How Lilies turn Black Chapter 55 - Tragic News of 1962 (1)

“But what kind of compensation are you talking about? We don’t have money to give, and our original agreement never mentioned any compensation.”

 

Even if she had to praise him when deserved, she still had to speak her mind. Her mention of compensation was probably half in jest, but who knows—maybe she’d find him too stingy and walk away.

 

If she didn’t set him straight now, Silvano might keep bringing up compensation every chance he got. 

 

Given that she wasn’t exactly rolling in money, that would be a real problem for her.

 

Lilia, having coldly shot him down, snatched her glass and poured the icy drink down her throat.

 

Thud!

 

Then she slammed the glass down hard and glared at Silvano. Go ahead, try bringing up compensation again.

 

“Wow, scary.”

 

But something felt off. Instead of puckering his lips and grumbling like he should have, the man wore an oddly unsettling smile.

 

Then he reached out toward her hand, still tightly gripping the glass. His fingertip lightly tapped the back of her knuckles.

 

“Lili, I never said I wanted money. The compensation I want is…”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Ignoring her, he slowly traced his finger along the ridges of her hand.

 

“Something like this.”

 

His fingertip glided smoothly over her thin skin.

 

At that moment, a jolt like electricity shot straight up her spine, making her scalp tingle. Her back stiffened instantly.

 

“What the hell are you doing?!”

 

Lilia flinched and tried to shake off his hand.

 

But Silvano, as if he’d been waiting for it, seized her palm—Despite the swiftness of his grip, his thumb began slowly, deliberately circling her palm. 

 

That teasing smirk was just the cherry on top.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Liliana coldly pushed him away and quickly hid her hands under the table.

 

What a sinister man. Even though his touch had long faded, a tingling sensation lingered like an afterglow on her skin.

 

“Silvano Giacone.”

 

Her subdued voice calling his name made Silvano flinch before letting out an awkward laugh. 

 

Liliana suppressed her rising anger and gathered the words she needed to say.

 

If he was going to act like this, she had decided to tell him about ‘that plan.’ Though she had already resolved to go through with it, she had hesitated countless times before bringing it up.

 

Even at that moment, she kept turning it over in her mind. Was she just being swept up by impulse?

 

Honestly, my decision was impulsive… but my mind had already been made up long before.

 

After all, ‘it’ was something that would inevitably happen if things followed their natural course. 

 

Even if she wished otherwise, there was nothing she could do to stop it now.

 

And even if she could stop it, that would require careful consideration—because preventing that event might steer the entire world in a different direction from its past life.

 

That’s right… it would mean rewriting history.

 

Liliana steadied herself with that thought and finally parted her stubborn lips.

 

“Stop wasting time. There’s something you need to help me with.”

 

“What is it? Must be something you really didn’t want to do with me, huh? Where’d this come from all of a sudden?”

 

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. It’s dangerous… and won’t be easy.”

 

Silvano snorted, interlacing his fingers behind his head. It seemed he had already dismissed the rejection of his ambitious proposal, his interest now piqued.

 

“Go on. Whose head do you want me to bring you this time?”

 

“…It’s not that kind of job this time. You just need to follow someone I point out.”

 

At that, Silvano immediately twisted his face in displeasure.

 

“Seriously? How boring.”

 

Yeah, I knew it’d be like this.

 

But once he sees the results after the work begins, the word “mediocre” won’t dare leave his lips again.

 

“I heard… a shocking story from somewhere. I need confirmation.”

 

“Confirmation? What’s this shocking story?”

 

“You’ll find out if you follow along. It probably won’t be… boring.”

 

Leaving a bitter aftertaste in her tone, she lowered her head.

 

💫

 

Vincent’s office was as clean and tidy as his appearance and attire. 

 

Preferring simplicity to extravagance, the room was furnished only with plain, unadorned pieces in neutral colors.

 

And there sat Liliana, stiffly perched on the sofa in that place with nothing much to look at.

 

Rustle—

 

In the quiet atmosphere, only the occasional sound of flipping paper could be heard. It was Vincent, reading a newspaper from across the room.

 

Except for the moment Liliana opened the door and entered, he hadn’t even glanced her way. 

 

Beyond a strictly formal greeting, he hadn’t spoken a word to her.

 

So when a cold, sharp voice suddenly cut through the silence, Liliana was inwardly quite flustered.

 

“Congratulations on becoming a member of the Benedettis.”

