Chapter 126
He suddenly hung his head low, a flicker of loneliness passing through his eyes. "It wasn't Mr. Collins that night. It was Tracie."
I had just taken a sip of water and choked on it upon hearing his words. "Tracie? Where is she?"
"I'm not sure if it was her, but I found a few strands of long hair in my room." He took a swig of his beer, and it was evident that he had been frantically searching for Tracie these past few days.
Given his usual habits, discovering long hair in his room was really strange. I wasn't even allowed in his room. Nor were the housekeepers. Only his assistant could enter. Richard mentioned once that only Tracie had the privilege to enter his room. As I pondered whether Tracie could be the heiress of the Goodwin family who had recently returned from abroad, Kate walked in through the door, shooting me a glare as she passed by.
And suddenly, I smelled something akin to sulfuric acid, making me nauseous.
"You're pregnant?" Kate slammed her hand on the table anxiously. "No, Claude never touched you. Whose child are you carrying?"
I scoffed. "You do have a knack for being delusional. It's your presence that's making me sick, not my meal."
She sniffed her arm and huffed, "Hmph." Then she quickly left the dining hall, complaining to those around her, "I knew it was too good to be true when my sister gifted me that perfume. This scent is revolting. Do you guys find it disgusting?" The others shook their heads. "We didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
When I watched them leave, a terrifying thought crossed my mind. Could Tracie be involved in those charred body cases? If Richard knew, it would break his heart.
"I'm full. Let's go back." Richard was distracted, still preoccupied with thoughts of Tracie, hardly focusing on his meal.
He offered to drive me home, but I declined, knowing he was eager to continue his search for Tracie. Plus, my place was a short drive away. And I could manage on my own.
After he left, I called Kate to confirm whether the perfume was related to the charred bodies and whether Tracie was involved.
Kate sounded surprised when she answered, "What, not scared I might send someone after you?"
Her threats were blatant,
empowered by Claude's indifference
and the detectives' lack of evidence. In another life, I might have been scared and saddened. But this time, I wanted to know the truth, whatever it might be.
I went to the point, "Kate, do you want to outshine your sister?"
The Goodwin family seemed to have chosen Tracey as the heir, so Kate sought my help in sabotaging Tracey's welcome party to tarnish her reputation and make everyone question her origins. She wanted Tracey to fall from grace.
gene
I needed to know what connection Tracey had with the charred bodies. Or I needed to consider if my demise in a previous life as one of those charred victims was related to Tracey. Was she the mastermind I had never anticipated?
As I clenched my fist subconsciously, nausea overwhelmed me once more, strengthening my suspicion that I might indeed be pregnant.
It wasn't just the stress causing my digestive discomfort. The truth was becoming murkier by the minute.