Chapter 98


    All those questions


    Once I saw the footage Chris had talked about, I realized that his description had been an


    understatement; that the Asian woman wasn’t pretty-she was beautiful. She was slender and rather


    petite, with gorgeous shoulder-long ck hair, ck almond-shaped eyes, and full lips. On the two-


    second recording, she looked frightened and worried with her watery eyes disying nothing but sorrow


    and longing. I had never seen Lanfen, but looking at that woman’s face, I was certain that I was looking


    at the one who had once broken Aren’s heart. Of course, I needed something that would confirm her


    identity, but for now, I had to put it on my very long to-do list…


    We needed to move Aren back to his private clinic, putting him in the most secure wing. We had to do it


    not only for his safety but to minimize the potential casualties. The worst part of that night’s attack was


    not knowing who was behind these brutal killings or what their purpose was. Was it someone who tried to


    verify Aren’s condition? But if it was Aren’s enemy, then why wasn’t Aren assassinated? All those


    questions gave me a headache.


    “Get ready for your training session tomorrow at six o’clock sharp,” Chris said in amanding tone.


    “You will practice with me every other day before work, and on the rest of the days, you will learn how to


    shoot with Jack.” I didn’t dare argue with Chris. I could see in his eyes that I had given him quite a scare.


    He would never forgive himself if something happened to me, and now he was determined to at least


    give me the ability to defend myself. All I could do was ept his and Jack’s offer. I knew that I kept


    acting recklessly, and until now I had been lucky, but what if I ran out of luck? I knew that I would never


    be able to escape bullets, but I needed to know at least how to dodge a punch. Strange… If someone


    had told me a year ago that I would be eager to learn how to fight, I would have burst outughing. Now,


    the constant danger and facing death and murder had be my reality; I was living in Aren’s Lan


    world, and I needed to adapt as soon as possible.


    My new daily schedule required that Ie back to the penthouse. I started waking up at 4:30 to


    prepare myself for the training session and another day at the office. All my training was in Chris’s private


    gym, in the basement of the building he owned. It began with the toughest form of warmup I had ever


    had. The actual training came after; at the moment I wished that the whole session was over. Chris


    taught me the proper fighting stance, and how to keep my guard, but my body wasn’t able to handle


    more. My arms and legs were too weak, my nearly nonexistent, and my whole body unstretched.


    ording to Chris, my body’s ability to move reminded him of his grandma… I decided not toment


    on that. In the end, he changed my schedule again, making me get up an hour earlier to add extra time


    for stretching and strengthening exercises. I already felt sorry for my poor muscles at the thought of it…


    Finally, my first training session ended, and I was extremely happy to be still able to walk and move. The


    boost of dopamine put a bright smile on my face… whichsted until I opened the door of Aren’s office


    and saw the rest of the boxes of documents I needed to go through. It got even worse when Neil came to


    the office, giving me another pile of contracts that I needed to review and revise. It was like a pain in the


    ass, but I had to admit that it became slightly less difficult than when I started dealing with it a week ago.


    My time management improved, and I even set the timer to remind me that I should eat, just in case. At


    seven o’clock, I was done with all the work I had nned for myself that day. Satisfied with my newly


    developed efficiency, I was just about to leave the office when Chris and Jack came, iming that it was


    important.


    “We have a copy of the autopsy reports of the guards, nurses, and doctor, and preliminary findings of the


    investigation,” Jack said. “The nurses were executed in the medical staff room at the end of the corridor.


    The young doctor was shot by the elevator, and, as the blood smudges on the floor indicate, he waster


    dragged to the medical staff room to temporarily hide his body. The guards were killed by the staircase;


    they were most likely lured there by something they’d seen or heard.”


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    “No one from the lower floors heard anything, and the lights were out on the top floor only,” Chris


    interjected. “The shooter or more likely shooters were pros. The fact that no one heard anything


    suggests that they used silencers. Since all the kills were done by one shot in the head, the assassins


    were most likely quite tall, which eliminates the Asian woman as a potential killer… but we could assume


    that much before anyway.”


