At Sarah's words, Georgia remembered her mother's warning, and grew worried.
"Why do you say so? Is there anything strange about Emilia's mother?"
As Georgia said that, Sarah seemed to recall something.
She thought about it in silence for a while, then turned to Georgia and Robert.
"How should I describe it? The Margie Snow you see is an understanding, elegant lady of a noble family. But that's not the Margie Snow I saw. It goes back to a year before, when I returned to the Duran family and my father began grooming me as his successor. He took me to a lot of shady places to get to know people. Some of them were well dressed, and would talk business in the highest-end places. Others would talk business in messy bars and sex shops, over alcohol. Those were the darker, underground forces. But that's how the world works. You can't stay uninvolved with these people. You'd even have to maintain good relations with them. There might be times you'll need them. So I got to know some people.
"One of those times, I went to a well-known nightclub to talk business with someone else. There were a lot of girls and boys there. To people with power and status, finding a type they liked should have been easy. The service there was well-rounded and secrecy was high, so it wasn't particularly messy."
Sarah said that much, then turned to Georgia and smiled grimly.
"That's where I met Margie. Of course, a rich noblewoman looking for a young slab of fresh meat isn't anything out of the ordinary. I've heard that Margie's relationship with her husband isn't so good. Maybe they just have their own fun out in the open. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have been cause for me to suspect her, but then I saw something else."
"What would that be?"
Georgia was invested now.
"Back then, Margie must have been looking for fun with several other noblewomen she knew. When I met her, she and those ladies had entered a compartment. When I was done with business and leaving, I saw Emilia come out from her mother's compartment. I don't know what happened between mother and daughter, but right away, I saw Emilia bump into a drunkard who was raising a ruckus.
"That man tangled around Emilia and said a few things. Emilia was impatient and got ready to leave. The man was stronger, though, and he actually picked up a nearby wineglass and smashed it on her head. Emilia started bleeding from the back of the skull right away and almost fainted. The clubhouse had good security, of course, but before the bouncers or bodyguards got there, I saw Emilia's mother come out. She saw her own daughter messed with by a man and even injured, but her face registered no expression. She just got in an elevator to the penthouse room with several other friends she knew, bringing a man with them."
"That made a deep impression on me. I even stayed for a while deliberately until I saw management bring a bouncer over and toss the troublemaker out. Then they paid reparations to Emilia and apologized, personally escorting her downstairs, probably taking her to the hospital to treat her injury. All throughout, I didn't see Margie ever speak to her daughter. She just seemed to coldly bring the man she'd taken a shine to up to a room for her own enjoyment."
Georgia was stunned. She didn't doubt what Sarah said. There was no reason for Sarah to lie to her about this sort of thing.
But that was just such a difference between the Margie in Sarah's account and the Margie that Georgia knew.
"Have you come across Margie Snow afterwards?"
"I met her at a banquet, but our families don't have much to do with each other. I only knew her because I memorized all the rich and powerful families and their members back when I was starting out under the old man."
Georgia fell silent, feeling a bit at a loss as to what to do with this revelation.
This was others' family business, sure, but if the relationship between this mother and daughter was only one of cold indifference, why did Margie feel the need to act before them?
Or maybe she was acting and she didn't care whether Emilia lived or died. That was fine so long as she didn't hurt her daughter. After all, Ivan was still taking care of her overseas. But Georgia increasingly felt that something wasn't right.
There were plenty of parents who felt nothing for their children and just abandoned them in orphanages, or set them somewhere where they didn't have to concern themselves over them. It was a situation that existed all over the world.
But Margie just had to act before her. It was true that it could have been to preserve Oscar's reputation, or to put on an act before Oscar himself.
But Casey and Georgia own investigation had told her that there was nothing to be said between Oscar and Margie. Husband and wife were utterly cold towards each other.
Logically speaking, Margie wasn't about to go so far as to act for such a husband.
Margie's own family had wealth and power now, and she didn't have to put up with things at the Powell house.
So why did Margie do such a thing?
If she really didn't care about Emilia or she even hated her daughter, why did she have to play the understanding mother?
Even now, she was acting like she was so concerned over Emilia that it was possible there was some lurking danger.
Because of what Sarah had mentioned, when it came time for dinner, Georgia was worried throughout.
But she still set her mind to hosting their guests.
In the afternoon, after seeing Sarah and Travis off in their car, she turned to Robert right away.
"Now's the time to contact Ivan. I need to call him and tell him to be cautious about this. For some reason, my heart's pounding, and I don't feel safe."
"I'll make the call for you. Come inside and rest. It's cold outside."
Robert took Georgia's hand and led her back into the house.
The kids were watching a cartoon, so Georgia and Robert walked into the office to get in contact with Ivan.
After the video call connected, Ivan's face appeared on-screen, and he spoke to Robert and Georgia.
"Why the sudden call? The two of you look so anxious. Emilia's condition is stable for now and no further incidents have occurred. You don't need to worry."
Ivan cared a lot about Emilia, and with how relaxed he seemed now, it looked as if the situation really was all right now. Georgia heaved a sigh of relief.
"You look like you're in the hospital corridor, Ivan. Can you find a safe space where you won't be eavesdropped on? I have something I need to discuss with you and the walls have ears."