The millionaire decided to test the new housekeeper, leaving the safe open and turning on the camera. But after reviewing the recording, he was STUNNED by what he saw…
Lydia gestured for them to sit, remaining standing herself, crossing her arms over her chest. «Speak, why are you here,» she said, looking straight at Leonard. Leonard sat on the sofa, and Olivia sat next to him, clearly feeling uncomfortable.
Lydia remained standing, as if there was an invisible wall between them. «I came to learn the truth,» Leonard began, looking straight at Lydia. «Olivia told me I’m her father.»
«But I don’t understand why you never told me about it?» Lydia looked at him with a cold gaze. «Why should I have told you anything?» she replied sharply.
«You disappeared yourself.» «You left me.» Her words were like a knife to the heart.
Leonard frowned, trying to stay calm. «I didn’t leave you,» he said firmly. «I called you, wrote.»
«You didn’t answer.» «And then?» «Then I got a message that you found someone else.»
Lydia shook her head, her face expressing a mix of bitterness and bewilderment. «A message? What message?» she asked.
Leonard opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment Olivia stood up. «I’ll leave you to talk,» she said quietly and left the room, leaving them alone. Lydia continued to look at Leonard, her eyes burning with anger and pain.
«So what do you want?» she asked, quieter now. «I want to know the truth,» he replied. «If I’m really Olivia’s father, why didn’t I know about her?»
«Why did you do that?» Lydia sighed heavily, sank into the chair opposite, and stared at the floor. A few seconds of tense silence hung in the room.
Finally, she raised her eyes and said quietly: «Leonard, I never sent you any messages.» «Moreover, I called you several times, but you didn’t answer.» Leonard raised an eyebrow in surprise.
«That’s impossible,» he said. «I received a message from you saying you had someone.» «After that, I tried to call, but your number was blocked.»
«Blocked?» Lydia asked again. «That’s impossible.» «I didn’t do anything like that.»
She fell silent, then, as if remembering something, clutched her head. «Wait.» «Once my phone went missing.»
«I searched for it all day, then found it under the pillow.» «It was so strange.» Leonard leaned closer.
«And you didn’t check calls or messages?» «I did,» she replied. «But there was nothing there.»
«I thought you just disappeared.» Suddenly Lydia frowned. «Wait.»
«Fiona,» she whispered. «Who is Fiona?» Leonard asked. «My younger sister,» Lydia answered with bitterness.
«She was always against our marriage.» «She was jealous of me toward you.» «I… I wouldn’t be surprised if she did something.»
Leonard felt something inside him flip. Everything in his head was forming into a strange but logical puzzle. «You think she could have sent that message?» he asked.
Lydia only nodded, and her face darkened. «If that’s true, she ruined everything.» «And I… I just didn’t know who to believe.»
Leonard ran his hand over his face, feeling anger and disappointment overwhelming him. He looked at Lydia, trying to find words to express what was happening inside him. «This changes everything,» he said finally.
«We need to figure it out, but I know one thing: I don’t want to lose what’s left.» Lydia was silent, staring at one spot on the carpet. Her face expressed a mix of pain and regret.
Finally, she raised her eyes to Leonard. «Fiona was always a difficult person,» she began, carefully choosing words. «She’s five years younger than me.»
«When we were kids, she often jealous of me to everyone: parents, friends, and then to you.» Leonard frowned. «Jealous?» he asked again.
«Why?» Lydia shrugged slightly. «She always felt like I got more attention.»
«And when I started dating you, she… became different.» «She said you were taking me away from her.» «She was angry that I spent more time with you than with the family.»
Leonard listened attentively, piecing together the puzzle. Now everything was starting to fall into place. «And you think she could have taken your phone and sent that message?» he asked.
Lydia nodded. «It’s totally in her nature.» «She always did everything to ruin my relationships.»
«She liked it when I was unhappy.» «She was… selfish.» «But despite that, I loved her.»
«She is my sister after all.» She sighed and continued. «After that incident with the phone, we had a serious fight.»
«I didn’t know what exactly happened then, but she said I was spending too much time on you and that you’d leave me.» «We quarreled, and a few weeks later she ran away from home.» «Parents tried to find her, but unsuccessfully.»
Lydia closed her eyes, as if trying to drive away memories. «Since then, I haven’t heard anything about her.» «She just disappeared.»
«And now I think: if I had understood what she did back then, everything could have been different.» Leonard sighed heavily. Anger at Fiona boiled in him, but he understood it wouldn’t change anything now.
«She ruined everything,» he said finally. «But we can’t change the past.» «The only thing I can do is try to fix what can still be fixed.»
Lydia raised her gaze to him, which showed sadness and fatigue. «I want that too,» she said quietly. «For Olivia.»
«She deserves to know she has a father.» Lydia and Leonard sat in silence. In the room hung a sense of heaviness from all the revealed secrets, but along with it came something new—a faint hope that things could still change.
Lydia was the first to break the silence. «Remember how we walked along the waterfront?» she asked with a slight smile. «You always brought those awful lollipops.»
«I couldn’t stand them, but you treated me as if they were the most delicious thing in the world.» Leonard laughed, sincerely for the first time in a long time. «Of course I remember.»
«They were my favorites.» «And I remember how you always quietly threw them away, thinking I didn’t notice.» Lydia smiled too, though tears stood in her eyes.
«You were completely different,» she said quietly. «So simple, sincere.» «And I loved you so much.»
Leonard leaned forward, lowering his head. «I loved you too, Lydia.» «And I never wanted it to end like this.»
«I thought you betrayed me.» She reached for his hand, lightly touching it. «We both suffered.»
«But now we have a chance to fix everything.» «Not for us, but for Olivia.» Leonard looked into her eyes and nodded.
«For her.» «But I hope that… Maybe we can fix things too.» Lydia didn’t answer, but her gaze became softer.
She understood that the wounds of the past couldn’t be healed so easily, but deep down she wanted to believe in the best. «Let’s start small,» she said. «Let’s make sure Olivia feels she has a family.»
«A real family.» Leonard smiled. It was hard, but he knew he would do everything to make it work.
After the frank conversation with Lydia, Leonard couldn’t shake the feeling that he had missed the most important thing in his life. He sat on the sofa in her living room, examining old photos on the shelf. Each of them seemed to tell him what he had deprived himself and his family of.
He took a deep breath and turned to Lydia. «I missed a lot, Lydia.» «But I want to fix everything,» his voice sounded firm, but pain was in his eyes…
