Playing Detective

As they arrived at their destination, Erica coordinated with Jerry and informed him of all the details she had noticed about the man who was following them earlier. Jerry skillfully sent another one of his men to where the trail started, hoping that some surveillance cameras were able to capture the stalker's appearance so they could identify him.

While Karissa's miserable encounter with Ririna in the elevator helped dispel the unwanted pressure and awkwardness they were in, Erica knew she couldn't lower her guard for Ririna's sake. She wasn't aware of the blue envelope that Ririna received, but she knew Ririna had triggered the Zhou family and have piqued the attention of some underground personalities when she came back.

--

The old woman in front of her had an unreadable face as she read all the documents Ririna had presented earlier. Ririna was impressed that the woman could stay calm even if the details were very disturbing. Madam Lin's daughter-in-law and her granddaughter were killed inside their own home. While Madam Lin didn't approve of her son's marriage to Rima Chen, she deeply loved her five-year-old granddaughter.

Both mother and child were found dead in the master bedroom, lying on the bed. It was confirmed to be dead for four days before they were found. The cause of death was asphyxiation. Madam Lin's son was staying abroad to oversee their family business when it happened. When he received news that his wife and his daughter had died, he immediately came back to find out what happened.

Two weeks later, a man was detained. He confessed that he was the one who murdered the woman and her child. He claimed that his only motive was to rob some money and electronic gadgets that he could sell for a high price. The apartment building where they stayed had very loose security, and so he was able to sneak into the compound.

Madam Lin found it very suspicious as if someone was hiding the truth about the case. Since Ririna desperately needed the ten-percent share that she had, they made a deal. Madam Lin would give up all the shares that she had without any payment… as long as Ririna could uncover the truth about the wrongfully-closed murder case.

"So Rima really had another man aside from my son?" Madam Lin asked.

Ririna, who was busy admiring the scenery on the top floor, glanced at the older woman and slightly nodded in affirmation. The evidence didn't lie. Rima had committed adultery while her husband was busy working away from his family.

The lease contract for the apartment was under the name of the suspect and Rima Chen. Aside from it, the pictures and the sworn statement of the landlady confirmed that the suspect and Madam Lin's daughter-in-law claimed that they were husband and wife with a lovely daughter. They lived together for almost seven months until the suspect left and never returned until the night of the murder.

These details were never added on the official investigation. Ririna had an idea why the authorities didn't bother to reveal it. Someone was trying to hide the truth and was very willing to pay a huge sum of money so the investigation would stop. If it wasn't for the shares that she needed, Ririna would drop this case and stop playing detective.

It was obvious who's been trying to bury the secrets. It was Madam Lin's son himself. He was in denial with his wife's actions. As Ririna's team ran a background check about the suspect, it was revealed that he and Rima were a couple back in their high school days. The man was really in love with her, but she chose to marry another man instead.

The man was so poor that he decided to work hard to prove that he's worthy of her affections. Although Rima married a rich man, she felt unloved. Her husband was hardly ever around, leaving her and her daughter alone in their house. During the second year of their marriage, she met her ex-lover again and rekindled their affair. Whenever her husband came home, she stayed at their matrimonial house. When he was not around, she came back to the apartment she had leased.

After three years of their affair, her lover reached his limits. Rima refused to divorce her wealthy husband but wouldn't accept to break up with her lover either. This was the main motive of the crime, but what pushed the man to commit the murder was something that Ririna never thought she would find out.

When Ririna visited the suspect in his detention cell and revealed that she knew the truth, the suspect claimed that he was expecting her. He confessed everything to her without missing a single detail. The crime was instigated by a man named 'Hattori Ikeda'. The suspect claimed he had never met or seen this man. He only received letters in a blue envelope. Something that Ririna realized the same one she has on her.