    My heart rate kept rushing as I heard about the gloomy details. Yet, there was one thing I couldn’t


    understand. “Why…?” I muttered. “Why did someone kill all those people?”


    Chris sighed, his jaw clenching. “Our guess is that someone cleared the way for that woman to visit


    Aren.”


    “This is insane!” I eximed, jumping to my feet. “So six people died just so that some bitch could have


    quality time with my unconscious husband?!”


    The wry grimaces on Jack’s and Chris’s faces seemed to confirm my words. “You know who that woman


    is, don’t you?” Jack asked.


    I shook my head. “I only assume that it might be Lanfen, but I have never seen any pictures of her. Aren


    said that he would send me the photos of her that he got from an anonymous sender, but he never did,


    and I don’t want to break into his private ount…”


    For a moment, Chris got lost in thoughts, and then suggested, “How about a photo album from the time


    he was studying? He must have kept some pictures from the university, and if we’re lucky, we will find


    Lanfen in at least one of them.”


    I nodded. “All right. I will check in his bedroom, and maybe I will be fortunate enough to confirm this


    woman’s identity.”


    Jack frowned, his eyes on the ceiling as he processed the whole situation. “There is one more thing I


    don’t understand. Why would someone have taken so much trouble to hide the fact that this woman


    visited Aren just to let us see her in the footage of that one camera? Moreover, it was the only camera


    directed at the emergency exit, which was that woman’s obvious route of escape. It just doesn’t make


    sense…”


    The more time I spent with Jack and Chris, the more frustrated I was. It was clearly time to leave the


    office and get some rest. With so many questions with no answers, I could at least shift my energy to


    searching for anything that could confirm that our mysterious woman from the footage was Lanfen.


    I got back to the penthouse and entered its empty space. My heart ached more with every step I took. I


    truly wished that he was there with me. My body started to shiver as I entered Aren’s bedroom. Going


    through his private things felt awkward, but it was necessary. The whole room smelled like him, and, for a


    moment, I felt as if he was standing right next to me, as if I could put my arms around him and feel his


    warmth. I missed that so much. Heaving a deep sigh, I sat on the floor and opened the cab by his


    desk, but I couldn’t find anything aside from some papers. Then I searched the cab by his bed, but I


    didn’t find anything useful


    in


    questions


    there either. Finally, I sat by his desk, opened the drawer, and numbly took out everything that Aren had


    put there. Still nothing. It felt as if every single item he had in his bedroom was work-rted. Frustration


    grew within me. I was about to put everything back in his drawer, but as I identally pressed the


    bottom, it opened, revealing extra space underneath. I gasped, seeing something that looked like an


    album. I reached for the book in a thick, leather cover and opened it. It was his university graduation


    album. The sole view sent my heart into a wild race. My hands shivered as I flipped the pages until I


    found a photo of Aren and Chris. They both looked amazingly handsome and confident. It made me


    smile, even though my eyes filled with tears of longing. I ran my fingers through the page that showed


    my husband’s face, admiring his stunning features, but each of those photos taken at Aren’s senior


    emphasized the emptiness and cold he held in his stare-proof of the damage Lanfen had done.


    I couldn’t find a single picture of Aren with a woman in the entire album. As I flipped the final page, I felt


    as if I was getting closer to a mental breakdown when suddenly, I saw an envelope with more pictures


    inside. I took out the first one and froze, seeing the woman from the footage. She looked exactly the


    same as in that footage frame, except for the fact that she was smiling… She was smiling at Aren, and


    my husband was smiling back at her. It was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen from him. The way


    he was looking at her, the way he held his hand at the small of her back, it all hit me like a ton of cement


    crushing my chest. I had my proof. Lanfen was back, and she had just be my worst enemy.