Chapter 5

Early the next morning, I took Lily to preschool.

Before I let her go into the classroom, I made sure to catch Cora Davis.

I gently asked her how Lily had been doing at preschool lately.

She told me that Lily had been pretty quiet lately.

She'd always isolate herself in the corner, playing alone.

And sometimes, she'd secretly talk to the air, as if she were having a conversation with someone invisible.

"One time, I heard her keep saying 'Daddy' over and over."

She sounded worried.

"I asked her, and she told me she was talking to her dad."

My heart ached all over again.

I forced a smile.

"Kids just have wild imaginations," I said.

I didn't tell Cora about the doll, or mention that I'd called the police.

I couldn't let this get out to anyone else.

Especially not before I figured out the truth myself.

Once I left the preschool, I went straight to the city library.

I needed a computer with internet access—somewhere nobody could track what I was doing.

I picked a secluded spot in the library, slipped on my headphones, and made sure no one could see what I was up to.

Then I started doing a deep dive into everything I could find about Michael's remarriage.

In the end, I found her name buried in the back pages of some minor financial news articles.

Her name was Vivian Lane.

She was the only daughter of the president of a small-time investment company called Starlight Holdings.

The name sounded familiar.

A few years ago, it was making waves as an up-and-coming investment company.

But in recent years, I hardly ever saw it mentioned in the news.

I kept digging for more info on Vivian.

Sure enough, there were a few news articles about her marriage.

Most of them highlighted her "business alliance" with Michael, painting their union as a strategic move.

Apparently, the Lane family needed a man with powerful connections to help revive Starlight Holdings.

And after the divorce, it seemed Michael had indeed become associated with someone influential.

That explained how he went from flat broke to suddenly rolling in cash overnight.

He used our marriage as a stepping stone for his big break.

I couldn't help but scoff.

He would stoop to anything for money.

I kept digging through the search results.

Suddenly, a news article from a few months back jumped out at me.

[Starlight Holdings CEO Richard Lane Suffers Sudden Illness, Rushed to Hospital for Emergency Treatment]

The article was short and didn't give many details.

But it said that though his life was saved, Richard remained in a coma.

And because of that, Starlight Holdings was left reeling.

Now it made sense why Vivian was so desperate for a live-in husband with real influence.

Maybe it wasn't just about saving her company—maybe she was trying to save her father too.

My mind was spinning.

If Richard Lane was really that sick, then Vivian must be dealing with insane pressure at work.

It wouldn't shock me if Michael was watching her every move—or maybe even locking her up.

But why would she turn to me for help?

I was just ordinary—how could I help her at all?

Unless she knew Michael was the one who had the doll sent.

And she turned to me for help because she knew I wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.

She was betting I'd investigate the doll for Lily's sake.

Betting I'd uncover the secret that was hidden away.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

If my guess was right, then Vivian was a lot more meticulous than I'd ever imagined.

And there was no way she was doing this alone—other people had to be tangled up in it too.

I pored over every scrap of info I could dig up on Vivian Lane, Michael, and Starlight Holdings, making sure I didn't miss a thing.

But one detail set off alarm bells in my mind.

Out of all the news articles about Michael's remarriage, there was only one close-up photo of Vivian.

In that picture, she looked utterly exhausted, with a trace of indescribable despair in her eyes.

The background was an opulent bedroom.

And the photo was posted the day after Richard was hospitalized in critical condition.

And right below the photo, there was a brief caption in small print.

[Newlyweds, but already imprisoned.]

The comment was deleted almost instantly, but some sharp-eyed users managed to grab a screenshot before it vanished.

At the time, everyone assumed it was just a reporter fabricating stories for attention.

But looking back now, maybe there was more to it than just gossip.

I kept digging.

After she got married, it was like Vivian vanished from the public eye.

All her social media accounts had gone completely silent.

Her whereabouts became eerily mysterious.

Was Michael really keeping her prisoner?

Her desperate plea kept replaying in my head.

Her voice was barely a whisper, filled with hopelessness.

"He's... watching... me...

"Help... me..."

My palms started sweating.

This wasn't just some ordinary divorce dispute, nor was it just a straightforward battle for assets.

There was something big and shady going on behind all this.

I thought back to the question the cops asked me last night.

"Besides your ex-husband, who else might've gotten their hands on this doll?"

If Vivian really was being held captive...

Then who helped her get the doll into Michael's hands?

And under what circumstances did Michael end up sending the doll to me?

Was it just an accident, or did someone do it on purpose?

Then it hit me.

The shipping label I showed the cops yesterday listed Vivian's run-down apartment complex as the return address.

But Michael's post-wedding villa was downtown.

Where was this doll sent from?

Did the fact it was sent from that old apartment complex mean Vivian used to live there?

Or was someone just trying to make me think Vivian was there?