Chapter 23
“But why was the ring on her hand?” Quinn wondered aloud, his voice thoughtful. “Could she be directly connected to what happened four years ago?”
But he remembered clearly-there was no living person at the scene back then.
“Don’t spook her yet. Just keep an eye on her,” Timothy said with a slight raise of his brow, his mind flashing again to Nina’s chilling eyes. She was like a lone wolf.
No matter who she really was, he was determined to get to the truth.
Quinn asked again, “What about that blond guy?”
That man had gone to great lengths, even gifting the house and grocery store to the Edwards family. Clearly, he had some deep connection to Nina. But after Quinn’s investigation, they couldn’t find any record of his identity.
“We pretend we don’t know he exists,” Timothy murmured, stroking his chin as if plotting something very interesting, his gaze ice-cold. “Maybe he’s the key to unlocking all the mysteries.”
Two days later, the Evans family’s grocery store officially opened.
It happened to be the day Nina was going to school because her uniform was ready.
“Mr. Schur, please take good care of my daughter,” Robert said.
“No need to be so formal, Mr. Edwards,” Evan Schur, the high school senior counselor, replied. “I know Nina’s situation and will do my best to support her.”
While Robert and Evan talked across the street, Nina looked around the school with curiosity.
She saw a taxi stop at the school gate. A boy and a girl got out one after the other.
The boy looked refined and gentle, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walking straight ahead without looking around. He seemed completely unaware of the admiring glances from passing girls, keeping a cool and distant air. Behind him walked Sylvia, looking gentle and sweet.
Sensing Nina’s unreadable gaze, the boy glanced back briefly. But he didn’t realize it was Nina watching him; from afar, he just noticed Nina’s tall, slender figure. The morning breeze blew through her long hair, making her look lively and graceful.
Sylvia asked, “Joshua, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Joshua said, looking away and continuing into the school. Sylvia followed closely behind.
Soon, Nina followed Evan into the school.
Aqualore International High School was large, and the uniforms looked very nice. The boys wore ties with shirts and long pants, while the girls wore shirts with bow ties and plaid skirts.
In the halls and under the trees, groups of students chatted happily, full of energy.
At that moment, the students in the classroom were all talking loudly.
“Breaking news! I just saw Mr. Schur leading a girl who wasn’t wearing a uniform. She might be a transfer student.”
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9:10 pm & D
Chapter 23
“A girl? Is she pretty?”
“Too far away to tell clearly. But she’s pretty tall.”
A group of boys laughed and chatted, but Joshua calmly flipped through his book as if he didn’t hear a thing. The book was Modern Chess Strategy.
Brian, sitting next to him, sighed, “Having a childhood sweetheart like that is just different.”
Joshua was the only son of Dennis Green, the city’s deputy mayor. He was smart, good-looking, and really good at chess, often winning awards. That made him the pride of Aqualore International High School.
But he had always been cold and distant to everyone except Sylvia, who grew up with him – he was a bit friendlier to her. Joshua frowned and glanced at Brian. “Give me back my math homework.”
“Don’t be so stingy,” Brian quickly grabbed the math homework off the desk and ran to another seat, calling out, “Come on, guys. Let’s copy it!”
Just then, Evan’s voice came through. “Let me introduce a new student to everyone.”
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