Falling For My Accidental CEO Husband
Chapter 115: A Reflection

Chapter 115: A Reflection

Last night:

After her tense confrontation with Serena, Edwina Dawn sat quietly in her favorite armchair, her mind reeling. She was unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a manner—let alone by a girl so young. The last time someone had taken such a tone with her had been when she herself was just a child. She remembered it vividly: she had stolen her father’s treasured timepiece out of sheer curiosity. Her father had been furious, scolding her sharply for meddling with something so valuable. But young Edwina hadn’t cowered in the face of his anger. She had fired back, declaring that the timepiece ought to be hers and that it was unjust for her father to reserve it solely for her brother. The memory of her rebellion brought a thin smile to her lips. And now, after all these years, she’d almost seen that same fierce defiance from Serena.

That spark unsettled her. What had Serena meant with those words? That she had to eat with someone else?

And so, Edwina Dawn, who normally couldn’t be bothered with the mundane matters of the household, felt compelled to investigate further. She would give the girl some time to cool off, but soon, she would confront her again—this time, with more information.

But the following morning, when Edwina woke up and instructed her assistant to take her to Serena’s room, an unexpected hurdle presented itself.

"What do you mean you don’t know what floor her room is on?" Edwina asked, her brow furrowing in disbelief.

The assistant, normally so competent, looked flustered. "Ma’am, I was under the impression that the housekeeper had been instructed to assign her a room and handle all related details. I wasn’t personally involved. And I believe Master Daniel’s wife oversees everything on that front. I can call the housekeeper now and ask her."

Edwina paused, considering the situation. Her sharp mind quickly weighed the options before she shook her head. "No need for that just yet. If you don’t know where she’s staying, there are other ways to find out. There is no need to attract unwarranted attention. Look at the footage from the family dinners. Once you spot her, trace her steps back to her room."

The assistant, relieved, nodded quickly and set to work.After all, it was a well-established rule that everyone in the household, including extended family, was expected to attend meals when they were at home. It should have been simple to locate Serena in the dining room footage, follow her movements, and discover which room she had been staying in. After all, as a student, how could she have dinners outside? Yesterday had probably been an exceptiomn.

But as he combed through the videos, something peculiar became increasingly apparent. Serena didn’t appear in any of them. Not at family dinners, not at gatherings—nowhere, she was conspicuously absent. A creeping sense of unease settled over him. If he had not known for sure that she was living in this house, he would have wondered if she was a ghost or something.

After checking a few day’s worth of videos from all cameras, he finally dat back in defeat, "This could take months," he muttered under his breath. It was as if Serena had never been present in the household at all.

Thinking quickly, he decided to speed up the process. Using the house’s AI surveillance system, he initiated a search for Serena’s face across all the recordings from the past few months, since her arrival. Surely, this would uncover where she had been placed, or at the very least, confirm her presence in the house.

But what the AI revealed was even more shocking.Pale faced, he began, "Madam, Miss Serena... has never appeared at a family meal. In fact, she doesn’t show up in any of the video footage from the past few months—none at all. The only time she is visible is on the day she arrived and I introduced her to yesterday when she came to see you. And even then, she came directly from outside and later walked out..."

"Madam! I think we really should ask the housekeeper where Miss Serena’s room is..."

Edwina closed her eyes and instead of ordering the assistant to do that, shook her head,"No need. I will handle this matter. You return to other work."

But even as she dismissed the assistant, her mind was working faster than anyone. Serena had not eaten a single meal with the family and no one thought it odd. And she never met anyone or seemed to even live in this house and no one thought to check. Well she would...

What had Serena said? That living on the streets would be better? And what was that about the cats and dogs getting better food...Someone had a lot of answering to do...

Back to the Present:

The housekeeper knelt shivering on the floor as she bowed her head, trying to find an explanation, though she had none.

Finally, Lady Dawn spoke," I asked you about her food, and not whether you knew of my relationship with her."

The housekeeper kowtowed and immediately explained," I do not know, ma’am. She... she manages her food on her own."

Edwina frowned at this," What do you mean she handles her meals on her own? How does she do that? How does a teenager handle her own meals? Take me to her room right away."

The time, the housekeeper was sure that she would faint! She dare not take the mistress there so she shook her head," She is probably not at home. I’ll go and fetch her, bring her here to see you..."

"It seems you do not value your job as much as you show it. I asked you to take me to her room."

This time, the woman dared not try to deflect and quickly stood up," I’ll take you there."

But instead of walking upwards or even inside, the woman turned and started to walk outside...