406 To confront Diego - Part 1

Learning that the guy she had trusted all these years blindly was the one who stabbed her heart and wounded it without her knowledge, Lillian's trust in Diego suddenly crestfallen.

Along with the dying phone calls, Lillian finally gained some strength to look at the time. It was long past midnight that her confession became a memory of the past. Lillian exhaled in guilt. She glanced at the passenger seat and saw the phone, continuing its silence and playing dead. The party must have ended a while ago, and that everyone must be leaving already.

Lillian thought of Giselle. She isn't there to send her off reluctantly. Remembering how she wished to stick like glue forever and never leave her side, Lillian caught her head weighing from the tension. She fell on her hand against the steering wheel again, completely feeling crushed by the change of events.

If this was the truth to bear, Lillian wished for better timing. Why must she hear it on the same night she had confessed her love and promised to stay by Giselle's side.

Rather than taking her home, there she was, away and crouched in fear and pain.

Lillian had several things running in her head simultaneously, increasing the ache with every second. It became unbearable and made her incapable of mindful thinking. She pressed hard on the steering wheel and accidentally hit the honk to her own startle. There wasn't any traffic to fight back. However, the alarm helped her stop the flashing images in her head. She leaned away from the steering and sat back, resting in her seat.

Above everything else, the picture of Giselle alone at Shane's party seized her attention. She thought of calling Giselle and explaining why she had to leave abruptly. But there was no reasonable explanation readily available to convince.

Lillian considered driving back to the party and checking if- maybe if Giselle was still waiting for her.

'There was no way she could be waiting!' Lillian thought, assuming how Giselle had already declared about leaving the party early.

Then, she could drive back to check herself, but that slightest possibility of Giselle still waiting for her return crossed Lillian's mind, which put an end to the idea.

Lillian then considered calling someone at the party to inquire about Giselle. She could call Anna or Shane or Diego-

Diego's face popped up to her boiling anger. She immediately dropped his name from the list. It took her a while to calm her mind and focus on the current event. She finally convinced herself to call Shane and ask about Giselle's whereabouts.

###

Lillian dialed Shane right away. The ring went twice and thrice before Shane answered it with vigor. Shane bombarded Lillian with several questions while scolding her parallelly. On the other hand, Lillian had only one question in her mind.

"Did Giselle leave?" she asked.

Shane stopped his barricading interrogation to answer. He shared the news of Giselle stubbornly waiting for her return for a long time and how he had sternly asked her to leave. Before Shane could fill the silence with another personal question, Lillian announced in relief that she would be back after some time. She thanked him for taking care of Giselle in her absence. Upon which, Shane informed Jenna's participation as well. Lillian promised to thank Jenna as well, before cutting the call abruptly.

Shane grunted in losing the chance. He had thousands of questions in his mind, but none of it had any answers. He had sent off everyone, and it was late into the night. Shane felt exhausted. He went back inside, hoping to find Lillian return soon.

Following her call with Shane, Lillian started the car and drove away to meet Diego. She saw him at the party, leaving the place heatedly. Lillian wondered if it connected to her spending time with Giselle. She controlled herself until she reached Diego's apartment and asked him directly.

###

Diego opens the door to Lillian, encountering her surprise visit into such a late night.

"Lillian Grey?"

Seeing him up close, Lillian was bound to lose control of herself, but she held back due to her respect for their long-term friendship. Diego heard her silence and then invited her inside his house.

"What's going on?" Diego asked, sensing from Lillian's late-night visit.

"Nothing. Just-" Lillian replied to pick a spot in the living room to sit down. The more she put restrain on herself, the exaggerated her actions became, hinting when it might lose control.

Diego saw Lillian more into her unusual demeanor. He had left the party after Shane's warning. Having already done the deed, Diego wasn't necessarily feeling to appease Lillian Grey. He didn't question her yet but went to grab a bottle of water to offer to his unanticipated guest. The little goodness left inside him worked as the devil had left him in misery after commanding him down to a wicked path.

As he walked away from her, Lillian uttered.

"Why did you leave the party?" she asked.

Diego paused for a second with a slight jerk before admitting how unwell he had felt all of a sudden.

