:


    Frank shook his head<i>, </i>his shoulders slumping as he sank back onto the sofa. The confession had drained him, leaving nothing but resignation in his posture. The living room fell into a weighted silence, broken only by the asional car passing outside the window.


    Archer reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, his fingers moving swiftly across the screen. “I have something I want to show you, Jade.” He turned the device around, disying a slightly yellowed photograph.


    58


    The woman in the image bore a striking resemnce to Jade–the same delicate bone structure, the same angle to her chin. Her features were refined, her expression elegant but guarded. She looked like an older, softer version of Jade, her eyes holding the same intelligence but none of the coldness.


    Jade barely nced at the screen, her eyes flicking to it for just a second before looking away. She didn’t reach for the phone, didn’t ask to hold it closer. Her expression remained perfectly neutral, as if Archer had shown her nothing more interesting than yesterday’s weather report.


    “This is Hazel Reed,” Archer said softly, his voice tinged with old grief. “And I believe she was your mother.”


    Jade’s eyebrow twitched slightly–the only indication she’d heard him at all. If anything, her eyes seemed to grow more distant, a flicker of irritation crossing her features.


    “Child,” Archer continued, tucking his phone away when it became clear Jade wouldn’t take it, “these are your real


    parents. Conrad Sullivan and Hazel Reed. I’m your uncle–your father’s younger brother.”


    Frank shifted ufortably on the sofa. “It’s true, Jade,” he admitted, unable to meet her eyes. “I found you at the


    hospital.”


    Jade studied the man who’d raised her, her gaze clinical and detached. No shock registered on her face, no betrayal or hurt. If anything, she looked bored by the revtion that should have shattered her world.


    “Your father–Conrad–was the eldest son of the Sullivan family,” Archer exined, leaning forward in his chair. “He was brilliant, driven. A workaholic who never showed much interest in rtionships until he was thirty–three.”


    Archer’s gaze turned distant, lost in memory. “There was a symphony orchestra performing in Cloud City. Conrad attended on a whim. That’s where he saw Hazel for the first time. She was ying the violin–first chair, despite being only twenty–five,”


    Jade stood perfectly still, her arms crossed over her chest. Her expression suggested she was enduring this story rather than absorbing it.


    “Hazel was an orphan,” Archer continued. “She’d grown up in the foster system here in Cloud City. Brilliant musician, but physically fragile. Always sickly. But when she yed…” He shook his head slightly. “Conrad said he’d never heard anything so beautiful.”


    Linda snorted from her position near the wall.


    …


    17:15 Wed, Sep 24 B..


    <b>58 </b>


    “They fell in love quickly. Conrad visited Cloud City every weekend for a year. Then he told our mother he wanted to marry Hazel.” Archer’s face darkened. “Our mother, ir Sullivan, was… is… a formidable woman. She refused to ept Hazel as Conrad’s wife. A musician from nowhere, with no family connections, no social standing…”


    “So what?” Linda interrupted. “Rich people drama. What’s this got to do with us?”


    Archer ignored her, his eyes fixed on Jade. “Conrad fought with our mother for two months. He was willing to give up his position in the family, his shares in thepany. But our mother had a heart attack during one of their arguments. The doctors said any more stress could kill her.”


    “Emotional maniption,” Jade remarked, her first words since Archer had begun his story. Her tone was t,


    unimpressed.


    Archer nodded. “Exactly. Conrad was trapped at the Sullivan estate, unable to leave our mother’s side without risking her health–or so the doctors imed. He asked me to go find Hazel, to exin what had happened.” His voice grew


    quieter. “But when I reached Cloud City, Hazel’s orchestra had disbanded. No one knew where she’d gone.”


    Jade’s eyes narrowed slightly, the only sign she was listening at all.


    “Conrad was convinced our mother had done something,” Archer continued. “He abandoned everything to search for Hazel. Spent a year traveling, following leads that went nowhere. He grew sick with worry, was hospitalized several


    times for exhaustion.”


    Archer paused, hisposure slipping for a moment. “Eventually, Conrad developed severe depression. He barely left his room for two years. And then one morning…” His voice cracked. “He took his own life at the family estate.”


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