Drifting to her own thoughts, Ririna wondered why 'Hattori Ikeda' was after her. The Spider of the Underworld targeted her? Her blue envelope was unsigned, unlike the one that the suspect received. However, based on the written scripts, she was sure that it was written by the same person. She had never encountered him before. Was he the one responsible for her mother's death? He even left a clue for her using the willing suspect he'd created.

'The vast horizon will be tainted with darkness. The wild jasmine flower will wilt. God's reward would be wasted.'

Ririna rubbed her chin. What's the meaning of this? A warning?

Her eyes narrowed at the thought. He had planned this all along. Did he also manage to deduce that she wouldn't be able to get Eli's shares so he used Madam Lin's issue instead?

She felt rather creepy about him as if he's following her every move. He instigated a murder just to send her a message; what else was this man capable of?

Turning back her attention to the present, Ririna could see that the old woman's eyes were darkened. Maybe she knew all along that her daughter-in-law was cheating behind her son. Her jaws hardened as she looked over the intimate photos of the two lovers. Proofs that Rima had been cheating for years.

"The child, who fathered her?" came Madam Lin's hoarse whisper to Ririna.

Ririna understood why she's in doubt. With Rima's past actions, someone would surely question her daughter's parentage. Why did the child always suffer the consequence when their parents did something wrong? Wouldn't it be much better if they bear it themselves? They were the one who made the problem, and they should be responsible for it.

"You don't have to worry about it. She was your kin and blood." She replied. Although the child suffered the same end as her mother, she felt that it was unfair. She wondered if she was a good enough mother for Skyler.

Was she too selfish not to let her son know about Eli? No, not really. She would tell him about his daddy soon, but not now. She wasn't mentally and emotionally prepared to explain it to Skyler.

Madam Lin released a sigh; she could finally be at peace. Her son might still be in denial, but she always knew Rima had never truly loved him. Her heart still grieved for her dead granddaughter though. If it wasn't for her mother's adultery, the child would have led a better life.

"You have fulfilled your part in our deal, Miss Han. I didn't expect that you would manage to find a way to gather these details." Looking at the men that bear the crest of the Park Family, Madam Lin couldn't help but give a small smile to the young woman. It seemed that the rumors were true: the devil had gotten rid of Karissa Wang for someone better. She had no idea that she would meet the devil's future wife today.

She could see some similarities between Yelan Han and her daughter. If only Ririna had longer and wavy hair, she could pass as a doppelganger of her deceased mother. Her eyes, her nose—even the way she smiles—were the same as Yelan's. How many years had it been since Yelan died? Even though they weren't of the same age, Madam Lin knew Yelan Han because she was her junior.

Ririna could see what's running on the old woman's mind when she caught her looking at the crest of Eli's family.

"Mr. Park has nothing to do with it." Ririna didn't know why she even has to clarify this. "He only offered security assistance because of an emergency earlier." She added.

Madam Lin only nodded in reply and signed the documents, handing all her shares of Han Zhou Entertainment to Ririna. She had no use of it. She only bought those shares because she had a debt to Yelan. This was her payment: to keep the shares away from Yelan's ex-husband. Now, she was giving it back to the rightful owner, Yelan's only daughter.

--

Ririna and Erica just reached the first floor of the Pavilion Hotel when Ririna's phone rang. Seeing that it was Eli, she answered it without hesitation. His team had lost the trail of the stalker and wasn't able to find any clue to know their identity. As she listened him talking, she walked five steps behind Jerry and Erica to give themselves some privacy. She only halted in her steps when her eyes caught someone familiar.

Eli's voice could still be heard from her phone, but she wasn't listening and responding anymore. She could hear Eli's voice calling her name, asking her if she was alright. Her attention and focus had already been taken away by another man.

The man she hadn't seen for more than sixteen years. She could never forget him. His facial features might look much older, but she was certain it was the same man who helped her escape from her torture cell and left her in an orphanage to save her.

Towards her surprised reaction, the man sent a small grin. As he strode past her rigid form, only a few words were left behind.

"Hello there, little princess. Long time, no see, isn't it?"