10 Solemn

"Clara..."

As the middle aged man stood outside speechless, Juliette was standing there awkwardly.

"Sir. Hello. I'm Juliette. I'm working for the CEO. I am wondering if you have any information about Clara? I heard you were in charge of that case."

"Oh sorry.. I thought you were Miss. Clara. Mr. President's fiancée." The middle aged man apologized.

"The CEO said that as well. I am well aware." Juliette said.

"I am Officer Ou, I used to be in charge of this case. But sadly it got closed. I met Clara twice before, she's a nice young lady. Oh yeah... do you want them to come in?"

"Is that okay?" Juliette asked.

"Sure. I have lots of space." Juliette thanked him and told Peter to take Timothy inside.

"Thank you again, Officer Ou." Juliette bowed.

"Oh no... no problem. Here, sit down so we can chat." Officer Ou brought some iced tea and lemon water to the table.

"Is that the President's son?" Officer Ou asked.

"Yes. He is. I'm in charge of him for a week." Juliette said.

"I see. He looks a lot like you. I mean.. Clara. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it." Officer Ou apologized.

"No it's fine. Can you tell me what happened to Clara?" Juliette was starting to get curious.

"How to start... uh... this case was more than eight years ago. I don't have all of the paper works but I do have this notebook. I recorded everything here so you might find something useful. The things I can tell you is that... Miss. Clara was sexually abused by perpetrators before she gave birth to Timothy. We don't know who but we suspected some people but there weren't any evidence. When we entered her home that night, there was a broken vase with bloody marks. Miss. Clara suffered a severe head injury that resulted her death from what I heard. But her death was suspicious because that type of injury doesn't lead to death that quickly... the worst possible thing is... being in a coma. Unless someone hid the truth. Clara's two best friends reported it to me. It was a hard case for me to handle. I cannot imagine how the President will take it... he will be horrified. They told me close the case immediately but I am still secretly investigating it during my free time." Juliette was sure shocked by all of the information.

"Officer Ou, thank you for telling me. I'll take a closer look at the notebook, I'll return it to you afterward." Juliette thanked him.

"Take as long as you need." Officer Ou smiled.

"Timothy, Peter, how about we go now. Mr. CEO will head back soon." Peter nodded and got the car ready.

"Mommy, are we going now?" Juliette nodded.

"Miss. Juliette, please take care of Mr. President and Timothy. I can see why Mr. President wanted to keep you to himself." Juliette smiled and said goodbye to him.

------

As they drove back home, Juliette started to wonder if those things happened were related to her.

"Mommy, can we drop by the toy store?" Timothy smiled.

"Sure." Juliette told Peter to stop for a while.

"Mommy, I want to get this." Timothy loved doing puzzles that he got another dinosaur puzzle.

"You sure do love dinosaurs, Timothy." Juliette stroked his hair.

As they head back home, Darien was waiting at the entrance.

"Daddy! Look what I've got!" Timothy's smile widened.

"Did you go to the toy store?" Darien looked at Juliette.

"Yup and he loved it." Juliette smiled.

"How was work?" Juliette asked.

"Same as usual, pretty busy. Had to meet with clients today and it was hectic." Darien sighed.

"You must've been tired." Juliette said.

"Mommy! Can I eat ice cream?" Timothy ran over to her.

"Sure. Just a minute. Would you like some too, Darien?" Darien nodded.

"Hmmm it tastes so good! I love chocolate ice cream, Mommy!" Juliette smiled. She also gave some to the maids and drivers.

"Darien, here you go." Juliette gave vanilla ice cream to Darien since she heard it was his favorite.

"I heard vanilla was your favorite. Is it?" Juliette asked curiously.

Darien was quiet...

"Yes, it reminded me of Clara. We both loved vanilla." Juliette was listening attentively to Darien that she forgot her's.

"Mommy, your vanilla ice cream is melting." Timothy giggled.

"Oh... I should eat it then... thanks for reminding Timothy!" Juliette smiled as she quickly finishes her ice cream.

-----

That night, Timothy came to Juliette's room.

"What's wrong, Timothy?"

"Daddy is crying again. He kept on saying Clara..." Juliette told Timothy to go back to his room and she will check on Darien.

"Daddy will be fine." Juliette smiled and hugged Timothy.

Juliette knocked the door and entered.

"Darien?"

Juliette looked around the room and it was filled with Clara's photo... maybe from high school to university. She couldn't see clearly because the lights were turned off.

"Darien..." Juliette didn't say anything but hugged Darien. After hearing what Officer Ou said, Clara must've suffered a lot.

"It's her death anniversary today... I didn't do anything for her." Darien cried as he spoke.

"I left her alone. I promised her I would never leave her. Why did I leave?" Juliette hugged Darien tighter. It's her first time to see him crying and shaking at the same time.

"Juliette, don't leave me." Darien hugged Juliette a bit tighter.

"I'm here. It's okay to cry." Juliette smiled.