Richard whipped out his smartphone, scrolling through a barrage of tweets to show Ronald. The trendingments painted a grim picture, and Ronald''s face turned sour instantly.
"Look, I''m trying to do what''s right," Ronald said, his voiceced with an ufortable mix of regret and duty.
Richard pocketed his phone, his voice thick with emotion. "Where the hell is ire? Everyone''s talking about her, and she ghosts us? Not a call, not a text. Half the time, I''m terrified she''s dead. She''s all I''ve got left in this world."
His usually calm demeanor shifted, a dark edge creeping in.
Head bowed, Ronald ascended the stone steps, listening to Richard''s turmoil.
"What kind of person is ire?" Ronald ventured, breaking the silence.
Richard''s face softened at the mention of ire''s name. "ire was fostered at an orphanage from a young age. Her parents had these mysterious jobs but sent a hefty check monthly, ensuring all the kids got a fair shot. We all went to school because of that. ire was brilliant, beautiful, soft-spoken, and even aced medical school. She was supposed to study abroad, but then ude appeared. Marrying ude was the biggest mistake of her life. If I hadn''t been so reckless, leaking that scandal about the Hart family to the press, they wouldn''t have taken her back."
Ronald heard a different side of ire and listened intently.
Richard added, "The story of ire''s parents is just hearsay to me. Supposedly, ude got kidnapped, and ire''s parents died trying to save him. Rumor had it they were ude''s bodyguards, but he never acknowledged that nor did hepensate ire in any way. I found out that there was no employment link between ire''s parents and the Hart family, so I blew the whistle to the media."
The revtions stunned Ronald.
It turned out my death and the death of my parents remained a mystery!
"ude once drunkenly bbed that he didn''t even know ire''s folks and said they got themselves killed trying to save him. I wanted to throttle him right there," Richard fumed, Ronald taken aback by the admission.
"No wonder the records I found all narrate how ire''s parents saved ude, and he took ire back to foster her. The Hart family must''ve doctored those records."
Richard sighed, a wry smile on his
lips. "Yeah, ude always imed he didn''t want to be responsible for ire. The elders of the Hart family know what they''re hiding, insisting on taking responsibility for her. thought it was the media pressure at first. ire seemed to truly like ude, so I figured as long as she was happy, that was enough."
Listening to him, I couldn''t help but suspect the Hart family had a hand in my parents'' death!N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.
And they were still hiding something! But I was dead. I couldn''t uncover the truth about my parents'' deaths or see their ashes. I''d failed as a child shouldn''t have fallen for ude, blinded by love!
"Do you think the Hart family has something to do with the death of ire''s parents?" Ronald zeroed in on the crux.
"I have a hunch, but I don''t have proof," Richard admitted with a bitterugh.
"And now I''ve lost ire," he added, grief-stricken, his voice breaking. "Mr. Collins, do you think ire is dead?"
Ronald stopped, remembering the DNA report Max had procured for him. With Max''s connections, there was no room for error. Silently, he offered Richard a cigarette, a gesture of shared sorrow.
Richard shook his head. "I don''t smoke. ire hates it."
Ronald quietly pocketed the cigarette.
"Do you want to keep talking about ire?" he asked.
Richard shook his head. "Let''s talk about you."
Ronald knew the real conversation was about to begin.
"I kidnapped Kate. You were right. It also proves you were wrong to issue that nationwide APB." Richard''s blunt confession halted everyone in their tracks.