 

“…!”

 

Not a single word until now, and suddenly a congratulatory remark?

 

Was it sarcasm, or was he genuinely pleased and offering encouragement? 

 

Unable to discern his intent, Liliana hesitated for a long moment before finally forcing out a reply.

 

“It’s all thanks to you, Vincent. I’m grateful.”

 

“…”

 

No response came—only the sound of the newspaper being flipped again. Had he spoken just to open a conversation? Apparently not.

 

The two were once again plunged into endless silence…

 

At some point, Liliana grew so uncomfortable she could no longer bear the quiet, and her gaze began wandering helplessly toward the door.

 

Then, after what felt like an eternity, her savior arrived.

 

“…Theo, you’re here.”

 

Theodoro barged in through the slightly open door.

 

The silence shattered under the heavy footsteps thudding against the carpeted floor, and to 

 

Liliana, the noise was nothing but welcome. Though the person making it was another matter.

 

As usual, he wore a long coat that reached her height, a fedora pulled low over his face, and carried a gloomy aura as he sank into the sofa.

 

This was the first time they had been this close since that day. Her gaze at him was a mix of resentment and frustration.

 

‘Just what did I do wrong to deserve this?’

 

They said joining the family would make her one of Benedetti’s own, but that had been a lie. 

 

Was it her imagination that the distance between them felt even greater now? She couldn’t understand why he had been so cold these past few days.

 

The change had started right after the initiation.

 

‘I could’ve sworn we got along fine before that.’

 

She thought she had earned some trust, but no—the moment the ceremony ended, he had practically chased her out like she’d angered him. Then, from the next day onward, though he didn’t seem angry anymore, his attitude had turned icy.

 

No matter how much she thought about it, she hadn’t done anything wrong. For whatever reason, he was just impossible to please.

 

Just look at that sharp glare of his. Gone was the weary exhaustion of life—now his eyes burned like he wanted to devour someone whole.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Even his tone was pointed, the words slightly upturned at the end.

 

Liliana felt irritation rising but then caught herself—what did any of this even matter? It wasn’t like she wanted to be close to him.

 

‘Well, as long as we can work together, that’s enough.’

 

If he hadn’t even shown up here, that would’ve been a real problem. But he had willingly attended this meeting with Vincent—wasn’t that progress in its own way?

 

Liliana decided to stop caring about his attitude and pushed two files toward each of them.

 

“This is the information Silvano Giacone managed to obtain.”

 

The two furrowed their brows as they pulled out the documents from the file. At the very front were dozens of photos neatly clipped together.

 

Lilia pointed to the people in the photos one by one in order.

 

“You two probably already know, but… Alan Goldberg, financial advisor and operations strategist for the Syndicate (former united crime organization), Joseph Bucio, boss of the Bucio Family in Phelps City, Benjamin Wolf, operations lead for Murder Inc. and current Vice President Carl Morrow and CIA Director Ronald Anson.”

 

Just listing the names was overwhelming. Moreover, since every person mentioned held an impossibly high position, a palpable tension lingered at the edges of her lips.

 

Lilia took a moment to steady her breath before continuing.

 

“Looking at the photos, you can confirm there have been several secret meetings. The investigation period was short, so we haven’t found evidence of all of them gathering together yet… but there were at least two instances where three or more met.”

 

She anticipated someone asking what she could possibly conclude from just two meetings. 

 

Hastily, Lilia pointed to the next set of documents behind the photos.

 

“The call records show how frequently they contacted each other individually. I’ve marked them in blue pen.”

 

True to her words, the thick stack of papers densely filled with phone numbers had blue markings scattered throughout—quite a lot of them, in fact.

 

She knew that much still wasn’t enough to draw any concrete conclusions. 

 

Sure enough, Vincent, who had been examining the documents through his magnifying glasses, flipped through the file and asked,

 

“Alright, so we know they’ve been in frequent contact. But have you figured out the purpose?”

 

Lilia swallowed dryly, her throat parched. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached across the table—she already knew what she was about to reveal.

 

From the scattered documents, she pulled out a bundle they hadn’t seen yet and handed it over.

 

“These are the wiretapped calls. Murder Inc. is assembling a hit squad…”

 

Lilia clenched her fist, recalling the devastating news from her past life in 1962 that had shaken the entire world.

 

“They’re planning to assassinate President Raymond Findel.”