Chapter 201: WHAT HAPPENED

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I lifted my hand and signed sixteen again.

Kade’s gaze dropped to my fingers.

Before I could pull away, he reached for my hand. His touch was gentle — almost reverent — as he shifted my fingers, folding them into a different shape.

Six.

I stared at our hands between us.

His thumb lingered there, steadying mine. “No,” he said quietly. “Six.”

I opened my eyes and reread the news article. Kade killed his mother when he was just six years old.

He never told me about it.

I imagined the way his hands trembled slightly when he sighed, “SIX.”

My man was never scared of anything before and never will be.

But this—whatever happened when he was at this house—changed him forever.

It’s a good thing he killed Nina. Or else, I would have done that deed.

And if he thinks that this would change the way I look at him, he is wrong.

I clutch the hospital reports to my chest.

Now comes the real question. Who wanted me to look at these files?

“We should leave,” Xavier said from behind.

“Did the couple talk?”

“Yes, ma’am. They won the house in some kind of contest. The only rule is to get it designed at Layline. Even received money to pay upfront. They thought it was some kind of business promotion.”

What kind of an idiot would give a house for free for a business promotion?

I close my eyes, thinking about the possible suspect.

“There is a mole.” He once told me. “Maxson knows everything I do. If I pretend to be careless, they will make a mistake. They will dig out.”

But he didn’t get to investigate it. Too many things happened in the meantime.

“Ma’am.” There is a hint of warning in Xavier’s voice—like he would dare to carry me himself if I don’t move.

“Fine, let’s go. Find out who lured me here.”

His steps haltered for a moment before they resumed— sharp and steady.

“I didn’t know.” He quietly said.

“Didn’t know what?” I asked him.

“That this place is prohibited.”

Argh! It’s prohibited. Lovely.

I turned towards him. He is still not looking at me.

“I am not angry at you,” I clarified.

“I should have—,”

“Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve—stop all that nonsense. We will go home, and you will get to work right away. You will find out who made the Lockharts hire me for this house’s remodelling. Got it?”

He looked like he could salute me at this second.

Gladly, he didn’t.

Once I was inside the car, I started reading every hospital report I found inside that nursery.

The first report didn't shock me.

The second one didn't either.

By the third one, I wanted to kill every adult who had ever set foot inside that house.

Age: Four.

Severe malnutrition.

Recommended follow-up.

Age: Four years and six months.

Weight below the expected range.

Signs of prolonged neglect.

The Guardian advised improving the child's diet.

Age: Five.

Delayed speech development.

The child rarely communicates.

Possible psychological trauma.

The words blurred together.

Not because I couldn't read them.

Because I could.

Too well.

Every report carried the same name beneath the Guardian section.

His grandmother.

Every single time.

His grandmother took him to the doctor.

His grandmother brought him food.

His grandmother cared enough to sit through examinations.

His grandmother cared enough to try.

And somehow, despite all of that, the reports kept getting worse.

I turned another page.

Then another.

Then another.

The dates stretched across years.

Not months.

Years.

Five years of neglect were carefully documented by strangers who never did a thing about it.

Five years old.

I closed my eyes.

Five years.

Not five bad days.

Not five bad weeks.

Five years.

A lifetime when you are a child.

My fingers tightened around the papers.

Suddenly, I remembered something else.

The nursery.

The tiny clothes.

The worksheets.

The newspapers covering the windows.

A child had lived in that room.

Not a baby.

A child.

For six years.

A six-year-old boy who could barely speak.

A six-year-old boy who barely weighed enough.

A six-year-old boy trapped inside a house covered in pink.

A six-year-old boy who learned very early that nobody was coming to save him.

My chest tightened painfully.

Because I knew that feeling.

Not exactly.

But enough.

I knew what it felt like to wait for help that never came.

To pray for rescue.

To realise nobody was coming.

The difference was that I had Celia.

Kade had a grandmother who was already slipping away.

I opened the newspaper article again.

This time I read every word.

Every single one.

A twenty-six-year-old woman was found deceased.

Authorities are searching for a six-year-old child.

Neighbours report the child was rarely seen.

Rarely seen.

As though the boy were some mysterious creature.

As though nobody could possibly know what happened inside that house.

Maybe, they didn’t. Nina hid him. That’s why all the windows were plastered. She doesn’t want the world to find out about him.

Only two people might have access to these reports.

Nina and her mother. Both of them were dead.

I am sure six-year-old Kade would think of burning some records. He probably had never set foot here.

“How long have you been in the outfit?” I asked Xavier.

He didn’t avert his eyes from the road, “My induction happened when I was eighteen. It’s been six years.”

“Do people in the outfit know about Kade’s mother?”

Silence.

It’s the answer enough.

“What did they know about Kade when he was a kid?”

That’s when Xavier turned his head, “Absolutely nothing.”

No one in the outfit knew about Kade.

“Nina—wasn’t she—,”

“Exiled??” Xavier completed my sentence.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Yeah, something like that.” He agreed. “From what I knew, she became an outcast. Outfit people are very orthodox. They abide by their rules. She got pregnant without marriage. Even if it’s with the don’s son, she tampered with the condom.” His voice trailed off as if saying condom in front of me is a sin.

“People thought she had aborted the baby. Everyone hated her, including her mother.”

“Then why did she go back to her daughter and help her with Kade?” I asked him.

Xavier shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am. All I know is that no one is allowed to contact Nina. So, I am not sure why her mother went to live with her.”

Interesting.

“Did the outfit know about Kade’s existence until Kai took him?”

“Probably no.”

That got me thinking. “What happened to Nina’s mother? When did she go to her daughter?”

Xavier shook his head, “I am not sure, ma’am. I have never heard much of her.”

“What about Kade’s grandfather? I heard he was an enforcer.”

“He was a terrifying man. Well respected, too. But after what happened to Nina, he was removed from his position. He left the outfit and never came back. Or that’s what I heard.”

Oh God!

Oh, no!

No!

“What happened?” Xavier asked me when he found me clutching my chest.

“Are you alright, ma'am?”

I have this feeling. That Nina’s entire family punished Kade for what happened to them.