h4Chapter 399: Where Are They?/h4

    "Are you telling me you still cannot do such a simple thing as finding out where Adam and Melody are?" Marianne asked sharply her eyes fixed on her brother who had until now, never failed her. But ever since this Mnie had entered their orbit, everything seemed to be jinxed. Nothing seemed to be going their way properly.

    "Yes. I don’t know," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at his sister in concern, "I’ve checked everything. All the bookings on the outgoing airlines, cruise ships, even the private charters. I looked into train stations, border crossings, all the usual ces people try to slip through. There is no one by the name of Adam, Mnie, or Melody anywhere. It’s like they havepletely vanished off the face of the earth. One of Adam’s car is missing and I know it drove out of the city from the south border, but after that, I can’t find the car even on surveince."

    Marianne leaned back, unimpressed by his meager finding. "Vanished? People don’t just vanish. You must be missing something."

    "I thought so too," he muttered, shaking his head. "I even bribed people at the booking offices to check for fake IDs, nicknames, anything close to their names. Nothing. It’s as if they nned this well in advance, instead of this being an impromptu trip.

    Marianne let out a long, slow sigh. Her nails tapped on the armrest as she thought. "And what about the fake Melody at home, the one with the memory loss? What is she doing these days?"

    He gave a short, humorlessugh. "She’s looking for ways to escape, actually. He is pretending to be her saviour from her kidnaper. Cadence Sint. The moment Melody’s ex came back, most of the household staff was sent on a convenient holiday. Almost like someone wanted her to be alone with him. I don’t think she even has her phone anymore. From what I hear, she’s trying to get along with him, maybe because she doesn’t have a choice. But the few maids who stayed back... they’ve seen things. They say that man tried to force his way into her room at night a few days ago."

    Marianne’s lips curved slowly into a smile. Her mind was already working, each thought lining up neatly into ce. So, what if she had failed to push the love-blind Melody into killing Mnie? There was always another way. She could use Mnie herself to deal with Melody.

    Whether a knife fell on a person or a person fell on a knife... the result would always be the same. Death never argued with the method.

    Poor Mnie. With no memory of her past, she was struggling in that house, trapped with a man she barely remembered, fighting to survive each day while the real Melody was somewhere out there living the life she had stolen. Somewhere on a beach, on a yacht, or in some hidden vi, Melody was enjoying a honeymoon with Mnie’s husband, drinking wine and smiling at the thought that no one could touch her.

    How angry would Mnie be when she found out the truth? When she learned that her husband hadn’t even realized she was missing? That her sister had stepped into her life so easily, like she had never existed at all?

    Marianne could already imagine the betrayal burning in Mnie’s eyes. Anger like that had weight. It could break things. It could break people.

    And with the right push, it could kill. And she knew just the right push.

    "Why is he staying there this time?"

    "He intends to meet you and Richard Thomas to gain approval for marriage from both of you. But since you are here and Richard has gone to country P, he is staying as a guest in the house."

    "But things don’t seem to be going well. He had an argument inside the restaurant it seems. Abandoned Melody in the middle of the meal and walked away. And then, when she took a cab and returned, he argued with her outside the building."

    The more Marianne heard the more she could not help but smile. Now was the perfect time to return. Nothing like being able to add fuel to the fire directly.

    Cadence Sint was already obsessed with Melody. She knew the real Melody had barely escaped him. But Mnie had managed to convince him to be patient and meet her parents, to gain their approval. Just this proved that Mnie, even without her memory was much more adept at handling things than Melody.

    But would Cadence Sint be patient in the face of direct disapproval from Melody’s mother?She would tell him in a soft, almost pitying voice that she could not approve. That Melody deserved better. That hecked... something.

    It would drive him mad.

    He would cling harder to Melody after that. He was already holding onto her too tightly, his shadow never far from her steps, his presence pressing down on her until she was jumpy from it. Antsy. Restless. Like a bird locked in a cage that was growing smaller by the day.

    And once Cadence thought he no longer had her parents’ approval, Marianne knew what would happen. His patience would snap. That need to prove himself, to hold onto what he believed was his, would twist into something darker. He would make things harder for her. He would be sharper with his words, rougher with his hands. He might even try to forcefully take her away again, the way desperate men often did when they felt someone slipping out of reach.

    And then... just when "Melody" would be at her wits’ end, trying to figure out how to get away from him, she would stumble on the truth.

    That she wasn’t even the woman Cadence was obsessed with. That she was Mnie, not Melody. And in that single moment, Marianne knew, woulde the real explosion she was waiting for.

    Mnie killing Melody.

    Or at least, Mnie ending up taking the me for it. While Marianne handled the gory details herself.