Lillian followed in awe, "Wow, what a coincidence!"

"I feel the same too!" she added and continued to add more.

"Guess that's our friendship for nothing!"

Her odd reaction with hidden intentions threw Diego into a state of bafflement. He returned with a bottle of water for his guest and handed it over to her. Lillian refused to receive anything from him anymore. She wasn't in the mood to entertain his guest appealing. Seeing her act distant provoked Diego. He put the bottle on the table and walked away to calm himself down from reacting. He can't have himself blow his cover after all these years. He knew his anger was getting worse every day. He can't destroy the reputation he had built over the years. The image of being someone Lillian trusted and the fact that she visited this late meant she must have a need for him. This presumed expectation encouraged him to be more cautious of his temper. He returned shortly.

"Oh, really? What happened?" Diego casually inquired.

"You tell me?" Lillian returned. The water was still untouched at the same spot he had put down.

Diego couldn't comprehend her actions. He pretended to chuckle and continued to remain unphased by her strange antics.

"What's going on with you?" he asked with another pretended chuckle.

Yet, Lillian refused to respond. She continued to stare him down. Her gaze was tranquil yet packed a depth of emotions behind them that Diego simply couldn't understand.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Diego added another question to the silent judging.

After being [under] the object of her scrutiny, Diego was getting more impatient from being treated as such.

"You're creeping me out, Lillian!" he noted under her spectacle.

"Creeping? Not impressed?"

Her jinxed words no longer intimidated him, for his gaze darkened from the choice of her words.

"What? Impressing- are you drunk?" he stood up from his seat, walking away from her sight.

"Drunk? No. I'm clear as water. What about you? Are you mad suddenly?" Lillian responded haughtily.

Diego turned to look at her in a trance. All he could see in that smug face of Lillian's was her adamant struggles to rip his mask, breaking them into pieces right in front of her. Her behavior seems to point knives at his calm composure.

"What's going on?" he asked seriously.

"Finally, I have your serious attention!"

Seeing her read him so easily angered Diego even more. Ever since catching Lillian with Giselle at the party, Diego's rage became more visible, and his newfound anger for her only got stronger.

"What do you want?"

"Whatever you hid from me all this time?"

"What do you mean- I never hid anything from you-"

"Let's stop pretending and making me look like a fool. I'm sure you know very well what's I'm hinting."

Diego refused to believe in Lillian's words and continued to remain still.

"Diego, I want to hear from you. So, tell me-"

Unsure of what she's hinting at, Diego's state of trance persisted to a rising dread. And he starts to get scared of his crimes finally.

"I have no clue on what's you're implying, but if you are here to play around, do it some other time. I'm tired already-"

"I'm hinting about Giselle!" Lillian interrupted.

Diego halted. His fears slowly begin to make sense of Lillian's conjecture.

"What? It's not the first time you hear me say her name."

"What's going on with you? What are you here for?" Diego exclaimed in disbelief.

"I told you- The truth. The secret you're hiding from me," Lillian demanded.

"I- I have no secrets from you. You know I tell you everything." Diego protested, playing safe with the friendship card.

"Uh- ah, no, you haven't told me what you did to Giselle behind me back."

Diego froze upon Lillian's persistence.

"Am I reminding some old memories? Like from when we were rowdy teenagers?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"How about what you did to Giselle after knowing that I was going to propose to her the weekend?"

Diego broke into cold sweats, with the hot pursuit making him uncomfortable.

"Is your memory still hazed, or need I add more in detail?" Lillian teased him calmly.

Frankly, she was getting a little impatient from dragging it all around. The frustration she had felt back in the car could have easily attacked Diego, but seeing him in person made Lillian act differently. She wished Diego could own up to his mistakes sooner. If not, she won't know what she might end up doing.

"How- who told you? Giselle?"

"No one."

Diego's eyes wavered from worrying if she was playing or being real.

"Go home, Lillian. I think you're drunk."

"Diego!" Lillian raised her voice from losing her sanity.

"I asked what you did to Giselle after knowing that I was going to propose to her.

Did you really blackmail her to leave me?"

"Yes." Diego finally answered, admitting to his act.