Hunting For Clues

“There’s no need to threaten me. I’ll do my best to find her even if it’s not for your sake,” I replied in a flat voice.

Back then, I had no idea what he had in mind when he told me that I would have to take responsibility if I couldn’t find my sister.

…

**The next day**

Despite telling my parents that I would try my best to find my sister, I still didn’t have any solid idea where I would find Diana or why she had suddenly decided to disappear. The timing was just too perfect because it was so close to her upcoming wedding. The only source of comfort for me was my gut feeling that told me that she was doing fine wherever she was. If she was truly distressed or if she needed help, I was sure that she would have tried to get in contact with me by now.

After making my escape from my parents and out into the long hallway of the mansion, I ran into one of our oldest housekeepers. The way her eyes lit up told me that she was pleasantly surprised to see that I had returned. Lauren must have worked in our household for way more than ten years now because she started since I was still a child at that time.

“Miss Dahlia…” she whispered my name before smiling a little my way.

Her nervous reaction as her eyes darted up and down the hallway to check if anyone would witness our interaction told me that she was stepping out of her boundaries to greet me. Sometimes the harshness of the life that I’ve led made me forget that I was fortunate to have met and interacted with many kind souls and this woman standing in front of me was one of them.

“Lauren, have you been well?” I asked before showing her a genuine smile.

“Yes, thank you, Miss Dahlia…” she replied softly.

I could tell that despite her fear of being spotted conversing with me, she was glad that she was able to greet me. A sudden idea sparked up in my mind and although it was a risky move, I didn’t have that many cards left up my sleeves and my parents were right that time wasn’t at all on our side.

“Can we talk for a bit? Perhaps, outside in the garden?” I suggested before smiling sweetly at her.

“Umm…yes…” she replied hesitantly.

Lauren seemed more relaxed now that we were together in the garden. The vast garden surrounding the mansion hadn’t changed at all from the last time that I had been there. The various statues of mythical creatures that I found so interesting when I was a child were still there although they had failed to capture my interest this time around.

“Miss Dahlia…what is it that you would like to talk about?” Lauren asked and I could tell that she was more scared than curious.

I turned toward her and offered her a smile before I slowly reached for her hands. The housekeeper’s eyes widened in surprise at my action, but she did not pull her hands away. I still remembered vividly the various times that she had helped me out in the past whenever my parents got mad at me. I may not have that many allies in this house, but I wouldn’t hesitate to count her as one of them.

“Actually, I was just wondering if…you know…any male staff of this mansion had suddenly resigned or disappeared recently?” I asked while focusing my eyes on her face to read her reaction.

“Well…” she murmured before her eyes darted away to the side.

Her reaction gave me the answer that I was looking for. She may not know something directly, but my guess must have been spot on.

“Can you tell me who he is?” I asked softly before applying a little pressure to her hands that I still held in mine.

“I’m sorry but…” she began apologizing.

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. A male staff of this mansion suddenly decided to quit his job, how can that be your fault? Right?” I continued pressing further.

I could see a few emotions raging war on poor Lauren’s face as she hesitated. After a short moment of struggling with her own fears, Lauren let out a long sigh of resignation. She turned to face me again before showing me a sad smile.

“His name is Gordon and he suddenly resigned not so long ago. He was working as one of the drivers here,” she whispered as if it was a guilty confession.

Gordon…a driver…

“Thank you. You have no idea just how big of a help you were. Also, I’ll make sure to keep this little chat that we had a secret. Ok?” I said before smiling reassuringly at her.

“Thank you, Miss Dahlia…” she whispered before letting out another sigh.

As if she had just lifted a huge mountain range off of her chest, Lauren looked more at peace and relaxed than before. She smiled at me and nodded.

“Please just call me Leya like you used to…” I told her warmly.

“Miss Leya…I am so sorry that there was nothing that I could do for you and because of that…that happened…you couldn’t come home…” she said in a broken voice, and I could see tears well up in her eyes as she stared up into my face.

“It’s not your fault. If you’ve been feeling any sense of guilt, it has to stop. You shouldn’t feel guilty. What happened…was the way that things should be,” I replied before braving a smile.

In a sense, it wasn’t at all a lie. Instead of my words comforting her, a few tear drops rolled down Lauren’s cheeks and then she started sobbing before her hands flew to cover her face. I wished that I could comfort her properly, but I had bigger problems on my plate to deal with. A slightly bitter taste filled my mouth as I was forced to recognize the start of a very similar pattern that I had seen countless times before.

Dina, what have you done this time?

--To be continued…