Love's Redemption

I shook my head helplessly. "She should know whose child it is. If you're really curious, you could just ask her directly."

Kara scoffed. "I don't have time for that. I'd rather spend my free moments looking at Mr. Howell."

When she mentioned Brandon, I realized he still hadn't come back. I glanced at the clock on the wall and asked indirectly, "Are you off work now, or are you just hiding in the restroom again?"

"Maddie, what are you saying? Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Kara protested. "Mr. Howell has become quite considerate. He's even letting us off work earlier than usual."

"Oh? How long ago did you finish work?"

"Half an hour ago. I'm already at home and lying on the couch," Kara said. By now, I had calculated that Brandon should have returned already.

I hadn't heard any noise though. Maybe he got delayed on the way.

"You finish work so early and don't work overtime in the evenings. Will the project be completed on time?" I asked Kara.

She seemed to be drinking or eating something, as I heard clear swallowing sounds. "Mr. Howell says we can."

"Do you think you can? Don't let him fool you. If you don't finish on time, you'll be the one who suffers. You'll lose your bonus," I reminded her.

She coughed twice. "I think we can. We're already testing in Zone D, and we're making quick progress every day. There are hardly any new problems, so we just work straight through."

After she finished, she clicked her tongue twice. "Maddie, it's strange. When you were here, there were problems almost every day. We constantly had to go to Mr. Howell's office to solve them.

"But since you left, everything's been fine. Now, I don't even have a reason to visit his office and chat. I wish there were problems so I could… hehe..."

I stopped her before she got too carried away. "Maybe I'm just bad luck. Mr. Howell and I never got along well, so things always went wrong when we worked together. Everything got better once I left."

"Hmph." Kara disagreed. "Don't take me for a fool. I think there's something between you two. Be honest. Is something going on between you and Mr. Howell?"

Thinking of my fake relationship with Brandon, I denied it guiltily. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Don't hide it from me. If there's really something going on between you and Mr. Howell, it wouldn't be a bad thing." Kara surprisingly supported the idea.

I continued to deny it. "No, don't think too much."

"Mr. Howell moved out of the hotel. They say he rented a place to live," Kara confided.

I pretended not to know. "Is that so?"

"I heard he rented a place because he plans to stay in Hilcord for the long term. I heard he's investigating his parents' deaths," Kara lowered her voice even over the phone. "Maddie, did you know about this?"

I didn't. When Brandon rented a place, I asked him why, but he didn't mention investigating the car accident.

"I heard his relatives died in a car accident…"

As someone who lost my parents in a car accident, my heart ached at the mention of it.

I quickly found an excuse to end the call and stared at the family photo on the wall.

Was my parents' accident just an accident?

Somehow, that thought flashed through my mind.

After a long while, when it was nearly seven o'clock and I still hadn't heard any noise from next door, I called Brandon.

But he didn't answer.

I didn't know if he was busy or had changed his mind about going with me.

I picked up my things and prepared to go to the Gildon estate myself. But when I opened the door, I saw that Brandon's door was slightly ajar.

Was he back? Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Why hadn't I heard anything?

Feeling puzzled, I pushed his door open and stepped inside. "Brand..."

The second half of his name got stuck in my throat as I froze at the scene before me.