Chapter 7
To investigate my relationships and determine why I had been killed, the police asked to examine my personal belongings.
The following afternoon, my parents and Adrian returned to the Hart estate with the detectives.
They went upstairs and stopped at the end of the hallway.
The plaque on the door still read Guest Room.
The detective looked at my mother.
“This was Claire’s room?”
My mother placed her hand on the doorknob.
“Yes, it was.”
When I first came home three years ago, my parents said Evelyn had not adjusted to the sudden return of their biological daughter.
They promised to renovate the room once she felt better.
They also promised to replace the plaque so the room would truly belong to me.
Later, they forgot those promises.
They never mentioned them again.
The detective opened the door.
The furniture was still the same furniture that had always been in the guest room.
Even the pictures on the walls had not been changed.
The room itself was clean and organized.
Half the closet was empty.
Two suitcases stood side by side against the wall. The books and framed photographs from my desk had been packed into boxes.
“Was she planning to move out?” the detective asked.
The house manager nodded.
“She was supposed to move today.”
My mother turned around sharply.
“Today?”
“Claire signed a lease two weeks ago.”
The house manager hesitated before continuing.
“On the morning of the engagement party, she also left the spare key to this room on the dining table.”
My father frowned.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
The house manager looked at him.
“Sir, you were sitting at the dining table when she left it there.”
My father’s expression froze.
That morning, I had placed the key in front of him.
I told him I would move out after the engagement party.
He had been reading the hotel’s guest list.
After hearing me, he gave only one response.
“Today is important to Evelyn. Stop doing things that will ruin everyone’s mood.”
He never asked about it again.
The detectives soon found an apartment lease in my desk drawer.
I had signed it two weeks earlier.
The move-in date was the day after the engagement party.
I had already paid the security deposit and scheduled the movers.
The apartment was close to campus.
It was small and had only one bedroom, but it had enough space for everything I owned.
My mother turned to the final page of the lease.
“She had already planned to leave?”
The house manager lowered his voice.
“Claire said it would be awkward for her to remain here after Evelyn became engaged.”
My luggage had already been packed.
I had clearly never intended to ruin the engagement.
I had not planned to stay with the Hart family and compete with Evelyn for anything.
I was already going to leave once the engagement was over.
The detectives continued searching my desk.
In the bottom drawer, they found a thin notebook.
Only one word was written on the cover.
Home.
My mother opened the first page.
The pages contained no accusations or complaints.
They held only a few short entries.
Mom drank the coffee I made today.
Dad asked if I was cold today.
They saved me a seat at dinner.
Maybe one day, I will really belong to this family.
My mother read the lines.
She turned each page more slowly than the last.
She could not remember the day she drank that coffee.
My father did not remember when he had casually asked whether I was cold.
I had written down every date.
March 12.
April 6.
June 18.
They had forgotten those moments without a second thought.
I had remembered every one of them.
My mother turned to the final page.
I will move out after Evelyn’s engagement.
Then they will never have to worry about me taking anything from her again.