Blaine arrived at the Tucker mansion, hurried ahead to the unit Ariel had stayed in, and walked to the bedroom.
His new bedroom.
As he closed the door behind him, he froze and felt a weird chill, travel up his bones.
Both Ariel and Kan claimed she lost the baby in this house.
Was it in this room then?
Is this why he had always felt a strong pull to this place, and why he moved in here of all the other places he could have gone to after separating from Ophelia?
He stared around the room, thinking of where he would look first. But what was he even hoping to find?
It had been almost two years.
And the Tucker household staff took their jobs seriously. They must have cleaned off every evidence of the event that night.
But why had no one reported anything? Or had they done so and not just to him?
He went into the closet and began to work through it regardless.
He carefully scanned every shelf and drawer, but found nothing even though he was unsure what exactly it was he was looking for.
He walked back into the bedroom, and checked all the bedside drawers.
They were squeaky clean except for a few of his own personal belongings he had left there since he moved in.
It was in the bathroom he finally found evidence that perhaps Ariel had not intended to disappear that night.
In one of the drawers high above, which a shorter person would not think to use, he found her bag.
The bag contained toiletries, makeup, bathrobes and a few other things a woman would usually carry along for a sleepover.
This was probably the only thing she brought here if she thought she would just be spending the night after that DNA test, and then the family meeting.
She must have had no idea like the rest of them that his grandfather would ask her to move in, so she had not brought a suitcase.
He turned the bag upside down there on the bathroom floor, and as the contents tumbled out, he recognized some clothes as Ruby’s. They were bigger than what petite-bodied Ariel would wear, and everyone who knew Ruby knew she favored maroon-colored clothes.
He sat back on his heels.
Had he been foolish the whole time?
Had he believed what his pride only wanted him to believe after realizing the young woman he slept with was his ex-girlfriend’s affair child?
Was he so ashamed of what he had done that he immediately jumped at the idea that he had been tricked?
He stood up and went back to the bedroom, taking everything in.
This was a beautiful room, with a different decor from the other parts of the house.
This was the unit his grandfather had shared with his grandmother till Sullivan murdered her.
And the old man had given it to Ariel?
His eyes fell on the center rug, and he frowned, realizing this did not quite fit with the aesthetic of the room or even any other part of the unit.
Everything here was tastefully vintage, and apart from the bed, nothing had really changed from the time his grandmother lived here.
He walked towards the rug and knelt down.
He froze, staring at it for a long time. And then he yanked it back.
He saw nothing.
At first,
but as he stared at it, he saw the wood here was darker than the other parts of the wooden floor.
He scrubbed his hand on it, but of course he saw nothing. This room has been vacuumed and polished for almost two years now.
He stared at the spot. Water can not stain wood this way, and no other drink could spread this far.
This was blood, and in dizzying quantities.
Just then he heard a knock on the door and said, “Come in.”
The housekeeper stepped in, “Would you like..” She started to say when her eyes fell on the pulled-back rug, and she froze.
Blaine’s jaw fell.
This woman knew what had happened, this woman and her careful observant eyes, this woman who had made sure he knew that Ophelia had physically assaulted that maid. She knew.
“Please close the door and come in,” he said.
She hesitated, but her face immediately became expressionless, like she had gained resolve.
She walked in and closed the door behind her.
“This is blood.” He pointed to the spot, not bothering to frame his sentence as a question.
She nodded.
“Whose.”
The woman went quiet as her eyes traveled behind him to the windows.
“Why did I not know this?”
The woman bowed deeply, “A lot happened that night.” Blaine frowned, watching her.
Of course, a lot happened that night. That was the night his grandfather was murdered by that maid.
He looked back up at her, suspicious, “You have to have told someone about this? Who did you tell?”
She paused, a second too long, and in that time, her eyes traveled back to the window, “Your mother.” She said finally.
“My mother?” Blaine gasped. “You mean you told Heidi Tucker?” He clarified, wanting to make certain she was not mistaking his mother with one of the other Tucker women in this large household.
The housekeeper frowned at him, and then she bowed again. “Yes. I told your mother.”
He watched the woman, the one domestic staff member he had known forever. She probably had all the secrets of this house right there in her palm.
“Please sit.” He ushered her to the chaise on the other side of the room, while he took a position leaning against the wall.
He watched her settle into the seat before he said, “Tell me what happened that night.”
“I sent Leila up to see if the new mistress needed anything,” the housekeeper said, and he frowned.
All these bloody honorifics, why could they never just be direct and call names, so there was no mistake.
“You mean Ariel?”
The woman frowned.
“The woman grandfather wanted me to marry. The pregnant woman?” Surely she knew all that.
The woman nodded enthusiastically.
“Then what happened?” He asked, now that they were clear on who they were speaking of.
The woman’s eyes darted towards the window again. This time he could not help it as his eyes strayed towards the window too.
