Second Love Story

Chapter 9: Feelings resurfaced

The afternoon wind whistled gently through the leaves at Alan and Merlyn Preston’s house, carrying with it a sense of nostalgia. Inside, the mood was far heavier than the peaceful breeze outside. Clara sat in the sunlit living room, her hands trembling as she held Alan’s phone, reading the email again and again.

The email was from her sister, Marie.

"Take your time, Clara," Alan said softly, his voice filled with sympathy. He had stepped out of the room.

The email was–

From: Marie Cooper

Subject: Subscribed prank ;-)

Dear Alan,

This might seem weird. If I am okay when you receive this email, just ignore it. However, if I am not alright or probably not in existence anymore, then please, by all means, get a hold of Clara and show this to her.

Date today is August 25, 2007…

[I think it was around 2005, probably late June. Eunison developed a hovercar. But our lead researcher, Dr. Jim Timothy, passed away. Cops closed the case, concluding that he was under a lot of stress and had overdosed with anti-depressants.

From what I heard, Dr. Timothy was quite health conscious that he wouldn’t overdose on drugs. I was sure there was some foul play. I tried to console his family, but he had no relatives or friends. Eunison’s R&D was his life. Eventually, I started digging into it until a car accident warned me otherwise. And I did. I had to think about Ash, too.

Moving on, everything was fine for a while, until Dad. Though it seemed like a natural death, my hunch forced me to apply for the post-mortem. It was found that the same component was in his system as Jim’s. Cops and private investigators who were on this case had to stop as the leads went cold. It's been two years, and not a dust pointing to the criminals. Yet, I managed to collect as many clues as I could. But, more than the clues that I found, other things surfaced that I’ve been blissfully oblivious about.

Clara, if you want to continue where I left off, start from Grandpa’s favorite spot.

With Love,

Marie Cooper.

Wiping off her tears, Clara glanced through the open patio of the house.

Alan returned after a while, sensing that Clara needed space, unable to ignore her distress.

Clara’s face had gone pale. Her heart raced as she read the email for what felt like the hundredth time. She hadn’t expected this—an email from her late sister, filled with cryptic warnings and chilling details. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them away with shaking hands. "How... What happened back then?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

'Maybe she didn’t die, but …killed?' Those words took control over her mind.

Merlyn entered quietly, placing a tissue box on the table in front of Clara. "Sweetheart, we didn’t know either. Alan only received it a few days ago." Merlyn’s voice was gentle and motherly as she sat beside Clara and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Clara looked down at the email again. It felt like a message from beyond the grave—a cry for help from Marie, who had clearly been in deeper trouble than anyone had realized. "August 25, 2007," Clara murmured, her voice shaky. "That’s when she sent this..."

"Yes," Alan confirmed, sitting down opposite her. He sighed heavily, softly rubbing his face. "I don’t know why the email came through just now, but Marie must have set it up for this specific moment. Maybe she knew something would happen to her."

Clara’s mind was racing. The mention of Dr. Jim Timothy’s death, the investigation into their father’s passing, and the cryptic trunk—all of them pointed to something far more sinister than she had ever imagined. And now, she was the one left to uncover it all.

"Did you know what Marie was trying to uncover?" Clara raised her head, her eyes locking with Alan’s. There was fear in her gaze but also determination. She needed answers.

Alan nodded slowly. "Marie was convinced that something was wrong with the way Jim Timothy died. She came to me with her suspicions, and I supported her in the beginning. But... when the accident happened that almost killed her, James stepped in. He told her to stop, to let it go. I thought he was scared. But now I’m not sure."

"Scared?" Clara repeated, her voice tight as she continued, “And what do you mean by ‘not sure now’?"

"Though we were thick as thieves, sometimes I felt he was a bit more obsessive. And most of the time, when we were alone, his face was covered in his anxiety.” Alan, feeling distressed, continued, “You see when I first came to the city, the world was new, and I did things I wasn’t proud of, and it was always James who rushed to free me from my bind. But after a certain incident, we… kind of grew apart,” Alan hesitated.

Clara sat back, her mind spinning. "You aren’t gonna let me in on this ‘certain incident,’ are you?" she said, trying to piece it together.

Alan sighed softly. "Sorry, dear, but that’s not my secret to share."

Clara’s eyes darkened as she thought of the trunk in the locked room back at the mansion. "I have to find that key. Whatever Marie left behind, I need to see it."

Clara, if you want to continue where I left off, start from Grandpa’s favorite spot. Those words popped up in her mind. That was clearly a clue, and Clara felt like Marie didn’t want Alan to know about the trunk.

Alan placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You will, Clara. And whatever you find, we’ll be here to help you if you need us."

Seeing Marie had sent him the email instead of Ben, Me, or Ash, then she trusted him deeply. Clara took a deep breath, feeling the weight of her sister’s secrets settle heavily on her shoulders. She thanked Alan and Merlyn for their hospitality, but her mind was already racing ahead to what she needed to do next.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Cooper Mansion, Ben stood alone in the garden, his thoughts swirling like the evening wind. He had spent the day going through his usual routine—working and returning home—but an undeniable loneliness had begun to creep into his heart.

