Chapter 44 She Had Sought Him Out Twice as a Child
That afternoon, Nicholas called Emma, but she didn't answer. So he drove straight to Harrison Manor.
There were some things he needed to get to the bottom of personally.
He'd barely been inside for ten minutes before Robert had him thrown out.
Robert literally shouted for the staff to escort him off the property.
But Nicholas didn't actually leave. Instead, he found Mike Nelson, the estate manager who was overseeing some garden work.
Mike had been at Harrison Manor for thirty years. The moment he spotted Nicholas, he hurried over.
"Mr. Harrison, Mr. Robert's been having chest pains lately. Please don't upset him anymore! I'll call you when he's in a better mood."
Nicholas nodded. "I appreciate you looking after Grandfather, Mike. I just came to check on things."
He paused, lowering his voice slightly.
"Mike, I need to ask you something. Did Emma know Grandfather when she was a child?"
Mike looked puzzled and thought carefully.
"As a child?" He shook his head, then suddenly smiled. "Why would you think that, Mr. Harrison?"
"I remember it was four years ago when Mrs. Scott first brought her to visit. Yes, that was the first time Mr. Robert met her too. He even complimented her on being beautiful and having a lovely name."
Nicholas frowned. Four years ago... that timeline didn't match!
He pressed on, his voice carrying barely concealed urgency.
"Think harder. Twelve years ago, did a little girl ever come to Harrison Manor looking for someone?"
He watched Mike intently. As he asked this question, his heart skipped a beat.
This answer was important to him. Extremely important.
Mike was confused. Twelve years ago? That was so long ago.
Fortunately, Mike immediately went into recall mode, frowning as he searched through his memories.
He nodded slowly. Yes, twelve years ago there had been a little girl who came to Harrison Manor. Twice, actually.
The first time, she was dressed in rags and didn't even have shoes. Everyone thought she was a vagrant trying to sneak in, so they ignored her and sent her away.
Unexpectedly, she came back the next day, holding a piece of paper with writing on it.
"What did it say?" Nicholas asked, his voice tinged with impatience.
Mike patted his forehead. "Right! It said, 'I need to find Nicholas.'"
"What was particularly striking was that your name is quite complex, and she had actually misspelled it."
Mike glanced at Nicholas.
"I thought at the time that she must know you, Mr. Harrison. Otherwise, how would she know your name and write that note?"
"I figured it might be something important, or maybe a child you knew had gotten lost. So I called your boarding school."
Nicholas's heart plummeted. He'd called the school?
"What... what did I say?" His voice was hoarse.
Mike sighed. "You said on the phone... you said you didn't know any girl looking for you. You said it was probably a mistake or a prank. So I told her what you said."
Nicholas closed his eyes. He'd said he didn't know her! He'd personally denied it!
"How did she react when she heard that?" he asked, his voice strained.
Mike shook his head, his face showing sympathy.
"She cried for a long time, squatted by the gate crying all morning. In the end, I brought her some money to buy food. But she absolutely refused to take it and just ran off. She never came back after that."
Each word pierced Nicholas's heart like a needle.
A dull ache.
So there really had been a girl who came looking for him all those years ago.
Twice, even, carrying a handwritten note with his name misspelled.
And he, because of a damned phone call, one simple "I don't know her," had completely shut her out.
Had that girl really been young Emma?
Why?
Why did he have absolutely no memory of this? What had gone wrong to make him miss someone who might have been crucial to him?
Mike seemed to sense his confusion and suggested that perhaps the car accident had caused him to lose some memories. After all, he'd been unconscious for a long time and had barely recovered.
Nicholas fell silent again. That had to be it!
Yes!
That car accident! His father had died in that crash.
He himself had been severely injured, lying in the hospital for months.
When he woke up, many details from before and after the accident were indeed hazy.
The doctor had called it post-traumatic stress response, accompanied by partial memory loss.
Had he really forgotten some important fragment? Forgotten... the part where he knew that girl?
Nicholas's eyes blazed with urgency. "Is there any way to recover those memories?"
Mike pondered for a moment.
"When the accident happened, your driver was Ted Ward. Poor kid was unlucky too - broke his leg in that crash and ended up disabled. Later he took a compensation settlement from the Harrison family and went back to his hometown. We haven't really kept in touch since."
Mike's face lit up. "How about... I have someone track him down? You could ask him personally - maybe he remembers some details from that time?"
Nicholas grabbed onto this like a lifeline.
Finding Ted Ward might reveal what had happened before and after the accident. It might unlock his lost memories.
Solve the mystery of Emma.
"Yes! I'd be grateful if you could arrange that, Mike!" He looked at Mike seriously. "Find him as soon as possible."
"Of course, Mr. Harrison. I'll get right on it." Mike nodded in agreement.
Nicholas took a deep breath, suppressing his churning emotions, then got in his car and left.
Sitting in the car, he closed his eyes tightly and carefully recalled everything about Emma.
He still couldn't forget the first time he'd brought her to Lily Garden - she wore a white dress, walked through the lily beds for a long time, and even picked one flower.
Later, he'd had that entire hillside planted with lilies, sourcing the rarest varieties from around the world, creating something beautiful and fragrant.
When the butler asked what to name the little garden, he'd casually said: "Lily Garden."
How could she have burned it down?
So heartlessly?
She'd claimed to have been chasing him for twelve years - was she giving up now?
Irritation crept up on him, forcing him to open his eyes.
He called Charlie, his voice tense. "Find Emma. See what she's doing. Tell me immediately."
Charlie swallowed his half-chewed bite of food and quickly answered, "Right away!"
Nicholas added, "Have someone restore Lily Garden. Replant all the lilies."
Charlie struggled to swallow. "What if Ms. Rodriguez... burns it down again?"
"Then we'll replant it again!"
Nicholas's tone brooked no argument!
"Understood!"
He didn't know why he was being so stubborn. Maybe it was because those were once beautiful memories, the only thing that still connected him to her.
Right, if anyone was going to burn it, it would be him - it wasn't her place to do it!
The name Emma carried no weight with him! He emphasized this to himself once again!
Soon, Charlie called back.
"Mr. Harrison, I found out. Ms. Rodriguez has been at Moore Group the whole time. Seems like she hasn't left for three days."
"Three whole days and nights without leaving Moore Group!"
Nicholas's face immediately darkened at this news.
Three days and nights - she'd been eating and sleeping there with that Matthew.
What was she trying to do?
He felt like another metaphorical betrayal was hanging over his head, and his mood instantly soured.