Daughter-in-law Strikes Harder

The next morning

Miller’s mansion

Aria’s bedroom

Aria woke up tired and stressed on the bed that she was sprawled upon, with so much that seemed so strange to her. The last thing she remembered from the previous day was drinking from her tequila, and feeling so drowsy till the point that she could stand up again.

‘I could have just died like that if last night was a plot to kill me.’ Aria shook her head in her carelessness, as she tried to stand up even if her entire body was aching badly.

Suddenly, her brain awakened and she realized that her drink being drugged, was a bit of an issue she should not take with levity. She quickly stood up and casted her dress to the floor in front of the dresser, as she checked every part of her body to see that nothing had gone wrong at all.

“Shit. What happened when I fell asleep?” Aria mumbled over and over again, as she moved in circles because of the restlessness that hit her heart.

‘Only she and Dalton shared the room, so there was no way that any other person had access to them including Alex. So what could have gone wrong with a properly sealed drink? Did she by chance come in contact with something before the drink that made everything a coincidence?’

Aria continued to wonder endlessly in her heart, with a surfeit amount of disturbing questions. It was the morning of the next day already, which meant she slept for so long which was quite abnormal. She couldn’t sleep so deep without the aid of something.

‘Could it be Dalton? He wasn’t home the previous day, and he was nowhere to be seen on a beautiful morning. What was she missing?’

Just as Aria’s eyes darted to the huge golden clock that rested on the wall in the room, reality hit her immediately, “Goodness gracious. My flight leaves in an hour!”

Quickly, she peeled the remaining piece of the clothing that was left on her body, and rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower. She still had to see her private investigator before she left for the airport, so that things would go perfectly without any problem.

Few minutes out, she was oiling her body hurriedly, and finding the perfect disguise dress to wear. She picked out the biggest handbag she had from the dressing room, and put a few things that she would need in there instead of a traveling bag. She could not afford to be suspected and followed.

As soon as she took the trip to the gate and out of the mansion, the chauffeur that was to pick her up was already waiting outside.

“Bye, Damien,” she mouthed immediately as she turned away from the mansion.

She brought out her phone immediately, to confirm every payment that she had made to the right places. She sent Collin a timed email too. One he would receive a few days later.

‘She would get everything done once and for all.’

~•~•~

“It seems like every conversation through this email has been cut off, sir. It has been dormant for days,” the operator in charge of the monitors informed Collin who was standing outside to know if there was any new leading information that he could get.

It was after he had told Aria about Eva and everything that he knew, that Greg, the operator, called him that he had forwarded the recovered mails to his fax.

He had taken his time to read every of the sent and received mails over and over again, and he could soon understand what Aria’s weird behavior had been all about. He had been busy trying to get evidence against Eva himself.

And for the questions Collin had for her, he had decided to crack the case by himself without asking her. There were so many things that she had not told him, which were definitely the most important of all. He was going to find out the truth by himself.

Nate entered almost immediately and dropped the documents that he was able to get before Collin, who grabbed it quickly and opened the paper to read what was written on it. It was Dalton’s and Aria’s marriage certificate, and the names on it were Aria Hamilton.

“Did you check if she made an official change of name document?” Collin asked his assistant again, who had taken the seat before him.

“No sir. She had not changed her name before, and it is the one she has been bearing since birth according to the birth certificate that I was able to get,” he explained again.

There was a puzzled look on Collin’s face, as he compared the files in his hands to what he had before confusingly. He checked again and again to be sure he was not losing his mind already.

‘The person he had always known was Ariana. How come her name had been Aria all along in her marriage?’

~•~

“Nice to see you again, mate,” Mr. Hamilton greeted the man that walked over the counter in front of the outdoor food stand to where he was sitting, as he took the seat before him.

“Same here man. Now keg us get down to business. It was hard getting the information you wanted. There were barely no traces and no one knew anything. Every penny you sent was spent on finding clues,” the man spoke in gentle words, which got Hamilton more impatient than ever.

“I would pay, if you want more. As much as you want. You’ve got anything?” Hamilton asked immediately. He was too tensed up and suffocated to be clueless about what was going on.

“Someone said that the night of the fire, that woman’s body was the only one that was found. They didn’t see her daughter’s body,” Reynold disseminated the information in the same way he heard it, and took a sip from the glass of beer that he had brought alongside with him.

“The daughter did not die? Her body wasn’t found?” Hamilton asked in exasperation, shocked that he was just having to hear that information for the first time in ten years.

“According to an eye witness that was hard to even find, there were no two bodies,” the man repeated again and paused to look at the livid man before him, “You look pale. What is wrong?”

“No.. not.. hing nothing. Thank you for your help. I will pay you even more than the completion money,” he mumbled confusingly, as he tried to stand up from where he was sitting. He was weak and his feet were numb.

‘It couldn’t be, could it?’

~•~•~

Dalton was sitting comfortably in the VIP office of the hospital director, who had gone to get the reports of the tests that Dalton came to do personally in person. The billionaire crossed his legs with a poise-signature of entitlement, waiting for the fate of what he had come to do the previous day.

He knew that there was no way Aria would not take the liquor that was well positioned in her corner, and had put sleeping pills in it after placing it in where it would catch her attention. He also put it in the jug of water in the room, so that one of the two would end up making her sleep.

When he figured out that his plans had worked perfectly, he returned back to the room to carry her up in his arms. He called Alex to bring the car to the front door from the underground parking lot, and placed her inside immediately, as they drove fast to the hospital.

The doctor performed every necessary brain and full body CT scan on her, before Dalton returned her back to the house undetected by her. He allowed her to sleep the entire night herself and didn’t come home, which led to her sudden tiredness and weakness the next day.C0pyright © 2024 Nôv)(elDrama.Org.

When Dalton made his way into the doctor’s office, he came out minutes later with a melancholic expression on his face. The confused doctor who had revealed the results of the test to the billionaire ran after him, so as to be able to calm him down about everything because of how he could be feeling.

Dalton drove out of the hospital compound like a crazy man in his car, as hot tears dropped from his eyes to the severe aching of his heart. He had never been that heartbroken and sad in his entire life, because of a news about someone that was dear to me. He felt even worse and miserable than ever, than when his father died.

“The patient in question must be in severe pain, vast sadness, depression and mental imbalance. The formal test results showed slight anorexia, and high level of respiratory problem due to high alcohol intake.

The results of the test also showed a major tumor in the brain of this individual, which needs immediate attention and surgery before it becomes irremediable. And also during the patient’s sleep, we noticed some kind of disorder like dissociative identity disorder. You need to bring the patient when she is conscious sir, to begin every necessary treatment.” The exact way the doctor said it to him, rang over and over again in his ears like a lunatic.

‘Aria had been suffering too much and yet he had no idea. She had been in too much pain, and yet he couldn’t see. He had hurt her too much and yet she didn’t break. How could he have been so cruel to someone who was dying silently?’

Dalton let out painful sobs as he drove really fast, unable to handle how bad and broken he was feeling. It was too much for him to handle, knowing well that he had caused her pain. He called Alex too with that heavy voice and heart, to find out where she could be.

Immediately he drove into the compound, he didn’t mind who was looking as he ran inside the house to ask about her.

“She has left the house this morning sir, and has not come back since.”

‘He was doomed.’