Cassandra peeked into her mother’s bedroom. Asleep, she thought. Perfect. She shut the door slowly, careful not to make any noise.

Time to go on a hunt, she thought, tugging at a cord in the ceiling. A set of ladder-like stairs unfolded. Cassandra glanced over in the direction of her mother’s room, then looked back at the stairs. This is the only place I haven’t checked. It just has to be in the attic, or else it’s not even in the house. I need to know the truth.

With a determined expression, she climbed up into the attic. She took a breath of the dusty, humid air and looked around at the countless boxes and parcels. This is going to take a while, she thought, frowning.



“Over here!” the blonde woman called out. She waved at the attractive man and young woman walking into the restaurant. Her raven-haired son lowered his head, embarrassed.

The duo walked over, and the man hugged the woman tightly. “Vicky, you look great, as usual,” he said.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Pres,” Vicky replied. She looked over at the pretty young woman. “And this is Charise, I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Charise replied, smiling politely. Then, her eyes widened when she caught sight of the woman’s son.

“This is my son, Jeff,” Vicky added.

“Yes, we’ve met,” Jeff spoke up.

“Have you?” Vicky asked, surprised.


“At the high school’s fundraiser a few months back,” Charise explained.

“Oh, right,” Vicky said. “So, Pres, it took you this long to find time to eat lunch with me?”

Preston chuckled and replied, “I’m been busy running a company. Plus, Charise has been busy lately too, spending time with her boyfriend.”

“Oh?” Vicky asked, nodding to a waiter, who was heading over. “Who is he?” To the waiter, she said, “I’ll have tea, please.”

The others chimed in with their own drink preferences. “His name is Dunstan Diggory,” Charise replied slowly, unnerved by Jeff’s silence.

“Diggory,” Vicky murmured slowly. “As in the family who made a ton of money from oil wells?”

“None other,” Preston said. “He used to be her piano teacher.”

Charise shifted awkwardly in her seat. “Yeah, but that was years ago,” she added.


“So,” Vicky said, changing the subject, upon noting Charise’s discomfort with the discussion, “what are you majoring in?”

“I’m a psychology major.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Vicky exclaimed. “Jeff, didn’t you want to go into psychology originally?”

“Yeah,” Jeff mumbled, looking awkward. He clearly did not wish to be there at the restaurant.

“So,” Vicky said, taking a deep breath and looking a bit nervous, “there’s a reason I wanted to meet with you guys. It has to do with Julianna.”

“My mom?” Charise exclaimed. “What happened now?”