Chapter 68 - Our Secret

When Lilia arrived backstage, she saw Jean standing beside Alex. The woman immediately approached her fiancé, smiling broadly.

"How did I look earlier?" Lilia asked excitedly like a child waiting for her parents' praise.

Jean smiled warmly, "Enchanting. You make me not want to show your beauty to others." He said with a serious tone. The man actually wanted to hug his fiancée, but he didn't want to spoil Lilia's appearance in the middle of an important show like this.

Lilia laughed at that, "If you say that, that means my appearance was quite good!"

Before Jean could reply, Alex immediately cut their conversation, "Ahem, how about you guys continue your conversation later? Lilia still has two more clothes to show."

Jean reminded Lilia to meet him as soon as the show was over before he left the backstage with a heavy heart.

*****

The opening show for Milan Fashion Week ended fifteen minutes later.

At the end of the show, Alex went on stage with all the models. He specially took Lilia's arm while she was in her first dress. They all bowed together to the audience.

A sound of loud applause echoed through the room. After tonight, the Van brand would certainly become a legend in the fashion world. 

On the internet, the photo of Alex holding Lilia's arm drew many reactions.

[User1288]: "Lilia Pangestu is so beautiful in that dress! My eyes are dazzled! I'm in love, here!"

[User7002]: "How much bribe did Lilia Pangestu pay?! She doesn't deserve to be the opening model for fashion week!"

[User1120]: "@ User7002, who are you?! Look over there!"

[User4958]: "Geez, Alex and Lilia look like a good match! LOL!"

*****

After the show ended, Lilia refused Alex's invitation to join the closing party which the man held as a thank you. She had been asked to go to the police station to provide information about her kidnapping with Jean.

"Thank you for coming here, Miss Lilia." Said the police who handled the case, "I bet you were very tired after today's incident, so I won't ask too many questions. Can you tell me what happened?"

Lilia frowned, "To be honest, there isn't much I can say about that..." She recalled the events of that day.

*****

Lilia woke up in the dark.

Her head felt heavy from the anesthetic. Her eyes were covered by black cloth and she could not move her arms or legs freely. She moved her head and felt a cold, rough texture on her left cheek. Then she realized that she was lying on the stone floor.

Lilia tried to grope around her, but her hand only touched the hard, solid stone floor surface.

"Where is this? Is Merry alright?" She muttered to herself, "The man who attacked me was dressed in all black and wearing a fedora hat, could it be…the mafia?"

Suddenly Lilia heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She paused and pretended she was still asleep. Her ears caught the sound of the door swinging open along with the sound of conversation.

There were three men talking, but they were speaking fluent Italian. Lilia could only catch a snippet of their conversation with her minimal Italian. One of them nudged Lilia's body with his shoe to confirm that Lilia was really still unconscious before continuing the conversation.

"Work… paid… easy…" Lilia caught those words, 'So they did this because someone hired them?' She thought to herself.

She began to regret not learning more foreign languages ​​when she had the chance.

"Hm? They repeatedly said the word 'Don', didn't that ...?"

As far as Lilia knew, 'Don' was the name title for the boss of a mafia group. She started to feel hopeless because her guess was right.

'Who hired the mafia to kidnap me?'

The faces of people who had a grudge against her like Rina, Sara, Sasha, and so on flashed through Lilia's mind, 'Too many. Rather than thinking that, I better think of a way to escape from here.'

Lilia waited until the sound of the door closed and the three men's conversation faded into the distance. Then she began to stretch and bend her body so that her hands could reach her feet.

'Luckily I wore stilettos today!' Lilia used her pointy heels to cut the rope that tied her hands.

After a long and tiring struggle, Lilia's two hands finally broke free. She opened her blindfold and untied the rope that tied her leg too.

Lilia fumbled into her pocket, but couldn't find her cell phone, "My phone… ah, I gave it to Merry. What time is it now? Can I still come back before the show starts?" Lilia started to worry, but she immediately calmed down, "I'll worry about that once I get out of here."

Lilia crept up to the door and slowly opened it, then she peeked down the hall. She made sure no one was there before sneaking out. Lilia walked down the hall and tried to find a way out, but she couldn't find the exit. To make matters worse, all the windows in the abandoned building were nailed with wooden planks.

After exploring the entire building, Lilia finally understood why she didn't see any mafia in sight. They were all on guard outside the building's only exit. Lilia peeked around the corner in the hallway and saw a dozen men in black who were playing cards while on guard. They were all burly and looked intimidating. Fortunately, Lilia did not see a gun anywhere near them.

