Cliff's POV
Alex didn't take long to find all the details about Stephanie. It was as if he had been waiting for my order to hand over the information. I wasn't very interested in Stephanie at first. It was a deal my grandfather had set up for me: marry a girl he approves of, and he would fulfill my wish.
However, she not only rejected me, but there were also resemblances. I was intrigued and foolish enough to believe the fake persona I had heard about. I read the profile, and it felt as if my world collapsed. I had been blind with prejudice, never considering that she and Catherine could be the same person. I even ignored how they had the same eyes, hair color, and features. Even the timeline coincided.
Catherine Morales.
Her face was still vivid in my memory. She was quiet, but every time she laughed she caught everyone's attention. I was fourteen when I first saw her. It was one of those boarding schools my grandfather chose to send me to after I tanked my grades in the finals.
It was a small town by the beach, known for its fishing and rural life. For a spoiled rich kid like me, it was hell. No fun places, no gaming, nothing at all. The only person I could bring with me was Alex, mainly because my grandfather knew Alex would report everything about me without lies.
In that small town, I never thought I would meet her. The girl who was more alive than anyone else in that dead place. No, she wasn't like those heroines in romance movies who were always loud and socializing with people. Rather, she was the opposite. She was quiet, always with books, and polite if someone called out to her.
In a town like that, where everyone knew everyone, she was constantly forced to socialize. There were times when one could see clear annoyance on her face, but she never acted rude or mean. Instead, she politely held the conversation and smiled.
At first, I wondered if there were times she smiled for real. But after two months of watching her, I never saw it.
Until…
I did.
It was a summer afternoon. The town had gone quieter than usual, and I was out to buy some snacks when I saw her by an unused plot of land overgrown with weeds and grass.
Her back was facing me, hunched over. At first, I heard a faint giggle. Something I had never heard from her before. Can she even laugh?
I didn't have to wonder long. The soft giggle turned into loud laughter. It was unfiltered—just the rustling of leaves and her laughter mixing together like a symphony. I shouldn't have been so focused on a laugh. I shouldn't have felt my heart beating like that. But it did.
Sixteen-year-old me had his first-ever crush in a port town far away from home.
I leaned back in my chair, that scene running vividly in my mind. I never wanted to imagine meeting her like this after the fallout. I had given up on her after how she called me trash in front of the whole school and disappeared the next day, as if going to school with me had been a shame. Like an egotistical fool, I never searched for her—even when I later had the power to.
If I had searched for her, would she have suffered less? No. Probably not. She would have had me as another problem to deal with. I pulled the document closer, reading the report further. There was more to her story that I never knew.
The infamous affair apparently started because Daniel was her grandmother's personal doctor, and they met often at the estate. But why was a resident at the time acting as a personal doctor? It didn't sit right. And even if a sixteen-year-old fell for a man in his late twenties, it shouldn't have led to what the report implied.
My jaw tightened as the thought formed. No. Please, no. It shouldn't be what I think. I had seen those monsters far too many times. But thinking she might have been in a similar situation made my stomach twist. Is this why her eyes became so empty? How much did this family torture her? Is this why they took her in only to treat her like this? Even an orphan gets treated better than this and she was the child of their beloved daughter.
With a shaky hand, I dialed Alex's number. Alex picked up within one ring.
"Hey boss."
"Find me everything on Daniel. With evidence. Especially anything involving children." I tried to keep my voice calm, hiding the fear underneath.
Alex chuckled softly.
"Heh. If I do… can I have him?"
His tone was calm. He knew exactly what I meant.
"Find it first."
I ended the call before he could argue further.
Fourteen years. They had broken the girl who once laughed into a hollow shell. How much torture and abuse had she suffered to become like this? That night I stayed awake in my office, alone with my thoughts. I knew that no matter what happened, I wanted to get her out of that place—not because I wanted the inheritance, nor for any selfish reason.
But because I wanted to see that laugh again. The laugh that once made me fall for her. I made up my mind. Knowing her, there must be escape plan. She wasn't the kind of person who would simply accept help and leave this place, so the only way to make sure was to get the truth from her directly.
"If I marry you… will you be able to go back to the past you?"