CHAPTER 248
Early the next morning, Arianna slowly opened her eyes and instinctively glanced to the side. She was surprised to find the space next to her empty, though she distinctly remembered Xander coming home the previous night.
Reaching out, she touched the bed and noticed the lingering warmth in the sheets. It seemed like he had already gotten up.
She couldn’t help but admire his discipline. Even after late nights, Xander always managed to wake up early, one of the many traits that contributed to his success. Meanwhile, she still felt like she hadn’t accomplished much in comparison.
Though tempted to laze in bed a bit longer, an idea sparked in her mind. Feeling a surge of motivation, she sat up, stretched, and then slid out from under the blanket. After a quick wash in the bathroom, she changed into some comfortable loungewear and stepped onto the balcony to do her vocal warm-ups, preparing for the day ahead.
As she headed over to the sofa to grab her book, her eyes fell on Xander's clothes from the previous day, still draped over the armrest. With a small smile, she picked them up, shaking her head slightly.
Out of habit, she felt through the pockets to check if anything had been left behind before walking over to the laundry basket. Just as she was about to toss the clothes in, a faint, familiar scent caught her attention.
It wasn’t the cologne Xander typically wore, and out of curiosity, she held the shirt to her nose for a closer sniff. The scent was faint, but something about it lingered in the air. Arianna wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or if the fragrance had simply faded overnight.
Did Xander switch up his cologne? The scent lingering on his clothes didn’t seem like something he’d usually wear, and the fragrance notes didn’t match the typical ones men preferred.
Still, something about the scent felt oddly familiar to Arianna, though she couldn’t quite place where she had encountered it before.
Two quick knocks on the bedroom door snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Come in,” Arianna called out.
Aunt Julia entered with a warm smile. “You’re up early, Mrs. King. I’ve come to collect the laundry.”
“Oh, here it is,” Arianna said, brushing away her musings. She gathered Xander’s clothes from the armrest and placed them in the laundry basket, handing them over to Aunt Julia.
With a nod of thanks, Aunt Julia added, “Breakfast is nearly ready. You can come down whenever you’re ready.”
“Okay, thanks,” Arianna responded. A question suddenly popped into her mind, and she asked, “By the way, is Xander back from his morning run yet?”
“Mr. King? He got a call early this morning and left in quite a rush. He’s not home anymore,” Aunt Julia explained after a moment's thought.
“He left? So early?” Arianna thought it was unusual. After coming home so late the previous night, did he have to head back to work that quickly? His workload must be intense.
“Got it, thanks.”
After Aunt Julia left, Arianna grabbed her phone from the nightstand and quickly typed out a message: [No matter how busy you are, don’t forget to eat.]
She added a cheerful emoji for good measure before setting her phone down.
Feeling motivated, Arianna picked up her practice book and headed out to the balcony. With the sun shining brightly, she set her mind to focus on her practice, immersing herself in the morning's fresh energy.
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Rochelle knew she was wasting her breath trying to get answers from John, so she decided not to spend any more time or energy on him. Instead, she hired a highly regarded private investigator and even used John’s card to make an upfront payment of one million dollars.
With such a hefty payment, it was only natural for the investigator to work quickly. In just a day, he handed her a paper bag containing everything he’d managed to find about Harmony.
Rochelle opened the bag and pulled out an A4-sized document. After skimming through it, she let out a short laugh before slamming the paper down on the table in frustration.
"This is what I paid you one million for?" she snapped, her voice filled with irritation.
The document was practically useless. All it revealed was that Harmony had grown up with Xander, John, and Zach before leaving the country at the age of ten to study abroad. She returned to the country briefly, left again, and eventually came back for good. Nothing else about her time away was included.
It was exactly what John had claimed—Harmony was just a childhood friend. No other substantial information was available.
The private investigator, clearly flustered, felt like he had hit a wall. Despite his experience and his network of contacts, he had come up with almost nothing. He was used to getting results, and this was the first time he felt genuinely stumped.
It seemed as though someone had deliberately sealed off Harmony’s past, and whoever was protecting her wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. For now, this was all the information he could uncover.
The private investigator felt embarrassed as he spoke, “I apologize, Ms. Tyrell. You can either give me more time to continue the investigation, or I’ll refund the full payment. Just please don’t leave me a bad review!”
Rochelle nearly laughed out loud at the audacity of his request. She wanted to tattoo her bad review on his forehead for even daring to ask!
“There’s no need for a refund,” she responded sharply. “I’ll give you more time, but I expect you to dig up everything. And most importantly, find out if anything is going on between her and Xander!”
The private investigator immediately understood the situation.
Ah, it’s a case of a suspicious wife trying to catch her cheating husband. No wonder she was so eager for answers.
After a moment’s thought, he added, “Well, there’s one thing I’ve discovered so far. Harmony seems to be much closer to Xander than she is to the others.”
Rochelle’s eyes narrowed. “How close are we talking? Were they ever together?”
The investigator scratched his head awkwardly, lowering his voice. “I’ll need more time to confirm that.”
Rochelle closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and fought back the urge to throw something.
“Then go and find out! Or else you’ll refund my one million and add another million in compensation!”
The investigator wisely said nothing more and hurried out of the room.
Rochelle stared at the piece of paper fluttering on the table, feeling the beginnings of a headache.
It would be one thing if Harmony was just an old flame, but something about this situation felt off. In this day and age, secrets didn’t stay buried for long—unless the person in question had serious backing. Either Harmony was incredibly powerful on her own, or she had someone very influential protecting her.
Rochelle’s biggest concern wasn’t if Harmony was powerful herself. Her greatest fear was if the person protecting her turned out to be Xander.
