Brendan climbed the stairs and returned to his room. Deirdre clenched her jaw and followed suit.When Brendan found Deirdre sitting on his bed after he emerged from the bathroom, wiping himself dry, he knew there was no getting out of the discussion. He flipped his matted hair back and asked, "Okay, what is it?"Deirdre clenched her hands. "Remember how I slapped Emily at the gate of Night City? That was because she confessed to coercing Shea! And that's not all, Brendan. Do you know that Mrs. Engel is innocent? She was threatened into confessing she was the mole! Think about it! If Mrs. Engel was a mole, she would have had ample time to hurt me. She never needed to work with Emily at all!"The room fell into a prolonged silence. Brendan seemed rather unperturbed and unruffled until shades of fatigue appeared on his face. "I see. Okay. Now, time to sleep."Deirdre froze. "You… don't believe me, do you?"Brendan set his towel down, revealing conflict in his eyes. "It's not that I d
Brendan was apathetic, distant, and even a little impatient.He did not believe her. Deirdre felt weight crushing her chest. For some reason, she was reminded of what Emily had said to her. 'You shouldn't blame anyone for this. If anything, blame yourself for being so useless. You can only rely on Brendan to do anything at all. Think about it. What happens when he stops trusting you?'Deirdre understood the thorn in her words now. It felt like cotton had been stuffed into her throat. A long moment later, Deirdre finally spoke again. "What happened, Brendan? What did she say to you that just… makes you trust her so much? We both already know that she likes you! So why is it so hard for you to believe she would do anything to get you?"Brendan caressed her cheeks. He looked like he was grappling with his own confusion, too. "Dee, I love that you're wary about her existence. I love that you're jealous of her, but jealousy doesn't mean someone has to be this evil demon you're making
"If you care about me, then do what I say. Do not ever have any contact with Emily Collins! "She quit being my doctor, right? That means there is no reason for the two of you to contact each other anymore! You are to treat her like a stranger! And if you need to talk to her, then talk to her only when I'm there with you… and you'll have to report to me before meeting her!"Deirdre's lips were trembling. She no longer cared if what she asked would make her seem unreasonable and preposterous. Brendan's opinion about her was nothing compared to the gravity of Emily steadily taking everything Deirdre had away from her.She would do all she could to unmask Emily. She would show Brendan just who she really was!"Dee." Brendan's frown seemed to be stuck in his forehead. "Why do you hate her so much?"Deirdre smirked. "No reason. I just hate her guts. Happy?"He would not believe anything she said, anyway."The point remains." Deirdre emphasized. "If you care about me, then listen to w
"Ms. McKinnon, it's me."Shock shadowed Deirdre's features. She had been waiting for this. "Sam! What did you find out from Mrs. Engel's side? Any leads?"Sam was audibly excited. "Yes! I've got it! Mrs. Engel's eldest son had been abducted a month ago and released with threat, so his company faced a serious crisis at that time. It was then that someone suddenly provided monetary aid and saved her son's company from being destroyed."My investigation showed that none of it was coincidental. It was premeditated! And now, Mrs. Engel's son tells me he's willing to work with us to unmask Emily for who she really is!""That's great!"Deirdre was overjoyed. Emily's plan was not as foolproof as she touted it to be, after all! "Where are you now?""In the city where Mr. Mark Engel lives, though I'm technically buying a return ticket back to Neve. I'll be bringing Mark along with me for a confrontation with Emily."Part of Deirdre was concerned. "Do we have enough iron-clad evidence that
Food was also a great way to bring back the zest and passion in their relationship, especially after both of them had let it cool off on the side for this long.Ophelia was quite surprised to see Deirdre working hard in the kitchen. "Uh, shouldn't I help?""It's fine." Deirdre smiled, wiping little beads of sweat off her face. "I can do these. It's blurry, but it's good enough for me."Realization and understanding shadowed Ophelia's smile. "You hardly cook these days, so… what's up? Got motivated by some celebrity cook on the TV, or are you doing this only for a special someone?"Deirdre's cheeks warmed up a little. "Mom!""I know, I know. My daughter finally learned to put some effort into maintaining a relationship! As a mother who is very in the know, I won't interfere with this very special moment, so I am going to eat out."Deirdre was surprised. "Huh? But where? You don't have to!""I'm going to eat at a nice restaurant, sweetie. I won't stick around to see the two of you
Emboldened, Deirdre banished her hesitance and set her fork down. "Yes. I want to talk about something.""I'm all ears." Brendan took a sip of the soup and looked at her as tenderly as ever. "Can't say I'm not at all curious about this whole thing. It must be pretty big since you went to lengths to ask me to come home early."To his knowledge, Deirdre was never the type to take the first step in anything."Remember what I told you the last time? That Mrs. Engel is innocent?" The tenderness in Brendan's face gelled into something mechanical. His eyes cooled—they were now more placid than tender and perhaps even a little annoyed. He frowned. "Must you harp on this forever, Dee? It's all in the past now. Emily herself left us."Deirdre clenched her hands under the table. She cast her eyes down, but her tone remained serious. "Yes. It's all in the past. I could never mention it again if I didn't want to, but just because it happened doesn't mean it was nothing, was it? "I'm going t
"Where's Mark Engel now?"Deirdre was overjoyed. "He's on his way here! Sam located him and is bringing him to Neve. They should be here by tomorrow!"Brendan grazed the tablecloth back and forth. "Once he's with us, I'll confront Emily personally. She needs to explain this. If it really was her doing, then the people backing her must be very powerful too. I won't let her get away with this!"That was especially since his investigations had revealed no sign of outside manipulation. Deirdre clenched her hands to stop herself from being too excited. "And what about Shea and Mrs. Engel?""I'll compensate them for misjudging them. Shea will return to you, too."Deirdre smiled from ear to ear. Good, good! This way, Emily could never come back again! She knew it—she knew that her determination would pay off!The next morning, Sam called and told them they had both arrived at the station.Deirdre quickly informed Brendan, who ordered Sam to bring the man straight to their villa. Then
Brendan's glare was cold and piercing. "You claimed not to know Mark Engel, yet your company clearly dealt business with his before. Why? "You gave his company $450,000 a while ago, too! Are you going to tell me that this is all a fraud?"Consternation shadowed Emily's face. "Wait, Mr. Brighthall! I don't know what's happening at all! I might be in charge of Collins Pharmaceuticals, but I'm still considered wet around my ears. The board of directors was the one who made decisions on the company's behalf, so… I don't know where this $450,000 came from!"You have to let me make a call, okay? Give me time to make heads and tails of it!"She immediately tried to call on her phone.Deirdre stayed on her couch, unmoved. She was almost interested in watching how Emily was going to continue her pretense. While she was relaxed, however, Mark suddenly stepped forward and slapped the phone out of Emily's hand. "Don't muddy the water with some calls, missy! Your company transferred $450,00