Chapter 81: Thoughtful Gifts
Athena’s eyes diligently scanned Aiden’s report for the second time, her heart weighing heavy with the troubling findings. She wasn’t pleased, not at all.
Fiona, the elusive figure at the center of this web, couldn’t be traced back to either the murder of the chief waiter or her own kidnapping.
True, Fiona had left signs—clues that suggested her involvement—but they were mere whispers, not shouts demanding attention. To the outside world, those whispers were not enough to label Fiona as evil.
The investigation team, having entered her city just two days after her abduction, had come up empty-handed. They were unable to find any CCTV footage from the hotel on the night of the waiter’s murder, nor did they find the CCTV footage of the exact time she had been taken.
Even if some footage had surfaced, Athena doubted it would point directly to Fiona. How could they possibly connect the dots?
She let out a weary sigh, deliberately letting her phone tumble onto the dresser. The weight of her situation was suffocating, and her mind raced in circles.
How desperately she wished to involve her children, to let them stand by her side, but this matter felt too close to home. The children still clung to her for comfort, their worries lingering even a week after the incident.
She gazed at her reflection in the long mirror, her eyes trailing over the remnants of what she had survived. Scars marked her thighs, some faded, others still ghastly reminders of the ordeal.
Each mark whispered of her resilience, but also of the work that lay ahead: the need to eliminate the threat before it found her first, before it could strike again.