Discoveries

"I really do not know what you are talking about."

"Are you sure?" Noah frowned, showing his confusion.

He was pretty tense, trying to discover any and everything.

"No, I'm pretty sure she came here around 7 years ago? Are you sure your memory is incorrect?" He insisted when the woman before him denied knowing what he spoke of once again.

"If she had come, her name would be in our records for sure and I would know about it. Maybe you have the wrong clinic?" The nurse in front of him gave him a worried look, wondering in what other way she could help him.

They had brought her into the director's office to the clinic she works in suddenly.

"Really? My mistake, I thought, Mrs. Porter works here. I heard she's been here for the past 10 years, I should check the clinic name again."

Noah watched the woman flinch at the name which seemed familiar to her.

The nurse in front of him was around 40 years old and she had been working here since she was 25, which meant she was definitely here 7 years ago."

"She did, but she has long retired."

"Did she retire on June 16th, exactly 7 years ago?" Noah asked curiously.

"Ahha, I really can't-" The nurse shook her head furiously.

"I'm sure you can check again right?" Noah gave her a small smile.

"Sir, I really-"

"Ms. Stipov, did Mrs. Porter retire on June 16th 7 years ago or not?"

"Yes, yes! Yes, she did!" The nurse frankly nodded her head, as she clenched her hands, with sweaty palms.

"On that exact day? June 16th?" Noah asked for confirmation.

"Yes, she did it abruptly. We don't know why she suddenly left that morning and handed her resignation letter. We never heard of her again."

"What about her file?"

"Erased, all of it is gone, including annual picture IDs. The previous director had erased any record of her being here. We don't know why and we know better than to question it." The nurse sweat profoundly.

Weston shook his knowing the previous director had passed away 3 years ago. Would things be easier if this investigation had started earlier? He suddenly felt bad for Noah and wished he had been there to help earlier.

After all, no matter how powerful his ex-wife is and her connections Weston could outsmart them all. He was very confident in himself.

"Is there anything else you can remember about the last weeks Mrs. Porter spent in the clinic?" Noah tapped his finger on the desk, waiting for her answer.

"Sir, I have a contract. I can't disclose any-"

"Which is why you have been receiving funds from a suspicious source to your account for the past seven years. I think it's best if you talk you have a family to feed, correct?"

She swallowed and dared to look at him in the eye, only to whimper and look away again. She had never met someone more intimating in her life. The fact that he was questioning her with such intensity in his tone and eyes, made her nervous to no end.

"She said something about helping her cousin who was about to give birth. They sent her cousin in on the 15th after a car accident in Saint Mary Hospital. The hospital had just opened back then you probably won't find records of it since Mrs. Porter's cousin passed away at birth."

"The child, what happened to the child?" Noah clenched his fists.

"Mrs. Porter had me send her for adoption. I took her to the nearest center I could find. I never heard about it again."

"The child's name, what was it?" He clenched his jaw, hoping it was not the name he had in mind. He really hoped this was nothing but one of many dead ends he had faced for the past few days, but he also wished Adriana and his daughter did not go through this.

He really wanted to convince himself that he was just overthinking things and it's all just one big misunderstanding...

But that would be stupid of him.

After he spoke with his grandmother, he was tense and could not stop his investigations. There were so many loopholes in everything, so many dead ends. Finally, a new lead had appeared and now that he was about to hear the truth, he suddenly didn't want to.

That fact he wasn't there to stop anything made him feel so shitty.

"I-I don't remember."

Noah slammed his hand on the desk, making her jump.

"The child's name? What was the child's name?!" He yelled.

"Aria! The child's name was Aria Claris! Yes! That was the name! Mrs. Porter's cousin had named the child before she gave birth, and Mrs. Porter always had a soft spot for kids, so she kept the child's name before sending her off!"

Noah clenched his fists again furiously.

"What else?"

"N-nothing else? I know nothing more, can I please go?"

"Ms. Stipov what else do you know?" Noah insisted, his bitter tone sending chills down her spine.

"I watched!" The nurse suddenly yelled, at the pressure she was receiving,

"I accidentally walked to one of Mrs. Porter's sessions, I watched her prescribe the wrong pills to the girl! I never saw the girls again, but she looks like the one in the picture you showed me." Finally, letting that off her chest, the nurse sighed in relief.

"What exactly did she prescribe to her? And why was she there in the first place?"

"The girl had an irregular menstruation cycle. She had been on birth control to help with it, but one day she came in and asked for advice to keep her body healthy to give birth safely. With a weak immune system like hers, she was doomed to have a miscarriage. Mrs. Porter had insisted on helping her, but when everything seemed to go well, Mrs. Porter started prescribing things that would cause a miscarriage for sure."

She took a deep breath in and continued, "I never questioned it, Mrs. Porter got rid of everyone who gets in her way so I had no choice but to follow her every whim. Anyway, I assume the girl knew what she was being prescribed because she accepted it! She must have known…."

Ms.Stipov seemed to work on convincing herself more than she was to convince Noah. Maybe because of the dark memories, or the guilty conscience.

"You assumed?" Noah laughed sarcastically.

"What else?"

The nurse flinched again when she heard Noah's words, a chill running down her spine as the hairs on her arms and neck stood up.

