Chapter 145 He Disappeared
Zachary pulled the covers over his head, grinning mischievously underneath.
Quinley was equal parts annoyed and flustered. This was only day one, and he'd already kissed her twice. She was starting to regret agreeing to Lucas's arrangement.
"Go to sleep right now. Stop laughing. And no more kissing me." Her face flushed as she scolded him again.
When she stormed out of Zachary's bedroom, Lucas had just finished his work. "I'll drive you home."
They headed out together. As the car pulled into the South City apartment complex, Lucas looked at Quinley curiously. "How'd you end up living here?"
This was where Quinley used to live.
"Mr. Martin found it for me. Said it's close to the office—convenient for commuting."
It was a reasonable explanation, and Lucas knew about Quinley's connection to Peter, so he didn't question it further.
"Tomorrow morning, don't go to the office. Report directly to Maple Estate. Mr. Jennings will be waiting for you there." Lucas pulled up to the complex entrance.
"Got it."
The streetlights were bright, stretching her shadow long and thin as she walked. Quinley headed toward her building, only to unexpectedly run into Adela downstairs.
Clearly, she'd been waiting specifically for Quinley.
"Ms. Gomez, what are you doing here?" Quinley walked slowly toward Adela, pretending to know nothing.
"Cindy, tell me the truth. What the hell happened today?" Anger flickered across Adela's delicate face.
At Apex Global Group, aside from Lucas, she was the person closest to Zachary. But now some random new cleaning lady had taken what should be her position. And not just taken it—she seemed even closer to him than Adela was.
Zachary had held her hand. That image cut Adela deep. She needed to know what was going on. But Quinley couldn't tell her anything.
"Ms. Gomez, what do you want to know?"
Quinley met Adela's furious gaze calmly. The calmer she remained, the more Adela's anger threatened to spill over.
Standing before Adela, Quinley looked completely ordinary—not remotely threatening. Yet Zachary had voluntarily taken her hand. He was such a germaphobe—why would he hold hands with a cleaning lady?
Adela desperately wanted to ask directly, but she held back.
"What I need to tell you is this: at Apex Global Group, you need to do your job and understand your place."
As chief secretary, their positions were worlds apart. If she asked too directly, it would be beneath her.
"I'll remember that, Ms. Gomez. If there's nothing else, I'm heading up." Quinley dragged her heavy steps forward slowly.
As they passed each other, she could practically feel Adela's jealousy crackling like fire.
That night, Quinley called Detective Wilson.
"Did you find anything on that person?"
Besides worrying about Zachary, her biggest reason for coming back was finding Susan.
"She's dead." Quinley's head buzzed. "Dead?"
She didn't believe it.
"The day of your accident, she was in your wedding car. Then she drowned. Now she's buried in the Brown family cemetery."
"You're sure?"
Quinley still didn't believe it. Why would she have been in the wedding car?
"Absolutely certain. She's completely taken your place now. Everyone thinks you're the one who died."
Hearing this, Quinley let out a cold laugh. When that woman was alive, she'd been her body double. But in death, that woman had become Quinley's stand-in instead.
"Send me the cemetery address. I want to see her."
"You can't go." Detective Wilson immediately objected. "Ms. Elikin, even though you've changed a lot, someone might still recognize you. If you want to pull this off, you need to steel yourself and keep moving forward."
"I know. Don't worry—no one will recognize me." Quinley insisted.
Finally, Detective Wilson couldn't talk her out of it and sent the cemetery address.
The next day, just after dawn, Quinley took the earliest bus straight to the cemetery. The Brown family cemetery had dedicated caretakers. Quinley bought a bouquet of flowers outside.
The newly erected headstone sat in the farthest corner. It read: Quinley Elikin, fiancée of David Brown, rests here.
Quinley placed the flowers in front of the headstone. Her name was on it, her photo was on it—but the person lying inside was someone else entirely.
She couldn't describe what she felt. She was alive, but she was dead. How she wished the person who'd died could come back to life. She had so many questions to ask her.
Lucas's call came while Quinley was still at the cemetery.
"Ms. Promise, where are you?"
Lucas's voice sounded urgent. Quinley lied. "I'm trying to lose weight, so I went out for a morning run."
"Mr. Jennings is missing."
Quinley was hurrying toward the exit when Lucas's words came through the phone.
"What? He's missing? How could he be missing?" Her voice shot up.
Lucas let out a long breath. "He was in his bedroom when I got up this morning. But when I finished making breakfast and went to get him, he was gone. He left a note in his room saying he went to find you."
He came to find her?
Quinley's heart plummeted. Zachary's mental capacity was that of an eight-year-old right now. He didn't remember anything. If he left Maple Estate alone, anything could happen.
"Mr. Murphy, get people looking for him now."
No time to think. Quinley broke into a run. There was a bus stop near the cemetery that went to downtown—the same route she'd taken here. She waited at the stop.
But after more than ten minutes, the bus still hadn't come. Panicking, she just started running along the highway.
The distance from here to South City Apartments was about twelve miles. She ran the whole way back without stopping.
She'd always hated long-distance running, but now, for Zachary's sake, she didn't care about any of that.
God, it was hot that day. The blazing sun beat down mercilessly. Quinley's sweat poured out like water. Her hair was soaked, her clothes were soaked—she looked like she'd been dunked in a pool as she ran home.
Passing the security office, the white-bearded old man called out to her.
"Ms. Promise, there's a gentleman here looking for you."
Quinley had almost run past. She stopped short, hands on her knees, gasping for air.
Zachary, wearing pajamas, poked his head leisurely out of the security office.
"Cindy! I brought you breakfast." He had a lollipop in his mouth and carried a plastic bag, running toward Quinley happily.
"Cindy, where did you go? Why are you soaked?"
He pulled the lollipop from his mouth, looking at Quinley in confusion. She was drenched head to toe, her clothes plastered to her body.
"Who told you to run off? Didn't I tell you not to wander around? Why didn't you listen?"
Out of nowhere, Quinley exploded with fury. She yelled at Zachary, ready to grab his ear and twist it.
"I..." Zachary immediately lost his words, his head drooping.
Quinley was livid. She was about to keep scolding when Lucas's call came through.
"Found him. He's with me. Come pick him up."
She hung up immediately. Zachary had already sidled up to her, explaining carefully.
"Cindy, please don't be mad, okay? I already made you angry yesterday. The reason I came out was to bring you breakfast and apologize. Lucas said you lived here, so I just kept asking directions and walked the whole way. Look, my slippers are totally wrecked."
Quinley looked down. One of Zachary's slippers had half the strap torn off, the other was missing a chunk of the heel. His big feet were just hanging out exposed.
From Maple Estate to South City Apartments wasn't close. He'd walked the whole way on foot.
Somehow, half her anger just evaporated.
"Come with me." She turned and started walking.
Zachary hurried after her. "Cindy, I know I messed up. I'll never run off alone again. Can you forgive me this time? Please?"
Like a puppy, he kept begging Quinley to forgive him. Her heart kept going back and forth between hard and soft—like he had her completely figured out.