The office was suspicious and elegantly furnished. A man sat at the large mahogany desk, focused on the documents in front of him.
There was a knock on the door and the person entered without getting a reply.
"Young master Louis." He bowed and finally got Louis attention. He broke his gaze from the papers and looked at him with questioning gaze.
"We found out something about the girl, Verena Bradbury." He informed but hearing him calling her full name made Louis eyes darker and mood bad.
"It's Mrs. Heisenberg." He informed sternly.
Joshua was caught off guard but immediately nodded as he didn't want to make his boss angry for no reason.
"Give it to me." Louis said and Joshua hastily put the folder on the table in front of him.
There was some pictures of Verena's and after looking at it for quite sometime while Joshua kept standing there staring at his boss.
He didn't know why he was taking so long to just stare at one picture of the Miss.
He couldn't force himself to ask him what was bothering him so he stayed quiet until Louis fed up for staring so long.
"Good work. You can go now." Joshua nodded and bowed before going he turned his head to take a glance at Louis who was still looking at the pictures on the table.
He sighed and walked away.
...
The diamond watch.
Verena's fingers curled into fists at the memory.
It wasn't just any timepiece. That watch had been the only thing he left her. The only proof that he had ever existed.
"Where's the diamond watch I brought back five years ago?" Verena said icily, her voice laced with quiet fury.
Ariana's already swollen face twitched. Her eyes darted toward Emily, panic rising.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered. "Maybe you lost it somewhere—"
Slap!
The slap was so hard that blood welled at the corner of her mouth as she staggered backward.
"You have two days," Verena said, her voice calm, almost lazy. "Two days to return it. Or next time, you won't walk away as easily. Understood?"
Ariana clutched her cheek in horror. "You're threatening me?!"
"No," Verena smirked coldly. "I'm making a promise."
Without another word, she turned and strode upstairs.
She paused at the top, blinking once. Her bedroom door… gone.
Verena's eyes narrowed as she noticed the adjacent door—Ariana's.
She pushed it open.
What used to be her sanctuary was now Ariana's glamorous walk-in wardrobe.
The wall dividing their childhood rooms had been knocked down to make space for rows of designer dresses, heels, velvet-lined jewelry drawers.
Verena walked in slowly, the air reeking of expensive perfume.
She gave a hollow laugh. "Ah. I see my things weren't just taken… they were repurposed."
She ran a hand along one of the black jackets. It was hers—tailored to her frame before prison had stripped her of freedom and identity. The fabric still remembered her shape.
She turned sharply as heavy footsteps approached behind her.
Emily stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, eyes blazing. "What the hell do you think you're doing in my daughter's room?"
Verena looked at her without flinching. "My room. Or did you forget which wall used to divide it?"
Emily scoffed.
"Please. Your things are in the storeroom, exactly where trash belongs. Look at this space—it suits Aria. She's successful, elegant, and loved. Of course she deserves it."
Verena's smile was icy.
"Of course she does. Just like she deserved to steal from me, right? The watch, the room, the shares. She's just following in her mother's footsteps."
"Watch your mouth, you country-bumpkin criminal! You should be grateful we didn't burn your things!" Emily's face darkened as she speak.
Verena didn't even blink.
"Tell Ariana to return everything. That includes the watch. Or the next time the press comes calling, it won't be about my past—it'll be about yours."
Then, without waiting for a reply, she brushed past Emily and walked toward the storeroom.
Jonathan watched a tattered-looking Verena leave the house with such hateful manner.
He thought about where she will sleep tonight and, suddenly felt a dull pain on his chest.
Emily noticed, and immediately scolded him furiously.
"Why? Do you feel sorry for her and her mother? Jonathan, don't forget she cursed my daughter to death!" she paused and narrowed her eyes at him saying, "she was born to take all the blame of my daughter!"
Jonathan didn't understand her much about this matter but since he had did everything about the murder few years ago.
He was involved in it more than his wife and daughter.
"I… I am not feeling sorry for her. The most important thing now is that she is out of prison. If she open up her mouth, then we are going to be in big trouble!"
Emily sneered and said, "Verena won't dare speak out; we'll shift all the blame onto her, as she's the one who's been punished, not our daughter. We've been using her mother as a scapegoat all these years, treating her for years, so what do we have to fear? Our priority now is to ensure Louis marries our precious daughter. If Aria bears Louis' child, no one will be able to touch us."
Jonathan sighed and said, "Old Master Heisenberg takes family backgrounds very seriously, I'm worried that he would dislike Aria for being involved in the murder."
"Dislike? Louis is an illegitimate child. He didn't even have the eligibility to inherit the power." Emily laughed with a hint of craziness and added.
"He is Heisenberg. Legitimate or not. He will still get good assets." Jonathan said after thinking about it.
"As long as Louis believes that Aria was the girl, who is perfect for him, then nobody could stop them from getting married. Jonathan, you just wait for our precious daughter to marry into City A's number one wealthy family and be a rich man's wife!" Emily clapped her hands, excitedly.
Jonathan nodded happily as he also made plans to get hold of Louis and his wealth.
The sorry feeling that he had for Verena disappeared without a trace.