Day Forty…
~~*****~~
Dave did his groundwork when Abigail left his condo unit together with Nathan and Ethan. He visited the Centerville hotel where Abigail fell off. He booked the same room where the incident happened.
Dave could feel the rage in his heart as he watched the ground from the balcony of the 13th floor. "She could have died from that fall. It's a miracle that she stayed alive and only lost her memory."
From that height, two things could possibly happen to her. Either she would die or miraculously live with a paralyzed body. But surprisingly, Abigail only lost her memory and her body was intact. No severe injury or bone fractures!
Dave gripped the steel railing of the terrace tightly while clenching his jaw. "I shouldn't have left her that night. She was supposed to meet me in this hotel."
He recalled that a few hours before his meet-up with Abigail, he received a call from overseas. He received an urgent mission and he had to leave the country immediately. He didn't get the chance to see Abigail. He tried calling her but Abigail didn't answer. In the end, he just sent her a message.
After assessing the room, Dave went to ask the hotel manager about the CCTV footage. Unfortunately, he got nothing as the floor's CCTV was under maintenance then.
"Everything is properly set up. A well-committed crime which they staged as a suicide." Dave mumbled after analyzing the situation.
"This is not just a coincidence. Someone from this hotel is an accomplice! I couldn't be wrong!"
Dave began to narrow down the possible accomplice- a hotel manager, an employee in the maintenance team, or a person in charge of the CCTV control room.
After a while, Dave listed the people who had resentment toward Abigail. The first person on his list was Jun Shen. He was kicked out of the company because of Abigail. His wife divorced him.
He made a phone call from his source to gather information about Jun Shen. Dave was surprised to hear that someone had taken care of him. Someone sent Jun Shen to prison.
"Who sent him to prison?" Dave asked his friend.
"The most powerful man in this country. Nathan Sparks." The man declared from the other line.
A crease formed on his forehead at the mention of Nathan's name. 'So he is indeed helping Abigail to find the real culprit. As far as I know, Nathan Sparks is not generous enough to do this. He is not that kind of man. Is he doing this because his son is a fan of Abigail? Or does he have another reason for doing so?'
Dave suddenly had a nagging feeling about this. He wondered if Nathan was interested in Abigail. But Nathan was faithful to his late lover. Did he move on? He could only take a deep breath, trying to clear his mind.
He had to put these thoughts to the back of his mind because these things wouldn't help him solve this case. His priority was to catch the culprit.
"I shouldn't feel threatened nor feel worried about another guy. Abigail will remember me… our memories together," Dave uttered, comforting himself. He continued his investigation, forgetting about the possible love rivalry with Nathan Sparks.
*****
Meanwhile, Abigail and Ethan were back at the Sparks Mansion. Butler Li was elated to see Abigail. He thought she would never come back. The other maids were rejoicing because of her absence. But they got disappointed upon seeing her today. The head maid, Adelaida, even informed Veronica that Abigail was no longer staying in the Sparks Mansion.
"Why is she here?"
"She is truly shameless!"
"She just wants to leech off our Master's generosity."
"She really has a thick skin, dreaming of becoming the Lady of this house!"
The maids kept murmuring to each other while glaring at Abigail. They couldn't believe that she was back.
"I'm in trouble. Lady Veronica is coming here. She won't be happy seeing that woman here," Head Maid, Adelaida anxiously mumbled.
Adelaida had just mentioned Veronica's name when she suddenly showed up. Veronica came to visit because she wanted to confirm that Abigail was not around and she had to ask Butler Li about the news she heard that Nathan was engaged.
Veronica and Abigail met each other's gaze. Both of them looked displeased. They didn't bother to hide the hostility they had for each other. Butler Li and the maids could feel the growing tension between the two ladies. Ethan wasn't there since he went upstairs to take a quick shower.
"I've heard that you moved out. Why are you still here?" Veronica asked her with a mocking smile on her face.
Abigail shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm always welcome here. I can visit Ethan and Nate."
Veronica arched her eyebrow. She hated Abigail's arrogance. "Ow. I thought you were kicked out. Have you heard? Nathan is getting engaged. Is it true?"
Abigail lightly chuckled. "Is that the reason you came here? Why don't you ask him yourself?"
Veronica glared at Abigail. She was talking back to her. And she felt like she was being disrespected by this actress. She gnashed her teeth, trying her best to maintain her composure. So many eyes were watching them at this moment.
"Nathan is busy so I don't want to disturb him," Veronica retorted.
Abigail just sneered at her. She could sense that Veronica was still pretending as if she had an important role in this household. For goodness' sake, she was just the sister of Nathan's woman.
Her sister, Monica, was not even married to Nathan but Veronica was acting all high and mighty in front of her. She didn't have the right to act like that. She hadn't earned the status of being part of the Sparks Family yet.
'Ahuh! Since she loves competition, then I will give her a proper rival. I don't want to waste my precious time dealing with her,' Abigail smiled inwardly at that thought.
"Alright. Don't disturb Nate about this matter. I can give you an answer," Abigail declared.
Veronica looked at her with disbelief. She didn't know whether to listen to her or not. However, she was dying to know if Nathan's engagement was real or fake.
"Her name is Helena Carlsen. She has an extraordinary background. She is the daughter of the Chairman of AMB Diamond Corporation from Country R. Chairman Xu was the one who arranged this engagement with Chairman Carlsen. Nathan and Helena started dating. She is currently here in Country M. That's all I can say."
After feeding Veronica those pieces of information, Abigail excused herself. She turned around and headed upstairs, leaving Veronica speechless. Abigail rejoiced because she got the expression she wanted to see from Veronica.
Veronica was shocked and anxious. She didn't expect that Old Man Xu had something to do with this engagement. Since the woman had an excellent background, it was not a surprise that Old Man Xu decided to marry Nathan off.
'Damn it! That old man chose another woman, instead of me! I can't let this happen. I wanna know who this Helena Carlsen is. What kind of woman she is!'
From the second floor, Abigail saw Veronica marching out of the house. She presumed that Veronica would try to meet Helena. "Hmm. It worked! That woman will not bother me in the meantime. She will be busy dealing with Helena Carlsen. I diverted her attention away from me." Abigail snapped her fingers and giggled, praising herself for that bright idea.
"Divide and conquer. I just hope the two women will fight each other, not gang up against me. Otherwise, it will be a very handful for me to deal with two love rivals at the same time." Abigail cringed at that thought. One woman was a Witchie Bitch while the other one was a White Lotus.
'Hmm, between them… I find Helena more dangerous than Veronica. It's hard to figure out what's on her mind. She can control her temper and hide her emotions very well.' Abigail analyzed the behaviors of the two women based on her observation and experience while interacting with them.
"Miss Abi!" Butler Li called her attention. "I know what you did… Nice strategy!" he gave her two thumbs up matching with a wink.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Abigail feigned ignorance.
"You used your rival to deal with your other rival. Haha! They can fight all they want and whoever wins between them will be your final rival! Is this some kind of elimination round?" Butler Li praised her. "I will be rooting for you!" he added. "Fighting!"
Abigail could only shake her head helplessly. She was amazed by Butler Li's quick thinking and sharp observation. He could see through her well.
"Are you sure, you are just a Butler? Why do I feel like you are a Psychic?!"
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