جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

IvyThe morning light was gray and cold when I woke up.Dorian was already gone. His side of the bed was empty. The sheets were cold. I sat up and looked around the room. His clothes were gone. His shoes were gone. Everything was gone.I found him in the study. He was standing by the window, staring out at the gardens. His back was to me. His shoulders were tight."Dorian," I said.He did not turn around."I am going to see her," he said. "Today."I walked toward him. Stopped behind him."Are you sure?""I have to." He turned to face me. His eyes were red. "She is my mother. I cannot just leave her in there without... without saying something. Without understanding.""Then go.""I am scared.""I know.""What if she does not want to see me? What if she hates me?""She does not hate you. She loves you. That was the whole problem."He laughed. A broken sound."Yeah. That was the whole problem."I reached out and took his hand."Go," I said. "Talk to her. Get your answers. Then come home.

IvyDorian sat in his study for three hours after we returned from the prison. He did not move. Did not speak. Did not eat. He just sat there with the journal in his hands, staring at the wall.I sat with him. I did not speak either. There was nothing to say. Nothing that would make this better. Nothing that would bring her back.At noon, I stood up."Dorian."He did not look at me."We need to collect her body. We need to bury her."He finally looked up. His eyes were red. His face was hollow."Bury her?""She was your mother. She deserves a proper burial.""She killed twelve women. She tried to kill you.""I know. But she was still your mother."He stared at me for a long moment. Then he nodded."Okay," he said. "Okay."I called Marcus. He made the arrangements. The prison released her body that afternoon. Dorian did not go to collect it. He could not. So I went with Marcus.The funeral home was quiet and cold. Mrs Chen looked peaceful in the casket. Her silver hair was pinned up. H

IvyI found Marcus in the kitchen at 7 AM and he was holding a folder and a photograph with tired eyes that told me he had not slept."Marcus," I said and he looked up at me with dark eyes."The woman in the photograph," he said. "I found her."I walked toward him and asked who she was."Her name is Clara Matthews," he said and set the folder on the table. "She is Mrs Chen's younger sister."I stared at him and asked if Mrs Chen had a sister."Not biological," he said. "They grew up together in an orphanage, same home and same room. They were close like real sisters."I sat down at the table and asked what happened to them.Marcus opened the folder and inside were newspaper clippings that were old and yellowed and faded."The orphanage caught fire thirty years ago," he said. "Mrs Chen was rescued but Clara was not. She was trapped inside and when they found her she was burned beyond recognition."I covered my mouth with my hand and said oh my God."She survived barely," he said. "But

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

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