/Zane's POV/
The past twelve hours had left me wrecked—emotionally drained, physically exhausted, and wide awake with a pounding headache. I shuffled groggily into the kitchen for a glass of water, barely aware of my own movements.
When I dragged myself back to my room, my phone was flashing on the nightstand. Missed calls. How the hell hadn't I heard it?
"What?" I muttered tiredly into the phone, lazily rubbing my eyelids while processing the voice that came in later.
"I've sent the investigation report you ordered." Noah said briskly and my eyes flared open, if I wasn't properly awake before, that was enough to kick me awake. "Dropped a copy into your email," He added.
I'd given him until morning to dig into Madison's background, and I wasn't expecting much. Sitting down at my desk, I powered on the computer and opened the file.
Madison didn't have much on her and most of everything in the report correlated with what Allison had mentioned about her in the past.
At first, it was unremarkable. Madison Reyes, born and raised with her sisters until their parents' deaths at seven. Unlike Allison and Addison, who were taken in by their aunt, Madison had stayed in the countryside with her grandmother. After that, everything was consistent with what Allison had told me—until her grandmother's death.
They had nothing on her for a distance of 10 years and only resurfaced 2 years ago.
She was basically a ghost for 10 years; there were no sightings of her and her credit card wasn't in use for that period, nor was her phone, not like she had that many people in her life but practically everyone who knew her before 10 years ago said the same thing: she vanished.
And then, two years ago, she resurfaced—buying back her grandmother's land and opening a bar. The report painted a picture of success, but it couldn't explain a decade-long blank in her life.
I didn't want to trust the background investigation report but the investigators were thorough—painstakingly so. They'd even tracked her movements in the city up to Allison's apartment and the hospital even after I tried hard to erase that she was ever in the city. They were good, but even they couldn't crack that missing decade.
Every damn thing about the report was detailed but what the hell happened during that missing 10 year gap? Where had she gone? What had she been doing?
Does it really make sense for someone to vanish and reappear like that? I have questions I'm damn sure I wasn't gonna get answers to anytime soon.
Maybe asking the woman herself would have made it a whole lot easier, but I hardly know her.
The bits and pieces I know were information pieced together by listening to Allison's stories of her and though I'd done a background investigation, she still felt like a total stranger.
She's hiding something and I intend to find out about it.
Maybe it's a good call that I decided she stayed here in my house. Well, most of the reason was that I couldn't afford to get her killed and let all our plans go to shit; secondly, it was just easier to keep an eye on her if we lived together.
A sound outside my door pulled me from my thoughts. I stepped over and eased it open. Madison padded past in a loose hospital two-piece, her messy bedhead and yawning face catching me off guard.
For a moment, I froze. She looked so much like Allison when she was half-asleep and unguarded. But Madison carried herself differently—more casual, less polished. Nonchalant where Allison was always deliberate.
Even though we've just met and I can see how much they look like each other, I could pick out their differences and I think I kept subconsciously doing that.
I found myself watching her from the shadows as she moved into the kitchen, glass in hand, pausing to take in the house with a dazed, curious gaze. Her side profile under the morning light was striking—sharp, broody, elegant. She'd photograph perfectly.
What the hell am I even doing?
I wondered why I was hiding behind my door and analyzing my sister-in-law.
Allison used to tease me about my "occupational disease"—how I could pick potential out of anyone, break them down into what could make them shine. It's what built my career. It's instinct now. And instinct told me Madison could be made into something. Maybe not an actress like Allison, but with those features? A model, easily.
Madison would make a great model with a little effort. I'm not sure I'd be able to make an actress out of her yet but those sharp features, elegant, and sometimes broody look would look great on camera.
"Fuck! I gotta stop doing that!" I mumbled after giving myself a mental shake and stepped into the hallway—nearly bumping straight into her as she came down from the kitchen.
"Hey," She blurted out, taken aback by my sudden appearance.
She appeared even more awkward than the first time we met; the memory had my heart squeezing out in pain that I tried so hard to bottle in and bury, and resurfacing the thoughts I tried so hard to avoid, Allison's look of total agony on that floor, her bleeding out and barely hanging on…
"Are you okay?"
Madison broke my train of thought with her question, concern evident in her tone, while I quickly fixed my expression.
"Yes, I'm fine," I replied with a business smile.
Well, I'll be the moment I tear apart whoever was behind the attack on Allison.
"Look, I know losing my sister like that must be rough on you. I can only imagine what it feels like to lose someone you already have your life planned out with but just give it time. You're gonna be okay." Madison sounded sympathetic and worried, a total contrast to how I portrayed her.
She looked better than at our first meeting too; the distress and rage on her face were gone, replaced by a blank, almost unreadable expression.
Trying not to act confused by the change in her disposition, I replied, "Thank you." And advanced toward the kitchen while trying to get some water even though I already had my morning fill.
"Um, cool place, by the way." She commented, breaking the silence that followed our awkwardly emotional moment.
"Thanks," I said again as a strange sense of pride filled my chest; it felt warm to be acknowledged for my taste.
Allison never liked my place, said it was too bland and simple.
The gray and ash theme of the whole house didn't make it better.
"Gray is my favourite colour," Madison commented, my eyes catching a small smile on her face as her hand moved over the sofa as if enjoying the feel of it.
"Coffee?" I offered, distracting myself from my straying thoughts since I found myself enjoying that small moment of break in the gloom shrouding her face.
"Yes, please," She replied while I brought a cup of coffee to her in the living room. We sat across from each other, steaming cups in hand "This is really strange, isn't it? Yesterday, we were nothing more than strangers; today…we are having coffee together. I wish Ally was here." She sounded melancholic, her expression downcast as she pointed it out.
Even as she wore her sadness like a sleeve, she appeared poised, and though her face was pale and drawn, the ache in her eyes was raw but distant, as if her grief had been carefully tucked away behind a veil of restraint and patience.
The dejected look on her face made me want to doubt that she could ever murder her sister but… I can't be so sure until I'm confident I understand her real identity.
Just who are you, Madison Reyes? Why did you disappear for 10 years and only reappear 2 years ago? I could only question her in my head.
"So, why did you and Allison separate? She mentioned you got separated about 23 years ago and have been completely off the grid since then." I found myself asking as I settled opposite the sofa she was in.
"Yeah, that's true. Aunt couldn't take care of all three of us so I had no choice but to stay with my grandmother but when she died, I…sorry, I think your phone's been ringing for a while." Madison pointed out, and I furrowed slightly since I didn't pick the sound until she mentioned it, forcing me up out of the chair and into the room.
It was a call from the tech team informing me they managed to break into Allison's phone, retrieving her messages and contacts, while I had other people looking into anything else that could point out who Allison's killer was, I had a feeling maybe the clue wasn't so far off; just maybe her phone would get us what we needed.
And I was right. I thought after checking her messages with Madison, I found myself looking straight in her direction.
Just what sort of relationship did the two have and why does this message sound like a threat?
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