"Tell me everything," I demanded, gesturing for Reed to take a seat in my study.
My trusted investigator had just returned from Cambridge with complete details on Mariella Beaumont's life—Isabella's long-lost mother who had abandoned her daughter to a cruel fate and disappeared without a trace. I'd been waiting months for this information, but now that it had arrived, I felt a knot forming in my stomach.
Reed placed a leather portfolio on my desk. "It's all there, Your Grace. She lives in a modest but comfortable home near the university where her husband teaches. They maintain a respectable standing in the community."
"And she shows no signs of distress or remorse?" I asked, my voice tight. The thought of this woman living peacefully while Isabella had suffered years of abuse made my blood boil.
"None that I could observe," Reed replied. "She appears... content. Her children attend the local academy. The eldest boy, James, shows academic promise like his father."