What more could he possibly want? She had already confessed her darkest secrets. What else is she supposed to know? After that day, she knew nothing else.

She had been living peacefully.

What else could he possibly want from her?

When he suddenly stood up and lifted her by her collar, she broke down in tears. "I really know nothing else!"

"Noah, stop. She doesn't seem to know more." Weston sighed.

When Noah did not stop, he yelled his name.

"Noah! Stop!"

Again, and again until he finally brought Noah out of that pit of anger he was drowning in.

"Get rid of her and find more about this cousin. Did you get reports back from the men I sent?" Noah turned to him, a storm brewing in his eyes. Anger that was yet to disperse.

"Yes, they will continue to search for everyone present during that time, along with Mrs. Porter."

A fucking piece of shit.

That's exactly how Noah could describe the way he felt.

His family. He failed to protect his family. Everything happened while he was locked inside a room thinking he was the one who had suffered and had gotten heartbroken.

All these years...

He angry, the person responsible for this would face hell. He would make sure of it.

****

"What?"

"The nurse, she vanished from my radar," Sanders repeated.

Adriana furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you that useless Sanders? Just triple the money."

"It's not that simple. She completely disappeared." He replied calmly.

"And so? Are you just going to sit there and do nothing? The obvious thing to do is find her."

Sanders sighed. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

Sanders gritted his teeth, "I can't means, I can't. There is no trace of her. I wouldn't have called you if the matter were that easy to solve."

'Fuck!' Adriana wanted to curse, but her daughter was inside her office right now, drawing on the carpet.

She hung up in annoyance.

The nurse is one of her many cards. This was not good. How could she allow one of her cards to disappear on her? And out of all things, the card is a witness! She needed her for the future.

The set of chess pieces and cards are very important.

The pawns; used to stir up trouble under the curtains and manipulate situations based on emotions.

Following up were the ones who would cover her tracks and keep their defenses up in case something went wrong. Sanders classified under that category because whether she liked it, she needed him.

Then there were the witnesses, they were not insignificant at all. She needed them for the future; she had kept track of any evidence of what she had gone through and also kept the witnesses in check.

Shaking her head, she tried to focus on her work.

Her suspicion grew. As someone who had to keep her senses sharp and could not underestimate the littlest thing, Adriana knew better than to ignore these weird circumstances. She closed the tabs on her computer and opened a blank document.

She then listed all the events that happened in the past weeks, beginning from when she arrived in New York and met Noah.

Everything was put in order by date and time.

She added the fact that unlike what she had wanted, Noah had not given in to the tempting shares and propositions Mr. Brooklyn had made when he proposed an engagement recently. It was something she expected.

A normal Noah would have probably got all the benefits and still not get married. Which meant he would most likely pretend to accept the engagement, just to keep Mr.Brooklyn in check and find out why he's offering something like that all of a sudden.

Or he would not give a direct answer and keep everyone wondering whether it meant yes or no. If he had done this, Briana would still have her hopes for Noah.

Questions:

Why did Noah reject right away without an explanation? Why did Briana not push her father to convince the Prestons more? Why did Mrs. Preston not step in and lend Briana a hand?

If this plan had been successful, Briana would lean on Noah and the Prestons as she struggles to claim her mother's innocence. To make it sound dramatic, Adriana wanted her to rely on and find refuge in them so that when she got too comfortable, she could take it all away at once, leaving her with nothing and alone.

One by one, all the people she trusts will be removed from her life.

So why the fvck is Noah not sticking to the fvcking script?

Adriana facepalmed.

Did my presence affect the calculations? But I did nothing to alter it.

Or did I?

What the fvck did I do?

Once again she went through the list and added minor events, things that could seem insignificant and yet affect her in some sort of way.

____

[VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIEL]

(Current time: 7 years ago)

Adriana left her apartment early in the morning and the first thing she encountered was a bouquet of flowers on the mat outside her apartment. She laughed reading the note on it.

'You fvcking weirdo.'

'But I love you.'

She sent him a text confirming she had received them and walked back inside.

Placing them in a vase she rushed out the door, to catch her train. When she arrived at work, after greeting all her colleges she found a bowl of her favorite chocolates on her desk with a note on it.

Removing it she read, 'Check your drawer.'

But of course, she notices the latter written on the bowl itself, 'One chocolate, two kisses.' She could already tell he had it custom-made and would definitely hold her accountable for all those chocolates.

With a smile, she opened her drawer. Picking up the box with pencils, key chains, and other small items with his face plastered on them, Adriana sighed at his antics.

'Free merch!' The note read.

She bit her lip to hold back her laugh. She looked around the office wondering how the hell he managed to put those there. Shaking her head she noticed her pens and pencils, things she used for work were gone.

After a mental facepalm, she realized he wanted her to use the 'merch' he gifted her.

[How much will I get if I sell these?] She sent him a message.

[I dare you.]

[Check your car.] She texted back.

A few minutes later she received a picture of his opened gift. A red box with small chocolate pink and red hearts. Inside, were 6 cookies taking the shape of dicks.

[Seriously?]

Adriana grinned.

[Enjoy your dicks.]

It was declared, she had won the best Valentine's day gift this year.

She could only wonder who would win the battles in the years to come.