Iva was busy with preparations for the new Grandeur launch, and Violet often stayed at her father’s home, like she does once in a while. And now, with Ash away in Japan for a week-long business trip, the house felt emptier than ever.

Ben wandered through the garden, his footsteps slow and heavy. He stopped in front of the apple tree that stood tall and proud in the middle of the garden. He reached out, his fingers brushing against the rough bark as memories flooded back. This tree had been planted by him and Marie decades ago when they were still young and in love. It marked their first anniversary as a couple, a symbol of the life they had built together.

As Ben raised his head up, he starred at the room, the one Marie and Ben had been using in the past. He couldn’t go inside as it was locked personally by Ash and Clara, and there weren’t many of Marie’s photos in the mansion like they used to be. He felt grim as the moments of her death flashed in his eyes.

Among the pleasant and blissful memories of the past, something else started to surface in his mind as he frowned, gritting his teeth. "Pathetic," Ben muttered under his breath, his voice filled with anger and sarcasm. He clenched his fists, his body trembling with emotion. How had things fallen apart so completely? How had his life become so empty?

---

Later that evening, around 6 pm, Iva returned home from work earlier than usual. She was tired but expected to have dinner with Ben. She hadn’t been home much lately, and she wanted to make an effort to spend more time with her husband, especially since Violet was returning home for dinner as well.

As she stepped into the house, she immediately called out for Thomas, the butler. "Thomas, can you set the table for dinner?"

Thomas nodded, his usual calm demeanor unshaken. "Of course, Mrs. Cooper. I’ll prepare everything right away."

Just as Iva was about to head upstairs to freshen up, her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Violet.

"Hey, sweetheart," Iva greeted her daughter warmly, her voice softening as she spoke.

"Hey, Mom," Violet replied, her tone a bit distant. "I’ll be home for dinner tonight."

"That’s just perfect, honey," Iva said, smiling. "It’ll be nice to have you home. How’s your body? Any bandages?" she asked teasingly.

"Oh, come on!" Violet replied. "It’s not like I come home every day wrapped up! I’m just a little sore, but I’m perfectly okay."

"Alright, alright," Iva said, her voice teasing as she chuckled. "Fine then. I’ll give Thomas a heads-up."

Violet chuckled softly. "Yeah, okay."

"Okay, get home safely. See you, sweety."

"Yeah, Mom. See you soon."

As Iva hung up the phone, a sense of peace settled over her. “Thomas, let’s prepare the table for 3. Violet’s coming today.” She passed on the news to Thomas as she walked to the kitchen.

Things seemed to be falling into place. She would have dinner with her family, and soon, the family she had envisioned could become a reality.

---

Half an hour later, the dining room was set, and the family sat down to eat. The tension that had hung over the house in recent days seemed to have eased, though there was still an undercurrent of unspoken emotions. Ben sat quietly, glancing at Iva and Violet, his mind still clouded with memories of Marie, but he managed to pull himself together.

Ben broke the silence. His voice was sore from a recent cold. “How was your day, honey? The launch is on Wednesday, after all. So, are you doing okay?”

Iva’s voice was light as she passed the salad. “It has been super hectic the past couple of weeks, but we managed to get everything ready for the launch. Now all we have to do is guard the products with our lives for the next 3 days.”

Ben smiled at her, consoling her stress. “It’ll be completely fine, honey. But I guess Jarred’s got his hands full till then.”

“Poor J. Oh yeah, I totally forgot. He was hurt badly by a fall, wasn’t he? So, is he all healed now?” Violet jumped in

Ben and Iva looked at her seriously and glanced at each other, struggling to control their laugh.

Violet, on the other hand, was confused about their reaction, “Why… what?”

Iva couldn’t hold her laughter anymore. She burst out giggling as she said, “You really don’t need to be a god to get things right, Vi.”

“I messed up the timeline, didn’t I?” Violet pouted as she understood.

Seeing this, a laugh escaped Ben.

“Jarred slipped on the frozen stairs outside his home. It's going to be almost a year in 3 more months since that happened for him.” Iva corrected her as she was still laughing.

Listening to this, Rita, Sherin, and even Thomas couldn’t help but laugh silently. Remembering the old Violet, they felt nothing much had changed in her.

Their conversation continued, and Iva brought up a few more such incidents of Violet and shared them with the mansion employees, not knowing that they already knew her, yet they listened to Iva as though it was new.

As the night deepened, the house settled into quiet once more, the echoes of the earlier conversation and laughs fading into the stillness.

---

Clara, on the other hand, had said her goodbyes to Alan and Merlyn, thanking them for their help and hospitality. As she climbed into her car, the email from Marie still heavy on her mind, she gave her driver, Michele, a quiet instruction.

"Michele, head to Cooper Mansion," Clara said, her voice tired yet composed. She stared out the window as the car pulled away from Alan’s house, her mind already racing with what she needed to do next.

As they drove past a children’s park, Clara felt a storm was brewing, and she knew her role would aggravate the storm. Heading back to the Cooper Mansion, back to where it all began, she felt uneasy.

Violet, unaware of what she was about to face, stepped to the terrace, missing a certain someone.