"Oh! This is pretty interesting. Hmmm…." The man smirked while tracing his jaw with his fingers.
He was looking at an interesting picture that his subordinate brought him early morning.
"Two men fighting for one woman, huh. And who is this woman?" He singled out a photo and showed it to the man standing beside him.
"Miss Rachelle Henry, a famous model celebrity and mister Hanes' ex-lover." The man reported.
"Ex-lover? But I guess they were still seeing each other, am I right?"
"Yes sir. They're still seeing each other."
"Hmmm, this is quite an interesting story, huh. Costa, looked into these women's background too. I want to know what's the real deal here." He smirked evilly.
"Yes sir." The man kowtowed and left immediately.
After a few minutes, the man's mobile phone buzzed. Seeing who the caller was, he immediately answered.
"Hello mister Barry, this is Jade. I'm sorry I cannot go with you today because I urgently need to see someone. I'm truly sor---"
"It's okay, Jade. Don't trouble yourself too much. I also have an appointment with my doctor today so looked like our plan is officially cancelled." The man chuckled upon hearing the woman's apologetic voice.
"Oh, okay. That's good to hear then. See you around Mr. Stones. Bye." He could hear Jade heaved a sigh of relief before disconnecting the call.
'Ah, what a sweet and obedient girl. I wouldn't mind to call you my daughter in law soon." He laughed playfully while looking at the photos one more time.
Marcus, looked like you got half of my personality after all. He twitched his lips proudly.
As for Jade, she woke up feeling a little bit dizzy. Looked like she achieved her ultimate goal last night: Drink until she passed out. However, she couldn't remember any of the things she did last night. As to how she reached the house puzzled her as well.
Anyway, why should she bother recalling such a pain in the eyes. Seeing Marcus dating his ex-lover happily pushed her to drink to her limit. He didn't even give her a single glance. Tsk! She hissed in annoyance as she stood up and went to the shower room.
Thinking to spend her Saturday at the orphanage where she came from might help ease her mind a bit.
After taking a bath, she prepared her things and was about to go downstairs when her eyes involuntarily landed on Marcus' bed. She always recalls that special night whenever she stared on the sheets.
She must admit, it was the best night in her life.
However, thinking about how the man ignored her nowadays saddened her heart. The night that she treasured the most seemed to be the man's greatest mistake.
And it pained her.
"Good morning, Miss Jade. Please take a seat." Susan greeted the woman with a smile. "Mister Marcus told me to prepare a soup that is good for your hangover so please take this."
Susan, their kitchen staff, placed a bowl in front of her.
"Marcus did?" She furrowed her brows. Guess he smell her reeking with alcohol when he got home last night." She assumed since she doesn't have any remembrance of what happened to her last night. She didn't even notice if Jasmine came or not.
Susan smiled as a confirmation.
Without giving much thought about Marcus' order, Jade finished the bowl of soup and thanked the old woman before leaving the house.
"Miss Jade….?"
Jade was already on the doorway when she heard the old woman called out.
"Yes?"
"Uhm, can I asked where you're going today? Mr. Hanes might call and asked about you so I was just ---"
"I doubt if he will." Jade's tone hints sarcasm. "Anyway, I'm going to the orphanage in Daisu. I'll be back before midnight." She smiled and left.
****************
He almost reached his destination when his phone ringed.
"Where are you? Aren't you supposed to accompany Zenia today?"
"Grandpa, Zenia and I decided to work separately for faster result. I am on my way to Daisu right now."
"Daisu? What business do you have in there?" The old man furrowed his brow.
"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you about my findings a week ago because I want to confirm my hunches first before telling you."
"Just tell me now, will you?" The old man insisted. As usual, he's impatient in everything that pertains to the person they were looking for.
"I tried to searched the hospital records about the father and daughter the day they were hospitalized due to the car accident. But both were a confidential record. Then I accidentally found a record of a person who seemed to be the mother's relative so I tried taking her information and did a background check and I found a very interesting story."
"Don't you stop telling the story until you finished it." The old man was obviously impatient to hear the conclusion of his story.
"She never married but her hospital records stated that she's a single parent."
"So what's the gist?"
"The girl was twelve years old when that woman died. And apparently, I found out that her daughter was sent to an orphanage in Daisu. Is it a coincidence that the orphanage was one of the Hanes' charity works?"
The old man went in silence for a minute. He seemed to understand Zion's thoughts.
"Do you think that girl was Arriana?" The old man was becoming sentimental.
"Don't raise your hopes yet, Grandpa. This is just my assumption so I need to confirm it."
Zion heaved a sigh as soon as the call was disconnected. That was one of the reason why he doesn't want to tell him yet. He always turned too emotional when he hears possibilities.
He parked his car outside the orphanage gate then signed the visitor's log at the guardhouse. As soon as he was done with the process, he was escorted at the supervisor's office where he waited for his turn to be called.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harley, but the information you were asking was under a confidential status. Unfortunately, we cannot release any information aside from the fact that she was indeed adopted."
She was adopted but the information was confidential? For what reason? He was in deep thought. Suspicions clouded his mind.
Something is odd, he can feel it. He needed to see that folder at all cost!