babies she hadn’t had the opportunity to carry. Which made me think…

“Cassie, I’m going to do the egg donation. I’ll ring them on Monday,” I said.

“Hey, now’s not the time to make a decision like that.” Cassie’s eyes flicked up and down my face, trying to gauge my mood.

“It is, though, I was going to do it for you. He said no. Now he’s gone, so it’s a yes.” I went to spin my engagement ring around on my finger. The realisation that it was gone hit me harder than ever, it was one more habit to break.

“Are you going to tell Luke about you and Zack?” Cassie asked, shying away from me slightly.

I shook my head. “That would just confirm what Zack thought of me, wouldn’t it? Luke and I… That chance passed.” My whole body hurt. “He’s been through so much himself, and I can’t set him back again now he’s moved on. Plus, it’s Zack I want.”

“And what if Luke would want to know? It’s not just about you; you forget that I’ve lived this whole drama twice, heard it from both sides.”

“Cassie, I don’t want him to know. Just leave him be.”

She glanced at me without a reply. We drove back to the mini mansion in silence, carrying all the boxes and bags into the granny flat when we arrived.

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