Page 140 of Always Be an Us

"Madam T's father had just died and while she was still grieving over that, she accepted Victor's proposal, because it's what her dad wanted, even though they didn’t really love each other. Before getting married though, Victor and Madam T came to the Pink Hotel alone so they could get to know each other better. Victor also thought it would be a great business opportunity and convinced Madam T it would be a nice break from her controlling mother."

While Amelia takes a breath, Declan asks, "How do you know her mother was controlling?"

"Because of how Madam T talks about her," she responds. "Her mom was super old-fashioned and super protective, so she forbade Madam T from doing things she considered 'unbecoming.'" Amelia puts the word in air quotes. "She also told her how to dress, what to eat, where to go. Her mother was kinda like you and mom combined, but on steroids."

"Thanks," I comment drily, as Cross chuckles in the background.

Amelia shrugs. "In his letters, V would often encourage Madam T to break some of her mother's rules, starting with small things like putting an extra cube of sugar in her tea, or even nursing wounded birds which her mother strictly told her not to do. She thought it was unladylike, but Madam T loved animals. So V encouraged her to help this bird that had fallen by her window. This was pretty much how she fell in love with him in the first place. Except the 'V' who was writing her letters wasn't Victor."

"What?" Confusion contorts Declan's face. I understand it must be difficult to follow the story or even believe it. I came to the same conclusion as Amelia, but it's still kinda difficult to understand how anyone can come up with that scheme, much less pull it off.

"The 'V' who wrote her those letters was one of the thieves," Amelia continues. "Everything after the first letter that is. I think the first letter is from the real Victor, but almost every other letter, save a few, is from the thief posing as Victor.

"Why would he do that, you may ask? Now here's where my theory comes in. We know the three thieves infiltrated the hotel pretending to be guests and they were trying to figure out where the Pink Pearl was kept. They couldn't exactly go around asking questions because then they would draw attention to themselves. And people might realize that no one there actually knew who they were.

“Their invitation to the hotel was forged. So while lurking around at night, 'V' probably found one of Victor's letters, just like Grandpa did occasionally, and figured that he could use that to get Madam T to do their dirty work for them. He would pretend to be Victor and askherto ask the staff questions about the Pink Pearl."

"Hold on, how did she not notice the letters weren’t actually from her fiancé?" Declan asks, still appearing perplexed. "Did she never speak to him in person? Did she not realize that Victor couldn't remember details from the letters?"

Amelia nods enthusiastically. "But here's why the plan is so genius. Everyone at the hotel, including the staff, knew that Victor barely ever spoke to Madam T. He was so busy trying to get his business deals through, and he spent more time socializing with his business partners than with her. The men would go hunting and drinking all day, while Madam T pretty much stayed locked up in her room."

"Plus remember, Victor thought that Madam Thornley was going crazy from the grief of losing her dad," I add, as the thought occurs to me. "So whenever Madam Thornley would mention anything about the letters, he probably just thought it was part of her mental breakdown."

Amelia nods excitedly. "Probably. And on Madam T's end, she likely thought Victor was too shy to admit to the things he wrote in the letters because they were all romantic and stuff. I mean if I wrote all that mushy stuff, I would be embarrassed about that too."

Monty makes a sound in agreement and, from the corner of my vision, I notice Cross roll his eyes at him.

"The thief faked Victor’s handwriting very well," I say. "I didn’t notice anything was amiss and I must have read things a bunch of times. I only realized yesterday that V used the term 'striking ivory' which isn’t a commonly used phrase at all. That was what piqued my suspicion, and when I looked closely, I realized that the handwriting was actually different."

"V was good," Amelia continues. "But eventually, Madam T figured out that something was off. On August 13th, she writes in her journal that Victor feels like an entirely different person from who she thought he was. I think that's when she started suspecting that V wasn't really Victor."

"She was bound to know something was up," Monty points out, clearly getting into the story now. "Why would he be all romantic in letters and then practically ignore her in person?"

"You think the thief did that to confuse her? So, he could manipulate her?" Cross asks.

"Maybe," Amelia says.

"I’m not so sure," I respond and they both turn to me. "It was in V's best interest to keep his personality as close to Victor's as possible so that Thornley didn't notice the difference. He should have copied Victor's tone and standoffishness. His being the complete opposite made it easier for Madam Thornley to catch on. In which case, it didn't make any sense for him to sabotage his mission by being gentle and romantic with Madam Thornley, unless–"

"Unless he genuinely fell in love with her," Declan completes.

Amelia rubs her chin. "Another angle to my theory."

"The thief fell in love with his mark?" Cross asks.

"Yup," I answer still holding Declan's gaze. "It's the only thing that makes sense. I mean think about it. His best bet would be to get the information about the Pink Pearl as quickly as possible and move on. But he barely asked any questions about it and only half heartedly told her to inquire from the staff about the Pink Pearl.

"Instead, they talked about love, life and philosophy. He dragged out their conversations, back and forth with letters, until he got caught by Madam T. Then again, maybe a part of him wanted to get caught. Maybe because when Madam Thornley eventually demanded they meet up to confirm he was who he said he was, he showed up, even though it put the whole plan in jeopardy. Why would he do that if he wasn't in love with her?"

Declan's eyelids lower slightly over his eyes. There's a message in his gaze that I can't quite decipher, but it's making my heartbeat fast.

"What happened after that?" he asks.

"That's where it gets murky," Amelia continues, drawing our attention once more. "I think Madam T found out that V wasn't Victor, but she likely thought he was another guest. V also confessed he had feelings for her. And I think at that point she was in love with him too, so the two started a real affair. He keeps sending her letters addressed from 'V' though, which makes everything confusing."

"Maybe to hide what they were doing. In case someone else came across the letter, they would assume it was Victor," Cross suggests.

"Or maybe the thief's name also starts with the letter V," I say.

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