It was past seven in the evening when they finally arrived at the Myers estate.
The car drove into the residence and
Before the engine even died, the front doors opened.
"Welcome back, Young Master." An elderly man hurried down the steps, his movements quick despite his age. His back was straight and his eyes were sharp, Butler Chen, the house keeper, rushed to welcome them.
"You can go in," Jake said, his tone clipped as he stepped out. "I need a word with Roco."
Madeline paused mid-step, glancing at him.
"Don't bully him too much," she said lightly before stepping out.
Jake scoffed.
"Young miss you are finally back, it's been months since I last saw you".
Madeline recognised him from her memories as Butler Chen. One of the three original staff members left, employed by her mother. Ava, her stepmother, had made sure to fire most of them for their "incompetence" after her mother passed and employed new ones who will be loyal only to her.
Madeline smiled slightly walking into the living room
"It's good to see you uncle Chen. I will be spending the night. Do I still have a room here?" she asked, glancing at the couple seated in the living room.
"Maddie you are back, oh I was just talking to your father about you. I saw all the mess on the internet. Are you okay? Ava asked, her voice sounding so sultry, almost suffocating and disgusting to the ears of everyone apart from Thomas Myers apparently.
She stood elegantly beside the couch, one hand resting lightly on the armrest, the other brushing back her hair in a practiced, graceful motion.
Everything about her screamed perfection, everything about her felt fake.
Madeline gave her a look. Before turning to her father seated with a newspaper in hand.
"Dad", she called shortly, which sounded strange to her ears. She had never had a father or called anyone dad but it wasn't too hard to adapt as she had assumed different personalities in the past.
Her father nodded at her before turning his head back to the newspaper.
"Oh, Maddy, wait" Ava stepped forward quickly, grabbing her arm.
Madeline stilled.
Her eyes dropped to the hand on her sleeve. Ava leaned closer, her voice lowering, dripping with false concern.
"Don't worry about the news online even if.. even if you caused the miscarriage of Mrs Lee, your father would take care of it, Right Tom?"
Madeline hadn't been one for physical interaction so she yanked her hands off.
Ava let out a soft gasp, stumbled backward, straight into Thomas.
"Oh!"
She collapsed against him, her body going limp as if she had been shoved with force.
Madeline raised a brow, she had to give it to her, that was… impressive.
"Ava," Thomas said flatly, not even looking at her. "Get up." Ava blinked, clearly not expecting that response.
"I… I was just trying to help… Why are you being aggressive?" Her voice trembled, her lashes fluttering as tears gathered in her eyes. Thomas frowned slightly, His gaze moved between them once. Brief and uninterested.
"How old are you?" he said calmly. "Why are you bickering with a child?"
Madeline froze.
Ava froze.
For very different reasons.
Madeline tilted her head slightly.
That wasn't how this was supposed to go.
Isn't it usually after gaining a stepmother you gain a stepfather as well?
He should have reprimanded her for pushing his wife.
"Wasn't the father supposed to side with the stepmother? Wasn't she supposed to get blamed?
Ava slowly stood up, her expression stiff.
"Yes… of course…" Thomas had already gone back to his newspaper.
Conversation over. Just like that. Madeline stared at him for a second longer, before heading upstairs.
This "father" was an interesting one.
"Dad."
Jake's voice echoed from the entrance. Thomas finally withdrew his attention from the paper and folded it.
"I've been waiting for you," he said, standing. "Lets talk in the study."
James gave her a look before following Thomas.
Madeline watched them go.
Then rolled her eyes at Ava. "Pathetic," she muttered under her breath. Ava's lips tightened, she glared at Madeline before picking up all her dignity from the ground and heading to the kitchen.
Madeline headed upstairs relying on her memories to locate her room.
The door was slightly open, she pushed it open fully and came face to face with someone trying to leave.
Kaya. Ava's daughter and her step sister. In her hands was a blue dress and a matching jewellery clearly stolen from Madeline's closet.
S-Sister!" Kaya jumped, nearly dropping everything. "When did you get back?"
She quickly shoved the items behind her back. A failed attempt to hide her stolen goods.
Madeline leaned against the doorframe, watching her. Kaya shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, her eyes involuntarily meeting Madeline's cold ones.
"Get out." Kaya didn't argue, didn't even try, her hands trembled as the items slipped from her grip, scattering onto the floor, before scurrying out. Madeline ignored the mess on the floor and walked to the bed, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. It had an address written on it. It was the only tangible thing she got from Lee's phone. Her fingers tapped lightly against the paper.
She sighed heavily as she entered the bathroom. She never had a moment of peace in her past life and this life was proving to be the same.
After the shower…
Her mind drifted back to the address. She quickly pulled out her laptop from the bedstand drawer and searched for it. "Suburbs…" she murmured.
"Why would a famous and wealthy director with millions in net worth have a house in the suburbs?" Seems like that was worth checking out.
"Rubix, tell me where the drive is". Madeline gasps in shock as she shot up in bed, breathing hard. Her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Her eyes quickly darted around the room.
She calms down when she realizes she is the Myers estate. She tries to recall her dream and remembers the voice was a female so she could ascertain her killer was a female or at least an accomplice. Madeline looked at the clock and it was currently 2am in the morning.
12 hrs until the press conference and she has nothing substantial to show. She quickly heads over to the table and writes down what she recalls from her dream so she doesn't forget.
Her eyes drifted to the address again and she decided to go for it. She changes into a black jean trousers and black top with a black face mask and a black cap. Thankfully, Madeline was a celebrity who had endless face masks and caps to always hide her face when going out.
She donned on the full outfit before heading to the window.
She opened it slightly, cool air rushed in and Madeline stepped onto the edge.
Just as Madeline jumped out of the window, someone pushed the door open. However, Madeline did not care about that. It was probably James. She jumped to the ground planning to land on her feet but her legs gave out…