INICIAR SESIÓNDorianI stopped searching after that.I could not do it anymore. The constant looking and the constant hoping and the constant disappointment had worn me down. I had nothing left to give.I spent my days in the garden and my nights in my study and my hours in between just existing.Ivy stayed with me and she did not push and she did not ask and she did not expect anything from me. She just sat with me and held my hand and made sure I ate and slept.Marcus handled the business and he did not bother me with details. He knew I was broken and he knew I needed time.Weeks passed and the world moved on without me.I sat on the bench by the fountain one morning and watched the water ripple and sparkle. The sun was warm and the birds were singing and the flowers were blooming and everything looked peaceful.But I did not feel peaceful.I felt empty.Ivy sat down beside me and asked if I was okay.I shook my head and said I was not."I keep thinking about her," I said. "About all the things I
IvyThe days blurred together after that.We searched and we questioned and we searched again but nothing changed. The woman with the dark hair and the red dress remained a ghost and the guard who had given Mrs Chen the drugs remained vanished and the killer remained free.Dorian grew quieter with each passing day. He stopped eating and he stopped sleeping and he stopped speaking unless necessary. He sat in his study and stared at the wall and I sat with him and held his hand and tried to bring him back.Marcus brought updates and they were always the same. No leads. No witnesses. No suspects.We had hit a wall and we could not find a way around it.I found Dorian in the garden one morning and he was sitting on the bench by the fountain and staring at the water. The sun was warm and the birds were singing and the flowers were blooming but he looked like he was in a different world.I sat down beside him and asked how he was doing.He did not answer at first. He just stared at the wate
DorianThe days passed and we found nothing.I went through the journal again and Ivy went through the letters and Marcus went through the photographs. We talked to every guard and every servant and everyone who had ever worked in the house.No one knew anything.No one remembered anything.The woman with the dark hair and the red dress had vanished like a ghost.I sat in my study and stared at the wall and tried to think.She had known Mrs Chen. She had known how to find her. She had known how to scare her.And she had killed her.I was sure of it.But I had no proof and no name and no face.Ivy walked into the study and she was holding a cup of coffee."Drink," she said. "You have not eaten all day."I took the cup and she sat down across from me."We will find her," she said. "We just need to keep looking."I shook my head and said we had looked everywhere."There is nowhere else to look," I said. "We have talked to everyone. We have searched everything. There is nothing left."Ivy
IvyWe found Agatha in the laundry room and she was folding sheets with the same practiced efficiency that Mrs Chen had once shown. Her hands moved automatically and her eyes were tired and her face was lined with years of service.Dorian stood in the doorway and I stood beside him and we watched her work for a moment before she noticed us."Mr. Vale," she said and stopped folding. "You need something?"Dorian walked toward her and said he needed to ask her some questions.Agatha set down the sheet and wiped her hands on her apron. She looked at us with cautious eyes."About Mrs Chen," she said and it was not a question."Yes," Dorian said. "We need to know if you saw anything unusual in the weeks before she died. Anyone visiting. Anyone she seemed afraid of."Agatha shook her head and said she knew nothing about Mrs Chen's life or past."Mrs Chen barely spoke to me except to give orders," she said. "She kept to herself. She did not share her secrets."Dorian stepped closer and asked
DorianI woke up the next morning with the key still in my pocket.I had fallen asleep on the couch with Ivy beside me and I had not moved all night. My neck was stiff and my back ached but I did not care. I had slept for the first time in days and I felt almost human.Ivy was still asleep and her head was on my chest and her hand was on my arm. She looked peaceful and I did not want to wake her.But I had work to do.I carefully moved her head onto a pillow and stood up. I stretched my arms and my back and walked to the kitchen.Marcus was there and he was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper."Morning," he said."Morning."He looked at me and asked if I slept."A little," I said and poured myself a cup of coffee."The key," he said. "Did it lead anywhere?"I shook my head and told him it was just a cabinet in Mrs Chen's room with old photographs and letters and a bracelet.Marcus raised an eyebrow and asked if that was it."That was it," I said. "Nothing more."He nodded and did n
IvyWe drove back to the estate in silence and the key sat heavy in Dorian's hand.He stared at it the whole way home and did not say a word. I watched him from the corner of my eye and saw the tension in his jaw and the tightness in his shoulders. He was holding on to hope and I did not know if that hope would be rewarded or crushed.When we arrived, Dorian walked straight to Mrs Chen's room and I followed close behind.He went to the small cabinet in the corner, the one that had always been locked, and knelt down in front of it. He inserted the key and turned it and the lock clicked open.He pulled the door open and inside were old photographs and letters and small trinkets. He reached in and pulled out a photograph of two young girls standing in front of a crumbling building. They were smiling and holding hands and their faces were full of hope."That is her," Dorian said. "That is Clara. And that is my mother."I looked at the photograph and saw Mrs Chen's face, young and unmarked
IvyThe estate was enormous and dark and it looked like the kind of place that swallowed people whole.I saw it through the car window as the iron gates opened ahead of us, the black stone building rising against the sky with lights burning in its upper windows. The gardens on either side were perf
DorianShe didn't scream.That was the first thing I noticed.The elevator doors had closed behind Richard Rowan and the girl hadn't moved. She hadn't begged. Hadn't thrown herself at my feet the way the last one did. She just stood there in that faded blue dress with her head bowed and her hands c
IvyI dried my hands and followed him to the study. My heart was pounding against my chest.Inside, he closed the door behind us and locked it. That was never a good sign.I stood in the corner of his office with my hands clasped in front of me, and my head down.“Get dressed,” he said, pouring hi
Dorian“People are starting to give you names.”Marcus, my second-in-command said as he walked into my office, holding out a tablet like it was some kind of offering. “They are calling you The Widower.”I leaned back in my back in my leather chair and lifted an eyebrow. “Are they now?”“It’s trendi







