After Nicolo saved Mirage and Euphemia that day on the shore, he and Don Augustus had been flipping through their phones to make the investigation faster by all means. Calling each and every one who's involved and everyone who could possibly help.
It was a lot of work, but it paid off as they began to get results. They finally found her husband's contact information at the local police station which led them to his home address and working place as well.
Nicolo found out that he was a store manager of a huge and known hardware store at a very well known mall in the Philippines. He's only been there for two years since he graduated from university, however he did have quite impressive work that let him gain lots of achievements and that makes him the manager.
" This guy's a hard worker. " Nicolo muttered while reading the report.
" I think so, too. " Detective Wright said nodding slowly.
Upon knowing about that, Nicolo started to make his move. He flipped his phone and made a call. He ordered the purchase of the said mall and even the hardware store that Elven's has been working on.
He also found out through the report that Elven filed an indefinite leave of absence regarding the passing of his wife and daughter. He leaves their house to his mother-in-law's care and starts to live on his own. Trying to forget the tragedy that took away his family's lives and hoping he could finally start to move on.
Elven secretly purchased a house from the money he saves up. He didn't really give his whole salary to his mother, instead he saved a part of it for his daughter's future and to be able to buy a house to surprise his wife. But they're gone. He couldn't do much else than to keep himself going. Living in their house gave him a hard time that almost drove him crazy.
And that's why Nicolo needs to step up. He will soon meet Elven to tell him that his wife and daughter were alive. That he doesn't need to live miserable anymore. He's planning to go back to the Philippines and take Elven with him here, where his family is. He doesn't know what his grandfather is going to do when he finds out about Elven that's why he asked the detective to tell him everything first.
Nicolo closed the folder after he scanned through the report. Not realizing that something slipped from it.
Elven doesn't come from a rich family. And Mirage having amnesia might give the Don an opportunity to separate the two. Knowing the things the Don have done in the past, Nicolo won't take his chance and he can't definitely ignore that possibility. He will do everything to protect Mirage and her family this time.
"What are you doing here?"
A voice interrupted his thoughts, making the man startled at the sudden question out of nowhere.
The voice belonged to Mirage, who is now standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the folded folder on his hand that the detective had handed him. Nicolo looked up to meet her gaze. But before he could answer, Mirage bowed down and picked up a photo that slipped from the folder.
It was Elven's photo, her forgotten husband.
She held it close to her face and looked through it like she had seen someone she knew.
She looked at the man in the picture while Nicolo's eyes widened in shock. He can't move and he doesn't exactly know what to do after she caught him off guard. Her forehead began to crease as she looked intensely at the photo in her hand. After a few seconds of silence between them, she looked up from the photo to find the detective and Nicolo staring at her nervously.
Her eyes landed again on the picture, then they moved up to look at Nicolo's face. Her brows were furrowed and her lips were pressed into a thin line.
She looked as if she wanted to speak, but she stayed quiet.
Nicolo can see the pain written all over her eyes but not enough to show that on her face. There were still some emotions that showed though it didn't look like Mirage wanted anyone to know of those feelings so she tried to hide it. She sighed loudly.
"I'm leaving."
She then returned the photo and continued walking towards the stair leaving Nicolo behind.
"Did she just walk away?!" Nicolo exclaimed and handed the photo and folder back to the stunned detective.
Nicolo snapped out of his state of shock and immediately stood up straight following Mirage behind.
The last thing he needed right now was someone to ask questions about where this woman went because he had no idea. It would make him look guilty and he didn't want that at all.
Nicolo grabbed her arm gently, turning her around. He put his hands on her upper arms as she stared into his eyes. He sighed and made up his mind. He's going to tell her the truth. He's going to tell her that it was her husband.
"Mirage- "
He doesn't have the chance to finish his words as he was surprised when he saw her face.
She's crying. Tears fall one after another.
Mirage suddenly pushed his hands softly off of her.
" I don't know what's going on either so stop looking at me like that. "
She said with a bitter smile.
Nicolo looked confused and worried. He now has an idea how much Mirage loves her husband and her family. And seeing the way she was acting, he thinks that she shouldn't have seen that photo. The guilt that he felt was overwhelming.
He's never seen Mirage like this before. And he doesn't want to see her like this.
" Mirage please-"
He begged, trying to explain and reach out for her but she moved away.
And as she turned her back around, her vision went blurry, her head started to hurt and everything blacked out as she fell down on Nicolo's arm.