Just how twisted is the Universe

Freddy smiled, "I will tell her, and cuz, don't let Uncle get under your skin, he is just bitter for now, but he will be fine. Oh, come prepared for tomorrow's interviews, you need to choose your husband wisely.", Linda flashed a smile and left. She admired Freddy's innocence and gullibility, she often wondered how different would her relationship with her uncle be if she was like that. 

Her driver was waiting outside the building and she gave him a wide smile when she saw him, as she stepped in the car, she received a text from Jackie that read:

"I know you said you knew who was responsible for stealing your mom's painting, but I thought you should know this. The person who arranged for it to be stolen was a person called Glenda Stevens and the money was wired to an offshore account under the name of Thomas Ndlovu, surprisingly, the account is still active and continues to receive monthly payments from Glenda. John King arranged for transportation and the buyer, but it doesn't look like he did anything else other than that.",

Linda called Jackie the moment she finished reading the message, her palms were sweating and her pulse was beating out of control, she struggled to catch a breath, she was visibly distraught, thinking and mocking the universe for this sick and twisted joke;

"Wait, so you are saying that Glenda is the person responsible and Thomas is the owner of the offshore account?!"

"Yess, do you know them? Are you okay", Jackie was getting worried, Linda was hyperventilating on the phone

Linda was finally able to get ahold of herself thanks to the bottle of water the driver handed her, "Glenda is my mother's best friend and she runs the sister gallery in New York, and Thomas is my dead father." But she had to be sure, "Listen, 1. I need you to put everything you have into tracking Thomas Ndlovu, I need to know if he is alive or if someone is illegally using his name, and if it's the latter, I am going to destroy whoever this person is. 2. I need to know my uncle's exact connection to this, please track those mysterious company shares he suddenly got. I have a theory, but I really hope I am wrong about this", Linda hung up the phone and started to sob bitterly, but she knew she could not alter a word of this to anyone until everything is confirmed, the only thing she could do now, was to cry her eyes out.

Her driver let her cry it out and then finally started the car to her house, when she got inside, Sharon was already waiting for her, "Hey you, look what I go-", Linda threw herself into Sharon's arms and cried. She felt as if there was a lump stuck in her throat and the only way to get it out was through crying her heart out. Sharon had no other choice but to pat her friend who crying uncontrollably in her arms, "Is it too hard?", she asked

"I-I, Sharon, My-My-", she could not alter a single word, her world came crumbling down, the woman who raised her and taught everything she knows about art, and told her stories of her mother in college, was nothing but a con artist. Her father whom she aspired to be like is likely involved in the death of her own mother, she could take her uncle being a villain, his actions have a root. But her mother's best friend, how could she?

After crying for an hour, Linda finally stopped but remained lifeless on the floor, Sharon held her by the hand and led her to the big white sofa in the living room and then asked Mariam to make her a cup of chamomile tea.

"I don't know what happened, but I know this is beyond finding a husband, you must have heard something terrible, and the fact that you came straight home, and did not go to your grandparents means you don't want them to find out?", Linda nodded softly,

Sharon squeezed her tightly, "I understand, and I know you, you will reveal the truth like you revealed who stole my pencil back in Preschool, like how you revealed who stole the teacher's apple in grade 1, and remember how you revealed the truth about the perverted Professor who kept failing you because you refused to sleep with him?",

Linda sniffled, "Professor Lockhart deserved it".

Sharon held Linda's chin up, wiped her tears, and said, "Most importantly, how you revealed and got rid of every spy your uncle planted in the company. Listen, if anyone can do it, it is you. Go get every single one of them!".

Linda hugged her tightly, "Thank you Sharon", then laid silently in Sharon's arms for a while and finally said, "This time I need to make sure uncle doesn't recover from his demise, but to do that I need a husband first"

"About that, I have an idea..." Sharon replied