The revelation(1)

The next day:

With the first rays of sunshine, Lila, Robert, Oliver, Old Man Atkins and his wife went into their private jet and flew to Adelaide. When they landed there, they saw Sophie along with her friends already waiting for them.

"Let's go. Shall we?"

"Sure."

They went along with them, and soon they came in front of a huge villa.

"Is this?"

"Our house."

"You mean?"

"We bought it two years back, but I never got to spend time here, that's all."

"'Kay let's head inside.", C said and pulled Sophie with one hand, and Ruby with another. The villa was very spacious.

Sophie hugged Lila and said, "Thanks."

"It's alright. I ought to repay the favour you did back then."

Oliver lifted his head and looked straight at her. Robert interrupted them and said, "Let's freshen up and then we can start."

Everyone nodded in approval.

It was late at night when all of them gathered together in the dining room. It was a spacious dining room. Everyone was dining together when the four old men came. Grandpa Tan, Smith, Bill and Po came along with their wives. Old Man Atkins became emotional upon seeing them. He could be called their long term friend, but due to his choices, he drifted apart from them. Now, after all these years, facing them, he started crying.

They reminisced about their old days, and after dinner Sophie interrupted them. Oliver was eerily quiet throughout the day. She needed to tell him the truth. She knew the consequences of bringing Lila out, but she had to do it. She was one of her most trusted aides. She turned towards Oliver and asked, "You have anything specific to ask?"

"I killed her with my own hands. How is she alive?"

"I saved her."

"How?"

"When you shot her and left, I was present there. I was a step behind. I went there to inform you about something, or you could say someone, but before I could inform you, you killed her."

"Then?"

"I brought her back. She lost a lot of blood and you tried to kill her cruelly. You turned your back and did not check whether she was dead or alive. It made it easy for me to bring her away."

"And the corpse that was found?"

"It was fake, and arranged by me."

Everyone paid attention to her words. There were more to this than she was letting out.

"Then?", Robert asked.

"I brought her back to the headquarters and had a brilliant doctor operate on her." With a pause, and with great difficulty she said, "The operation was successful, but she had lost lots of blood, and I did not have the courage to take her to the hospital. I called upon as many contacts as I could for blood. But none of them had it. I did not get it from the blood bank."

Everyone waited with bated breaths for her to continue. A teardrop escaped her eyes. Even Oliver did not force her to continue. They waited patiently.