Chapter 96 - Black numbers

She read in Nelli's expression, the same question she had asked herself. "Did he sense it?" Her voice broke.

Tears dripping on the tabletop. She felt Nelli's hand on her back. No words were needed. The silent comfort was enough.

It was a world she thought she'd never set foot in. But now she couldn't get past it. It took a while for her to calm down. Lily's head was spinning. But when she calmed down, the world suddenly looked different. Yet again, she wished to continue living in her little bubble. But she had to face the truth. A message was hiding behind all these documents.

She strained her shoulders and wiped the last tears from her cheeks. Lily was already about to put the documents back into the safe deposit box when Nelli grabbed her hand. She stopped her in her movement. Asking, Lily raised her head. Their eyes met. Nelli shook her head gently. Some of her red streaks fell on her face. "Wait a minute. I want to check something out." Then the friend leaned forward. Her head lay directly in front of the entrance of the locker as she pushed her hand deep into it. She moved along the walls, along the ground and finally pulled her hand out again. In her grip she held a small black notebook.

"What's that?" Asked Lily confused. More secrets?

The girls exchanged glances. Before the book was opened, and they were wide-eyed, hanging over the notes. Actually, it wasn't really notes. Just numbers. Page after page, black numbers were written in a curved font on white pages. Lily recognized Fabien's handwriting immediately. In fact, it was totally uncharacteristic of him to keep a notebook. He always had an excellent memory. It was enough for him to take one look at something to remember it forever. He didn't need something like a notebook. Her suspicions grew stronger. "He must have suspected something."

Nelli nodded. "He sensed this and took precautions. He must have simply known that ...or it wouldn't make sense..." Flames blazed in her eyes, but her hands began to tremble.

The mere thought that it might not have been an accident did not end the discomfort. It was rather the beginning of another mountain of troubles and dangers.

"If only he had taken precautions for his safety." Nelli snapped, tears running down her cheeks. Lily bent over to wipe some of them away.

"We mutually agree..." She stopped for a second, paused. The words wouldn't go past her lips.

"It couldn't have been an accident... but murder." Nelli finished the sentence for her. "If even Fabien knew that his family was in danger and it had forced him to take these precautions. Then we can assume, with good reason, that it was no ordinary accident."

"But then who might have been after Fabien? And more importantly...why?" Lily shook her head. She simply refused to accept it. Who was powerful enough to drive Fabien into a corner.

"Maybe your new husband." Nelli dropped the next bomb on her head.

"No...Never!" She protested with disbelief. But she could see the doubt growing in Nelli's eyes. Lily's nerves were on the verge of breaking. It made no sense. If Alexandre was behind this accident. What was his motive? She bit her lower lip.

In the novel, it's true, he had been fighting against Fabien. But only to win Ellie's love. He would never have let anything happen to her. It would've killed him. He loved Elli too much.

And more importantly, he had never resorted to such means. Alexandre had never been such a villain as to needlessly get his hands dirty. In My loyal hubby even he had backed away from murder, because he himself had to experience in his past how terrible it was to live on as the relative of a murder victim.

Besides, Alexandre would never have harmed Elli even one hair. He loved her with all his heart. She was his sunshine!

"But what if she was... He got the most out of it. Look, all of a sudden he got the de Bourbon and de Clermont fortune! Doesn't that make him suspect number one?"