Chapter 15
The attic lock was a custom piece Eira had asked John to design back in the day-nearly unpickable unless you were one of them. That's the only reason everything inside was still intact.
Her mom used to love this place. It wasn't just a quiet corner. It doubled as her art studio. A lot of her paintings were still here. Right in the center of the room sat a photo Eira had snapped secretly, catching her mom sketching her dad. At the time, it felt normal. Just another cozy moment.
Then came two years ago. Her dad vanished during a business trip abroad-ambushed and robbed by criminals. No matter how hard they searched, there was no sign of him. Eventually, the only thing found was his remains.
When her mom heard the news, her health nosedived overnight. Laura had come to "help out" for a bit, but somehow Mom's mental state just kept getting worse until she passed, heartbroken and frail.
After burying both parents, Eira had spent years digging for answers, nearly losing her life in the process. Too many coincidences piled up-it was hard not to believe there was someone pulling strings behind the scenes.
Her mom had never been weak. After her father's disappearance, it was Mom who ran around tirelessly, following every possible lead. She even handled all the arrangements for her husband's funeral. That wasn't someone who'd just give up.
Thinking back, Eira's gaze dropped. What if something happened when Laura was taking care of her mom-something she didn't know? If William's family hadn't acted so outrageously these past couple of years, she might never have suspected them at all.
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and ran her thumb softly across her parents' smiles in the photo. "I'll make this right for you," she whispered.
She straightened the photo when a sliver of another picture caught her eye. Pulling it from beneath the table, she saw three young men laughing, arms around each other. That's right-she wasn't alone. She still had three brothers.
The issue was, they were always scattered across different countries-busy, sometimes even unreachable. Her oldest brother's job involved some sort of confidentiality agreement, which made staying in touch almost impossible. There was a good chance they didn't even know what had happened to their family.
Eira took a deep breath, pressing the photo to her chest and closing her eyes. She had to find a way to contact them.
She stayed in the attic all afternoon, waiting for her emotions to settle. Just as she was about to call for the driver, her phone lit up with a call from John.
As soon as she answered, his voice blared out, hyped up like he was watching a drama unfold. "Yo, boss! Did you see the news? Someone caught Alexander hugging a girl in the hospital!"
At the sound of his name, Eira's smile vanished. "What happened?"
John sounded even more worked up. "The photo's blown up-it's all over the trending topics. The chick's face is blurred out, but I ran a quick image fix and guess what..."
"Sophia."
John paused, totally thrown that she got it right so fast. "Wait-don't tell me you edited it too?"He suddenly paused, then quickly asked, "Wait, you already know what's going on with them?"
Eira's phone buzzed a couple of times. She opened the message and saw the trending photo. It was taken from such a sneaky angle, clearly someone from inside the hospital.
But Alexander' face was shown crystal clear, while Sophia was buried in his chest-only a faint outline was visible, and even that was blurred.
Given what Eira knew about Sophia, this was definitely something she staged herself, just to push her way into the Brooks family faster.
Besides, Alexander literally said just last night that they couldn't let his grandma find out about the divorce. And now the photo goes viral today? Doesn't seem like his doing.
Still, Sophia probably underestimated how much that grandma meant to Alexander. Maybe this little show would backfire. Eira scoffed, "So eager, huh?"
John lit up, chuckling, "Want me to leak the unedited pic?"
"Don't get involved in their drama. As long as they don't come bothering me, I don't care."
Eira had no intention of wasting time on Alexander's nonsense, so she switched gears. "By the way, I need a favor."
"Whatever you need, boss!"
She glanced at the photo of her brothers, her lips curling slightly. "Help me get in touch with them."
The line went quiet. After a long pause, John finally said, "Me? For real?"
"You can't even reach them yourself, how am I supposed to?"
Eira pressed her lips into a thin line. "My older brother's still stuck at the space program, so that's tough. But the second and third? If we get creative online, we could probably get through."
"You're better at this kind of thing, so I came to you."
Compared to her oldest brother, the other two were definitely more within reach.
One was a world-touring rockstar currently halfway through an extreme adventure, the other a pro esports player locked in training for a major global tournament.
Since it was rare for Eira to ask anything of him, John didn't hesitate. He agreed immediately and just asked for some time.
*****
The photo was blowing up all over the internet. Daniel couldn't tell what his boss really wanted. Was Mr. Brooks planning to let the gossip fly or shut it down?
He carefully opened the office door. "Sir, there's a situation... the pics from your hospital visit with Miss Clark leaked online."
Alexander looked up, eyes locking on Daniel's phone screen.
The woman in the photo was intentionally blurred, while his own face was perfectly clear, basically spotlighting him. Totally done on purpose to stir things up.
He frowned, bones cracking slightly in his fingers. His tone dropped cold. "Any idea who leaked it?"
Daniel shook his head slightly, trying not to provoke his temper any further. "We've got people on it. Should know soon."
Alexander looked back down at the photo of them clinging to each other, the sight making his mood worse by the second. "Bury it. No matter what, Grandma can't see this."
Daniel quickly nodded and turned to leave-but just as he reached the door, Alexander added, "How's the background check on Eira coming along?"
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