Chapter 138: Memories Of Arthur

The investigation room had slowly emptied after the discussion about Caroline.

Only Liliana, Emily and Nathan remained.

The atmosphere was quieter now. The discovery that Caroline might have known something about Arthur had left everyone unsettled.

Liliana looked at Nathan and Emily.

"Are you both sure you want to find your mother?"

Emily answered first.

"Yes."

Her voice was surprisingly calm.

"I’ve actually wanted to see her for a long time."

Nathan looked at his sister.

"Why?"

Emily lowered her eyes.

"Not because I want to forgive her."

She paused.

"I don’t even know if I can."

"But there’s one question I’ve carried since she left."

Liliana waited.

Emily finally whispered,

"I want to ask her if she ever loved us."

The room became silent.

"I know what she did. She abandoned us. She cared more about money than she cared about us."

"But..."

She wiped the corner of her eye.

"I still want to hear her answer."

Nathan slowly shook his head.

"I don’t."

Emily looked at him.

"I never want to see her again."

His voice was firm.

"But..."

He glanced toward Liliana.

"If finding her helps the investigation... I’ll do it."

He sighed.

"I want to know what happened to Uncle Edward and Aunt Vanessa. And I want Lily to finally know the truth about her parents."

Liliana smiled sadly.

"Thank you."

Nathan nodded.

"You’re family. That’s what matters."

A few minutes later, Mary, Rose, Nicole, and Nicolo joined them.

Mary immediately noticed the serious expressions.

"What happened?"

Emily explained what they had discussed.

The four cousins exchanged glances.

Then Nicolo slowly sat down.

"Arthur."

He repeated the name.

"I barely remember him."

Rose nodded.

"Me too."

"We were too young."

Nicole frowned.

"I don’t remember him at all."

Liliana looked toward Mary.

"What about you?"

Mary thought for a moment.

"I remember him."

Emily immediately nodded.

"Me too."

Mary leaned back.

"Arthur was..."

She hesitated.

"Weird."

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Weird how?"

Mary shrugged.

"He wasn’t dangerous back then. But he always seemed uncomfortable around the family."

"What do you mean?" Liliana asked.

Mary looked toward the photograph of Edward.

"I remember Uncle Edward, Uncle Robert, and Uncle Gideon sitting together. They would laugh about something. Arthur would come over and say he felt left out."

Emily nodded.

"Yes. I remember that."

Mary continued.

"Uncle Edward always tried to include him. He’d call him over. Tell him to sit down. Ask him what he thought. He never wanted Arthur to feel excluded."

Emily looked thoughtful.

"But Arthur... Sometimes he seemed jealous."

"Jealous of his own brothers?" Nicolo asked.

Emily nodded.

"That’s how it felt. He wanted Uncle Edward’s attention. He wanted to be part of every conversation."

Mary sighed.

"Uncle Edward was always patient. He’d tell him..."

"’You’re family, Arthur. You don’t have to compete with anyone.’"

Liliana’s expression saddened.

"Maybe he believed he did."

Emily suddenly became quiet. She stared at the table.

"There was something else."

Everyone turned toward her.

"I remember him talking to Dad about money."

Nathan frowned.

"When?"

"I can’t remember but I know it was before the accident."

Emily closed her eyes.

"I was young. But I only remember hearing their voices from the hallway. Arthur was angry."

"What did he say?"

Emily hesitated.

"He told Dad to stop asking Uncle Edward for money."

Nathan’s face hardened.

"What?"

"He said..."

She tried to remember the exact conversation.

"He said Uncle Edward had already done enough. That Dad was becoming dependent on him."

Nathan slowly shook his head.

"That’s strange."

"It was."

Emily nodded.

"Because Dad never demanded anything from Uncle Edward. He worked constantly. He simply helped because he wanted to."

Mary looked thoughtful.

"So Arthur was against Uncle Edward helping your family?"

"Yes. He sounded like he was."

Emily nodded.

"That’s what I remember."

The room became quiet.

Then Emily’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at her.

"What?"

She stared into the distance.

"There was another time."

"When?"

"About a week before Uncle Edward and Aunt Vanessa died."

Her voice became uncertain.

"I remember Arthur coming back from Aurelia City. He visited the house."

Nathan frowned.

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

"But..."

She swallowed.

"I remember Mom."

Everyone became still.

"What about her?" Nathan asked.

Emily looked uncomfortable.

"She was unusually close to Arthur."

Nathan’s expression changed.

"What does that mean? I don’t know."

Emily shook her head.

"I was young. But I saw them together."

"They were talking very quietly. Mom looked nervous. Arthur kept looking around."

Mary leaned forward.

"Did you hear anything?"

Emily shook her head.

"No. But that day..."

She closed her eyes.

"Mom told me to go upstairs."

"I asked why. She became angry. She told me not to listen to grown-up conversations."

Nathan slowly stood.

"Why didn’t you tell me this before?"

Emily looked at him.

"Because I forgot. I honestly forgot and I was five, I thought it was nothing. Until we started talking about Arthur."

She looked toward Victor’s investigation board.

"Then it suddenly came back."

Nathan walked slowly toward the board.

Arthur, Edward and Vanessa’s photographs were posted.

She looked at the timeline. One week before the accident, his mother and Arthur were together. They were seemingly suspicious. Then the missing money discovered by the accountant, Harry Finn’s father.

Nathan stared at the board.

"That’s too many coincidences."

Liliana felt a chill.

"What if Mom knew something?"

Emily looked at her.

"That’s what I’m afraid of."

Mary stood.

"We need to find her."

Nicole nodded.

"If she was close to Arthur, she might know where he went. Or what he was doing."

Nicolo added,

"She might even know what happened before the accident."

Nathan remained silent. For years, he had wanted nothing to do with his mother. He had convinced himself that she was simply selfish.

A woman who had abandoned her children for money.

But now, there was another possibility. Perhaps she hadn’t left with the entire truth. Perhaps she had taken something with her.

A secret. A memory. A piece of evidence.

Something that could finally explain why Edward and Vanessa died.

Emily quietly approached her brother.

"Are you still sure you don’t want to see her?"

Nathan stared at the photograph of Arthur.

"No."

He paused.

"Now, I need to."

He looked toward Liliana.

"For you."

Then he looked at Emily.

"And for us."

The cousins stood together in silence.

Twenty years ago, their family had been torn apart.

Now, they were finally beginning to understand that the pieces had never truly disappeared.

They had simply been scattered.

And perhaps, Caroline Sterling was holding one of the most important pieces of all.