Win My Husband Over to Find My Child
Chapter 72: Narrowing Down the Suspects

Chapter 72: Narrowing Down the Suspects

Thankfully, with Xander and Violet gone, peace returned to Graceville Manor. Calix got to enjoy his relaxing weekend again. Even Edward didn’t bother him with any calls or messages.

"Will you continue reading the book?" Calix glanced at the thriller novel. Leslie put it on a corner of the couch when the uninvited guests came earlier.

"I’ll take a stroll in the garden," Leslie threw her gaze outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, "The weather’s good."

The dazzling sunlight beamed all over the Earth, casting its glow on the blooming spring flowers. The petals, leaves and tips of the grass swayed gently following a breeze.

In a few days, April would replace March. It meant the Qingming Festival[1] was around the corner. The public holiday was intended to honor the deceased ancestors of the family.

"The Qingming Festival is soon," Leslie shifted her gaze from outside to Calix, "How long will your company be on holiday?"

This book’s world resembled real life. But, Leslie wondered if there were some changes.

"From 3rd April to 5th. Qingming is on the fourth," Calix recalled what Old Madam Xu notified him and the others before, "My parents will return on the second. We’ll gather at the ancestral home until the fifth."

"Oh, your parents will come home? Where are they now anyway?"

Calix had told Leslie once that his parents, Andrian Xu and Harper Lin usually return to the country for important occasions including the holidays. The last time they were here was during the Lunar New Year.

"Andorra. They’ll head to France first before coming back."

Leslie lifted her brows, trying to recall where the country was. She had seen photos of the small country before. That place looked straight out of a fairytale book.

Calix suddenly remembered something. He needed to tell Leslie now, just in case he forgot about it again.

"Leslie, you have to follow me to the ancestral home. If not, you’ll be starving ah. I..."

Before Calix finished his sentence, Leslie immediately cut him off while smirking at him.

"What? Do you think I’ll be a hungry ghost?"

"Hehe... yeah."

Calix laughed awkwardly. He randomly scratched the back of his neck. His action amused Leslie, making her laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, I’ll follow you there. Don’t worry. You’ll be the first one I eat if I ever turn into a hungry ghost."

"Don’t ah," Calix pretended to be scared. He took a step back from where Leslie was standing, "My body doesn’t taste good."

Leslie rolled her eyes, thinking how dramatic CEO Xu could be. Turning around, she walked passing the floor-to-ceiling windows. She let her words travel behind her shoulders, reaching Calix.

"I don’t want any lunch. I might bother you for dinner tho."

"Aye, aye, ma’am. Oh! I wanna show my skills to you tonight! Think what you wanna have for dinner."

"Alright~"

Shaking his head in helplessness, Calix watched Leslie stepping toward the garden. She disappeared behind one of Uncle Raymond’s topiaries. It seemed like she was heading to the lake.

"Hurm... Should I take a nap? Haa... I’m sleepy."

Calix and Leslie arrived home before two in the morning last night. Even though he was so tired, his body refused to sleep in. Thus, he went running for a few laps around the lake at dawn.

A huge yawn escaped Calix’s mouth. His eyes were teary, signaling that he needed to be reunited with his pillow and bed now.

Accepting defeat, Calix ran upstairs. His bed was calling for him. He had to achieve his goal of being a salted fish[2] today.

Unlike the salted fish CEO Xu, Leslie spent quite some time in the vast yard of the mansion, doing the impossible things she couldn’t do when she was a human.

She happily flew over the lake, pretending to be like the characters in a children’s book. She also didn’t miss out on the chance to submerge her head into the lake, trying to see what was inside.

After having fun at the lake area, Leslie returned to her bedroom. Because she had unloaded her stress, she wanted to continue reading the diaries.

Leslie hadn’t forgotten that she wanted to learn more about Charlene’s inner thoughts. She also wished to uncover the suppressed memory regarding the staircase incident.

"At the very least, I need to narrow down the suspects," murmured Leslie while opening one of the diaries.

Leslie made sure to change Charlene’s body’s position on the bed first. She needed to minimize the risk of getting bed sores.

Instead of lying on the bed, Leslie sat cross-legged on the couch. Her brows slightly furrowed as the despair brought along by Charlene’s writing tugged at her heart.

[...all a lie. I wanted to believe that she’s simply annoyed with my continuous whining but, it’s more than that.

The hatred in her eyes resembled the others. She had despised me long before I realized.

How foolish I am.]

Frowning, Leslie traced the words written in black ink. Charlene was talking about Sarah in this entry. It seemed like this was the day she knew of the maid’s deceptive nature.

"Sarah..."

Leslie slowly closed the diary. She veered her gaze to the body lying motionless on the bed. New thoughts formed in her mind.

Charlene was another supporting character in the book who was lucky enough to be in the side plot. Her story shouldn’t have much of a plot twist compared to the main characters.

Usually, the author wouldn’t pick a random character as the perpetrator. They should be someone close to Charlene.

The two most highly suspected individuals were Gladys and Sarah. But, Leslie’s instinct pointed to the traitorous maid.

Charlene and Sarah might be caught in a heated argument. Or, the maid already stole the pendant but, her action was detected of the former.

"The question now is, does she still have the pendant with her? What if she has already sold it?"

The jade pendant was of high value. Charlene treasured it because the pendant was her maternal grandmother’s keepsake. She wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

"Hurm... I need an insider’s help," murmured Leslie under her breath.

This situation was hard because she couldn’t freely go to the Li family’s ancestral home. Her advantage was sneaking around without being caught but, she needed Calix to be there if she wanted to touch items.

"Perhaps..." Leslie was reminded of someone, "I should ask Irene. Just to observe Sarah’s reaction."

Leslie was unwilling to get Rowan or Bianca’s assistance but, Irene was another matter.

The young teenager was close to her elder sister. She also might know more about the pendant compared to Leslie. Some memories were still buried in the masses.

"I need to ask Calix. He can contact Irene."

Having decided on that matter, Leslie waited for the right time to tell Calix. She didn’t want to bother him right now.

During or after dinner might be a good time for that.

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Reference:

1 - Qingming Festival is known as Tomb Sweeping Day, a holiday devoted to remembering and honoring the deceased.

2 - Salted fish - a Chinese slang that refers to people who have no intention of doing anything, simply put, being lazy.