The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Chapter 2800

Rita's resilience - and all that she had encountered in her years within the family-resulted in pent-up emotions within her. Without Sherman by her side, she might not have revealed such a fragile facet of herself.

In addition, she had matured swiftly in the past few years too. Though her family disapproved of her work and she occasionally traded barbs with her stepmother and stepsister, none of that could match up to the challenges of a reporter roughing it on the streets.

Once Rita had composed herself, her mind churned with questions. For example, she wanted to know how they got information that she was going to be there with Sherman. She had kept her investigation of Esmond close to her chest, discussing it only with Sherman. That raised the question of how Esmond knew about their arrival and if his counter-surveillance operations were that formidable.

After she shared her concerns with Sherman, he thought for a moment before asking, "Are you certain you didn't mention Esmond to anyone else? Frankly speaking, I have spoken about it to my subordinates, but I trust that they couldn't have leaked any of the important information. And besides, they don't know about our plans for today."

Rita mulled over the possibilities until a recollection struck her. She had mentioned his name to Karen before to see what kind of reaction she would have. "Do you think it's her?"

"Karen and Esmond both share the same surname. Why would you bring up Esmond's name to test Karen? Did you uncover something? Are they connected or something?"

Sherman's memory was jogged to that night where he made the association about them out of nowhere.

"I haven't been able to piece together the information I've found, but all I know is that Karen had some unpleasant memories before marrying into our family. Neither she nor her daughter was willing to discuss it. It seems she had an ex-husband. I can't confirm if it's Esmond, but her expression turned sour when I mentioned his name. Something must've happened between them in the past."

Sherman nodded thoughtfully, "Then Esmond might be her ex-husband. If we look at it from that angle, it could explain how he knew we'd be here today. Karen could inform him if she wanted, and he could've had his guard up against us from the beginning after we'd connected the dots to him. There's also a chance that we were targeted the second we entered this place. Why else would they have led us on a roundabout path to someplace that's so far from the entrance? It had to have been a trap."

Rita felt remorseful. "All I wanted was to figure out what their connection was. I never imagined that my questions would lead to this getting trapped here. I'm sorry for putting us in this situation."

"You don't have to apologize. Your questions validated our suspicions, didn't they?" After a pause, he ventured, "I'm curious, though. Does this mean Esmond and Karen have stayed in touch over the years? And does your father know about this?"

Rita was taken aback as she realized that she had not considered that angle. "I'm not sure if they stayed in touch, but Karen did not have pleasant memories of her past. Why else would she go to such lengths to marry into our family? When they first arrived, she and her daughter seemed quite distraught, which suggests that their previous situation was not that good. If Esmond had been as financially strong as he is right now, I don't think he would've subjected them to such a miserable life back then."NôvelDrama.Org © content.