Chapter 21 A Trail Leading to the Past
That night, Aveline's room was dimly lit by a desk lamp, which shone directly onto her pensive face. The night air felt colder than usual, as if responding to the restlessness that had gripped her since her conversation with Professor Barbara that afternoon.
The professor's words kept replaying in her head. About Ezra... slander... Selina... long leave of absence... and the warning to be careful...
All of it kept echoing like a mantra that wouldn't fade.
And what was most unsettling was Barbara's expression. She saw not just worry. But there was something darker there. Something that seemed to signal that Aveline had stepped into territory she shouldn't touch.
Aveline let out a long breath, trying to calm her mind. But the opposite happened; the curiosity increasingly gnawed at her.
What was the connection between all of this? Ezra and Selina's death... were they linked?
She finally gave in to the urge. Aveline refocused on her laptop, typing the name that had been haunting her: Selina Arquette. She had asked Professor Barbara for the name on her way home from campus earlier.
A list of searches appeared. Several articles, a few forums, and one or two brief, long-abandoned comments from internet users. But one article caught her attention. A news report from a local media outlet several years ago.
Holding her breath, Aveline clicked the open button.
The page opened with a picture of a young woman's face. Long wavy hair, a faint, barely visible smile, and slightly melancholic eyes. Aveline froze for a moment.
Similar. Very similar to the photo in Adrian's drawer, albeit a slightly more mature version. A gentle face, beautiful eyes... and an aura that felt familiar for some reason.
She swallowed, her chest tightening. Aveline started reading the article from the beginning.
"A young lecturer was found dead in her apartment. Selina Arquette, 39, was a professor in the Faculty of Psychology and was known as a quiet and dedicated figure. No signs of violence were found. Police closed the case after a two-month investigation due to a lack of evidence for either murder or suicide."
Aveline frowned. Closing a death case that quickly? Without any explanation?
She scrolled down the page, carefully reading every line.
Selina was described as an intelligent and private woman. She had no partner. Lived alone. Had no close relatives other than a younger sister who was reluctant to appear in the media.
Aveline's eyes widened when she read that part.
"Selina Arquette left behind a younger sister who chose to live far from the city and refused to be interviewed."
Something stabbed her stomach.
The image of the woman in the article and the photo she saw in Adrian's drawer... were so similar that Aveline felt a chill crawl up her neck.
Did this mean there was a connection between Adrian and Selina's sister? Or was it the photo of Selina herself? If so, why was Adrian keeping her photo in a drawer? And most importantly, why was no one talking about this?
Aveline's heart pounded hard. She closed her eyes, trying to put the pieces together, but the more she tried to connect them, the more chaotic the result.
Especially when all of it was linked to Ezra.
Professor Barbara said that Ezra was close to Selina. Close in a way that made people question it. Close in a way that invited whispers on campus.
And after Selina died, all accusations were directed at Ezra.
Aveline tried to trace the timeline. It happened long before she was accepted to teach at that campus. If Ezra immediately took leave after that, it was understandable that Aveline hadn't heard anything. Not about Selina, nor about Ezra.
Her mind shifted to the figure of Ezra she had seen all this time. The quiet Ezra, who didn't talk much and kept many things to himself. The Ezra who was always calm and dark, as if he was hiding something.
Aveline hugged herself, feeling like her room was shrinking. There was an invisible air that made her back tense.
She looked back at the screen. The article page wasn't long. It even felt... too short, as if information had been deliberately omitted.
She slowly closed her laptop, trying to take a breath, but instead felt increasingly suffocated by unanswered curiosity.
In the midst of the silence, Aveline realised something.
She wasn't just reading about Selina. She was touching Ezra's past, which she believed also had a connection to Adrian. And that past... felt dangerous.
It felt like opening a door that creaked slowly, but she didn't yet know what was waiting for her on the other side.
Aveline searched again in the search column, hoping to find more complete data about Selina. But everything was futile. Now, Aveline had only one goal. She knew who could help her dig deeper into this.
Selina's sister. Who was said to be out of the city and unwilling to be exposed to the media.
But the problem was... how could she find that woman?
Suddenly, the front door opened and startled Aveline. Adrian had returned home after being unreachable all night.
Aveline quickly rushed out of the room to greet her husband.
"Don't ask anything. I'm hungry..." Adrian cut her off when he saw Aveline open her mouth to ask.
Aveline closed her mouth tightly again. Although many questions swirled in her head, she tried to keep them for now. She immediately went to the kitchen to prepare a simple dinner while Adrian cleaned himself up.
However, when Aveline carried all of Adrian's dirty clothes to the laundry basket, her chest immediately tightened.
She found a lipstick stain again on the chest of his shirt. Also, the pungent smell of a woman's perfume. She remembered the incident last night, where she saw Adrian with another woman while he was drunk.
With uncontrollable anger, Aveline took the shirt and went to see Adrian in the dining room.
She threw the shirt onto the table, right in front of Adrian, who was about to eat dinner.
"Explain... Why is there a lipstick stain and a woman's perfume on your clothes? Does this have anything to do with the woman you were with last night, Adrian?"