جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

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

IvyThe weeks turned into months and life settled into a new rhythm.Dorian still had his dark days. He would sit in his study and stare at the wall and I would sit with him and hold his hand and wait. But the dark days came less often now. He was learning to carry his grief instead of being crushed by it.I was proud of him.I spent my days training with Sofia and helping Marcus with the business and learning how to be a wife. It was strange to think about that word. Wife. I had been married for months now but it still felt new and fragile and precious.Dorian and I had dinner together every night. We talked about our days and laughed at Marcus's jokes and planned for the future. It felt almost normal.Almost.But there was always something lurking beneath the surface. The unanswered questions about Mrs Chen's death. The mystery of the woman with the dark hair and the red dress. The guard who had vanished without a trace.We had stopped searching but we had not forgotten.I found Dor

IvyI could not stop thinking about the burn scar.After Elena left, Dorian stood by the window for a long time and did not speak. I sat on the couch and watched him and waited. His back was to me and his shoulders were tight and I could see the tension in every line of his body.When he finally turned around, his face was hard."The scar," he said. "Elena said the woman had a burn scar on her hand."I nodded and asked what he was thinking.He walked toward me and sat down on the couch. He took my hand and his fingers were cold."The orphanage fire," he said. "My mother and Clara. They both had burn scars. My mother's were on her arms and her back. Clara's were everywhere."I asked if he thought the woman could be connected to the fire."I do not know," he said. "But it is too much of a coincidence. A woman with a burn scar comes to threaten my mother. My mother grew up in an orphanage that burned down. She survived but her sister did not."I squeezed his hand and said we needed to fi

IvyI watched Dorian's face go pale as he read the name on the paper. His hands were shaking and his eyes were wide and I had never seen him look so lost."What is it?" I asked. "What does it say?"He looked up at me and his voice was rough."Margaret was adopted by a wealthy family," he said. "She changed her name and moved to the city. She married a powerful man and became someone else."I walked around the desk and looked at the paper.The name of the family was written at the bottom.Vale.My blood went cold."Vale," I whispered. "Your family. She was adopted by your family."Dorian nodded and set the paper down."My grandmother," he said. "My father's mother. She adopted Margaret. She brought her into the family and gave her a new name."I sat down beside him and asked what her new name was.Dorian looked at the paper again and his face was hard."Margaret became Mary," he said. "Mary Vale. My father's sister."I stared at him and felt the world tilt."Your aunt," I said. "The wom

IvyMarcus returned an hour later with a grim face and a folder in his hands."I found something," he said and set the folder on the desk. "A bank account under Mary Vale's name and it has been active for years."Dorian opened the folder and looked at the papers inside and his jaw tightened."Where is the bank?" he asked."Downtown," Marcus said. "First National. The same bank where Mrs Chen had her safe deposit box."Dorian looked at me and I looked at him and we both knew this was not a coincidence."She was connected to everything," I said. "The orphanage and the fire and Mrs Chen and Clara and the bank. She was everywhere."Dorian closed the folder and stood up and his face was hard."We are going to the bank," he said. "We are going to find out everything we can about her."We drove downtown in silence and the city was busy and loud and full of people who had no idea what we were searching for. The streets were crowded and the buildings were tall and the world was still turning b