M gently patted his head, "What a silly thing to say."


    She thought back to her own child, whom she hadn''t managed to raise well. Her child''sck of closeness weighed heavily on her mind, especially whenever she thought of Adrian.


    ...


    Not long after, Miranda returned.


    She had just finished sorting out the hospital paperwork. Even before she opened the door, her loud voice rang out.


    "It''s the strangest thing. I went to pay the hospital fees, and the nurse told me some man had already settled everything. Didn''t even leave a name. What an altruistic soul. A real modern-day Good Samaritan."


    M raised an eyebrow, guessing, "Was it Nathaniel?"


    Eugene snorted, "Pretentious."


    "Nathaniel?" Miranda pulled up a chair, took a sip of water, and asked, puzzled, "What''s he doing here?"


    M nced at the child in her arms, "This is his nephew."


    Miranda''s eyes widened. After a moment, she pped her knee, "Damn it! He came by and I wasn''t here. I would have given him a piece of my mind. But why didn''t he take the kid with him?"


    The child in M''s arms stirred, and she quickly hushed, "Keep your voice down."


    Once the child was sound asleep again, M exined what had happened. Miranda frowned as she listened, not holding back her criticism of M''s soft- heartedness.


    "I''m telling you, you shouldn''t get involved with this kid."


    She lowered her voice, "I''m serious. Stay away from the Pembroke Family''s business, especially when ites to this child. It''s a real hot potato."


    "What do you mean?" M asked, puzzled.


    She knew little about the Pembroke Family and even less about the people around Lysander, having always been kept at arm''s length.


    Miranda''s expression suggested there was more to the story.


    She nced at the child and confirmed, "He''s asleep, right?"


    M nodded. The little one had been through such an ordeal, with bruises and scrapes all over his body. He was exhausted and sleeping soundly.


    Only then did Miranda continue-


    "This goes back to when I was still an intern. My mentor told me about a case."


    "The case is almost six years old now. As soon as it happened, the Pembroke Family mped down on the news. It was a closed trial, so nothing leaked out. You probably haven''t heard about it, but my mentor is highly respected in the legalmunity. He shared this with a few of us close apprentices. It was a particrlyplex case."


    "And remember, you can''t breathe a word of this to anyone."


    She gave Eugene a pointed look, knowing M was trustworthy, but Eugene was still an unknown.


    "Don''t worry, he''s not the type to gossip.


    M prompted her, "Quit teasing us with suspense."


    Miranda wiggled a finger and lowered her voice, "Alright, here it goes. The case was exceptionally rare-a spousal murder."


    The two listening were utterly shocked.


    A murder?


    And it was a criminal case?!


    M''s mind raced, recalling Nathaniel''s mention of a mother in prison and a deceased father.


    She had assumed it was something else entirely:


    Perhaps the mother was imprisoned for financial or economic fraud, typical of affluent families;


    The father, she thought, might have died from illness or an ident.


    Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine it would be a murder!


    So, Julian Pembroke''s mother killed his father? One in prison, the other dead?


    How could things have escted to such a bitter end?