"There's only this way, huh..." Lilia sighed, "Should I take a risk and try to break out of here? I can't just wait for help to come, I have to try it!"

Lilia took a deep breath and took a swing. She was about to start running when the men suddenly stood up with wary expressions. Lilia hurriedly braked in panic. She thought they had seen her, but the men turned their heads outside the building.

Suddenly there were gunshots and screams from outside the building.

"Shot? Have the police arrived?" Lilia ducked and sharpened her eyes, but she couldn't see what was happening outside.

The men ran outside carrying their guns from its reserve. Lilia felt a little relieved that she didn't try to break through their guard earlier. After confirming that they were gone, Lilia stood up and walked towards the door. She was about to run out when someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

'There are still people here?!' Lilia turned around and automatically threw a punch at that person.

"Whoa ...!" The person shouted in surprise and hurriedly let go.

Lilia jumped back, but her expression changed as she recognized the man, "Alfred?! What are you doing here?!"

"Shh, I'll explain later! Let's go from here!" Alfred grabbed Lilia's arm and pulled her away from the entrance.

"But the entrance is over there..." Lilia's protest was interrupted when Alfred led her to the back door of the building which was supposed to be locked.

From the splinters on the ground, Lilia guessed that Alfred was the one who broke the door. She didn't ask any more and followed the man obediently. For the first time, Lilia felt that Alfred's slender back looked strong and reliable. They got into the backseat of a car waiting not far away.

"Huh ... I thought my heart would stop when I couldn't find you, Lilia." Alfred took a deep breath as the car started moving, "But now we are safe. There's still time before the show starts, so I'll take you to the Arengario Palace. Excuse me for a moment..."

Suddenly Alfred leaned over and cupped Lilia's face with his hands.

"B-Brother Alfred?!" Lilia's face turned red and she automatically tried to move away.

"Lilia, don't move. I just wanted to check if you were okay." Alfred scolded while observing Lilia's face closely, "Are you hurt? They didn't do anything to you, right?"

"Oh ... no, I'm fine." Lilia stopped moving and let Alfred check her face. The man's touch was gentle and careful, as if Lilia was made of glass. He reminded Lilia of Jean, who also treated her like the most precious treasure in the entire world.

Thinking about Jean made Lilia uncomfortable with Alfred's touch. She felt like she was doing something wrong. When Alfred finally let her go, Lilia was secretly relieved.

"Thank you for helping me, Brother Alfred." Lilia smiled broadly, "I won't be able to escape without your help. What can I do to repay you?"

Alfred shook his head, "You do not need to do that. I can't just stand by when you are kidnapped."

Lilia stared at him stubbornly, "I don't want to be the one that always receives your help. Is there nothing I can do for you?"

After pausing for a moment, Alfred finally sighed, "Well ... I ask that you keep my involvement in this case a secret."

"Eh? Why?" Lilia asked, confused.

"Well… it's a little embarrassing, but I don't want the university to know I'm involved in a case here." Alfred scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression, "I don't want to endanger my career. Do you mind?"

Lilia shook her head, "If that's what you want, I don't mind. But how do you know I was there?"

Alfred told her that he had many acquaintances in Milan and they helped him find the place. When he arrived there, the mafia group was in a clash with other mafias. Alfred took the opportunity to sneak in.

When Alfred finished telling his story, their car was approaching the Arengario Palace. Lilia didn't fully believe Alfred's story, but this wasn't the time to ask that man. Lilia pretended to be unconscious and let Alfred carry her out of the car. She was surprised when the slender man could lift her easily.

"Remember, Lilia." Alfred whispered, Alfred's breath tickled Lilia's ears and made her heart race fast, "This is our secret."

After handing Lilia over to the staff there, Alfred left the place.

*****

"… When I woke up, I was back at the Arengario Palace. I was unconscious the whole time, maybe because the anesthetic used was too strong." Lilia explained.

The policeman scratched his head, "So you don't know who took you there either?"

Lilia shook her head. She could see Jean frowning out of the corner of her eye. It seemed the man knew she was lying. Lilia's body tense up when Jean opened his mouth, but the man said something different.

"Detective, as you know, my fiancée is a model. For models, reputation is something very important. I ask you to keep this case a secret so it won't harm Lilia's reputation." Jean said.

"I understand, Mr. Jean. You don't have to worry about that." The policeman promised.

After being asked several other questions, Lilia was finally allowed to go back.

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