"Calm down!" Lily comforted Olvia. Even Lily was trying to keep her emotions in check. Her heart was racing, and even the baby in her stomach seemed to feel it. She gently placed her hand on her abdomen to comfort it. She took a deep breath and said, "Let me look."
Lily carefully studied the ring in Olivia's hand and the piece of human skin wrapped in a handkerchief.
After careful observation, she leaned closer to smell it. Then she raised her head to look at Olivia. "You've been played."
"Huh?"
"That doesn't belong to Edward," Lily said with certainty before adding, "To be precise, that's not even human skin. It's pig skin."
"Pig skin?!" Olivia's eyes widened in surprise. She took the piece of skin and rechecked it. Although she would rather believe that what Lily said was true, she could not help but still wonder, "Is this pig skin? It looks too real, and the tattoo looks exactly like the one on Edward's body."
"People can imitate tattoos and easily make realistic-looking skin. Look at the film industry. Special effects artists can easily make props that look real. However, I can assure you that this is a piece of pigskin. It's not a human's skin," Lily said after rechecking it.
When Olivia noticed how confident Lily looked, it did not seem like Lily was just trying to comfort her. Only then did Olivia sigh with relief and finally calm down her raging emotions. Olivia patted her chest and reassured herself, "It's just pigskin. Thank goodness it's just pig skin."
Just as she was about to smile, she noticed her ring, and her face immediately fell again. "Even if the skin is fake, this ring is real. Something must’ve happened to Edward."
"Since the skin is fake, this ring might be as well," Lily said.
However, Olivia shook her head. "No, this ring isn't a fake. Initially, I wondered if this might also be a prank, an imitation of his ring. However, a senior craftsman specially made my wedding ring with Edward to commemorate our special day. The diamonds on them are a matching pair, and the ring's inner circle has our initials. On top of that…"
After a pause, she leaned closer to Lily and pointed it out. "Look. There's a small scratch here. You can't see it if you don't look at it carefully. This scratch was from when he tried to protect me from a passing car. No one could carve a ring right to its smallest detail."
Her analysis was direct. When Lily thought it through, she felt it made sense.
"Then what does it mean for the person to just leave a seemingly fake object at your door without any explanation?" Lily asked after carefully thinking it through. Her senses had returned to her, and she was no longer as perplexed as before.
Initially, when she heard that something had happened to Edward, she panicked. After all, Edward was the one who had been protecting Alexander. If something happened to Edward, it meant that Alexander…
However, thinking about it now, it seemed like it was all just a prank. It might also be a trap, and Lily knew better than to let herself get caught.
"I don't know." Olivia shook her head. "Does someone know of Edward's accident and would want to let me know, but they’re afraid of being discovered? Whatever it is, I think they're in danger. Otherwise, with how Mr. Russell is, he would be calling you day and night."
Olivia was right. There was no way Alexander would not contact Lily for such a long time. Even if the phone signal were terrible, he would do anything to call her unless he had no choice.
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