Ophelia died. But contrary to what everyone would have guessed, and what I dearly wish, I did not kill her.I felt robbed when I walked into her body on the floor of one of the Kotei’s living rooms, because she should have died by my hands. It was the very next day after Kan's death, when, reportedly, the National leader’s guards caught her and dragged her HOME TO DADDY. No one would ever know what the man did to her, but her body was bruised all over with tiny cuts dotting her skin. She lay there on the floor, her face drawn, and I could only stare at her. I had been determined to chase her to hell if I must, and that is why I had dared come into the Kotei, but her father was quicker.But like I promised her during her lifetime, death would not set her free. Someone had to pay for what she did to me.I exposed her father as soon as his term was over, and stood at the top stairs of the courthouse as I watched the police drag him off to jail after the biggest court case the count
I had the file I had come for in my hand and nothing else, as I stepped down the porch when I heard a car speeding fast towards me.Cherry was quickly standing in front of me, and shielding me behind with her body.I hoped that was not Kan, because I did not want to talk to him right now. After all my father had told me about him, I now saw him in a new light. But when the single car stopped, and the driver’s door opened, it was a woman who stepped out.“Don't come any closer.” Cherry barked at her into the night. “Akira,” I gasped at the same time, and placed a gentle hand on Cherry's shoulder as Akira began to run towards me in a funny-looking, ungainly way. “Chairwoman.” Akira said in a choking gasp.Even in the darkness of that night, I could see how her eyes looked like she had a fever. The desperation in her eyes to get to me scared me a little.“Help me.” her voice came out in a whisper now, as she got to me, swooned, and I had to catch her quickly.But even with Cherry's
Blaine was still staring out that window when Ariel walked out of that room, thinking about everything she had told him, unable to look her in the face.Aoi, Aoi, Mün’s wife had set Ruby up all those years. Or perhaps it was her parents, but she was aware. She had to be aware that her parents were paying a man to take Ruby away from him so that they could get married without any problems as soon as they turned twenty.He brought his hand up to his face, thinking about Ruby, how she must have hated him the whole time, and came to hold him in contempt.It took him sometime to finally get out of that room, and when he did, he could not find Ariel anywhere.He ran into Mr Grigor, who was holding his grandson. “Did Ariel tell you where she was going to?”“She had to pick up something at the Sullivan mansion.” “What?” His eyes widened in disbelief. “And you let her go? What is so special about her clothes to go back there for?”How could this man of all people allow such a silly mistake?
Ophelia hurried out of the car without even looking at Draco, desperately hoping this was the last time she saw him. If he would not help her, he was useless to her and had better stay away.She hurried to the mailbox of her unit and found the brown manila envelope. When she opened it, she saw a black gift box in it. She smiled and hurried upstairs with it.Now that she had this in hand, she momentarily forgot all her problems, overjoyed at what she was about to do to Ariel.She opened the door and the first person she ran into was Akira. She smiled. Was fate not just absolutely wonderful?Her mind strayed to Olivia, but she decided to check on her after this, and take her when she was ready to leave. Akira turned to her and bowed quickly, and Ophelia could see a small fear in her eyes.“Are you familiar with hide-and-seek?” Ophelia grinned at her.“Ma’am?” Akira leaned forward, squinting in confusion. Ophelia grinned wider and brought her hands up to her face, then she moved t
Ophelia was still technically nursing her wounds, the one that bitch had given her, the one she had sworn to repay as soon as she was in a place where she had the upper hand, when the news broke out.She was in the seating area of her office and laying back straight on her couch when her P.A. ran in.“What is it Roxy,” She said without looking up? “Don’t tell me the bitch is back.”“Madaam.” Roxy exclaimed like she had just seen something horrible, like she had perhaps walked in and found a snake curled in the corner of the room, poised to attack her, and Ophelia flew off her seat, eyes wide and looking around in fear.“What? What is it, Roxy?” She yelled in fright. Had that bitch brought a snake with her and left it here? She would not put it past the bitch.She would not put it past the person that had come to wait for her in a dark office, almost giving her a freaking heart attack. “The news,” Roxy whispered, her eyes still wide, and she was stretching out her computer tablet. W
We were back at his house, and as we walked upstairs towards the nursery, I saw my father waiting by the door.“Dad.” I gave a quick bow and looked up with a squint, a little surprised.He smiled and walked up to hug me tightly. When he stepped back, his eyes were shiny. I noticed him and Blaine exchange a look and Blaine kissed my temple, tapped my shoulder and disappeared into the nursery. I could not help frowning. “Is everything OK?”“I have to talk to you. It’s important.”“Sure,” I said quickly, although my heart was already beating. What did he have to tell me? Was it about Kan? My eyes scanned our surroundings, thinking about where we could talk uninterrupted. I could definitely not take him anywhere on the top floor, because I still had some shame. The study then?“Can we go to the living room?” I asked, thinking about how that place was the place I still found coziest in the house.We got to the living room and I could hear the sound of the water trickling down from that