THE HEIR'S REVENGE

chapter 68

Mrs. Park was really in the kitchen when we got downstairs and I was glad about that.

When she saw Emma, she was surprised. She glanced at me but looked away quietly. She was a quiet woman who always had questions but chose not to ask so she doesn't sound intrusive.

"Mrs Park, could you please make something for lunch?" I asked.

"Of course Sir," she said and immediately started moving around the kitchen with her usual efficiency. She had worked here even before I lived here and she had proved that she was one of the few people I could trust.

Emma sat down at the kitchen table like she owned the place. She looked around the kitchen with curious eyes. I nodded and sat across from her.

I didn't sit close to her but across from her. I had a reason for that.

“Your kitchen is beautiful.” She said. “Id never come inside before.”

I had wanted us to sit at the dining table but it seems like she prefered the kitchen.

"Thank you," I said.

She must have seen the butterfly garlands through the kitchen kitchen window. "Those are from Lily's party aren't they?"

"Yes," I said.

"She wanted to keep them up?" She seemed interested.

"She decided they were permanent decorations," I said and saw Emma smile at that. It was a genuine smile, I could see.

But I looked away.

"So," I said, keeping my voice casual and easy. "You said there might be more information coming soon about Victoria. What did you mean by that exactly?"

Emma looked at me.

She knew what I was doing. I could see it in her face. She was not stupid. She had never been stupid. That was always the complicated thing about Emma. She was intelligent enough to know when she was being handled.

But she answered anyway.

"Daniel called me two nights ago," she said.

I kept my face completely neutral. "Daniel called you?"

"Yes." She folded her hands on the table. "He is still in custody but apparently they allowed him a phone call and he used it to call me." She paused. "He wanted me to find out how much you know.”

So Daniel was trusting Emma to help him get me but she was here helping me instead. I didn't know if that was supposed to make me happy or sad.

She was betraying someone for me, it only meant she could betray me for someone else.

"And what did you tell him?" I asked.

"I told him I didn't know anything," she said. "Which was mostly true at the time."

"Mostly," I said.

She looked at me steadily. "I told him you seemed confident. That was all."

"That was all?" I was still very much skeptical.

“Yes. I never told him anything about our conversations or the information I shared with you.” She glared at me. “I know you don't believe me but that was exactly what happened.”

I looked at her for a moment.

Then I nodded slowly and said nothing.

Mrs Park put a plate of rice and stew on the table between us with two bowls. She also put a jug of cold water and two cups. She did all of this quietly and efficiently and then went to the other side of the kitchen to continue what she was doing.

Emma looked at the food.

"This smells amazing," she said.

"Mrs Park is an excellent cook," I said.

I had expected Emma to wait so that Mrs. Pack would serve her but she stood up and served herself and for a while, the two of us sat in silence. I wasn't very hungry but I had to keep her company.

"I remember the first time," Emma said after a while, "that time you cooked for me. That's the first time."

I remembered.

I did not say that I remembered.

"You made foreign rice just like this one," she said. "It was the best jollof rice I had ever eaten.”

It was true. I had cooked for her and she had appreciated it so much that it made me feel so great about myself.

"Emma," I said, keeping my voice gentle but firm.

She looked up.

"Let us keep this simple," I said. "You have information that helps me. I appreciate that and I am grateful for it. But I need you to understand that this is what this is. It is not more than that."

She looked at me for a long moment.

I didn't want to hurt her but I still had to make it clear to her that I wasn't doing this for her.

"I know," she said quietly.

"Good," I said.

"I just wanted to say something about the jollof rice," she said. "That is all. I am not trying to start anything."

"Okay," I said.

She nodded and went back to eating. We ate in a silence that felt a bit uncomfortable at first but it got better.

Then suddenly I heard small feet on the stairs. It was Lily. Her small feet were coming down the stairs. She wore a red dress and was carrying her rabbit as usual.

It was obvious she had been sleeping.

She looked at me. Then she looked at Emma.

Her eyes went slightly wide.

"Aunt Emma is here," she said. She wasn't asking a question.

"Yes," I said.

Lily looked at Emma again. Emma was already smiling at her with genuine warmth. The kind of warmth that Lily could always detect as real because Lily had an instinct for that.

This was one of the things I was trying to avoid too.

"Hello Lily," Emma said.

"Hello," Lily said. She walked into the kitchen and went to Mrs Park first. "Can I have some?" she asked, looking at the food.

"Of course," Mrs Park said and immediately started serving her a small bowl. Lily brought her bowl to the table and sat down beside Emma.

I watched this happen and said nothing.

"Your hair is flat on one side," Emma said to her gently.

Lily touched her hair. "I was sleeping," she said.

"Do you want me to fix it?" Emma asked.

Lily thought about this seriously for a moment. Then she handed Emma her rabbit to hold and turned around on her chair so Emma could reach her hair.

I looked at this scene happening in my kitchen and felt something complicated move through my chest.

Emma fixed Lily's hair carefully. I watched her do it. She was quite relaxed as she did it like she was a pro in this.

"Done," she said.

Lily turned back around and took her rabbit back.

"Thank you," she said simply and started eating her food.