Page 75 of The Heart of a Villain

“Lavender was two when the tragedy happened,” Jesse supplies. “She won’t know. You need to ask George and William.”

Like those two would give out any information!

“Mama gifted me the teddy bear!” she exclaims, and only then do I notice the worn toy sitting next to her on the chair, and she picks it up, rocking it in her arms. “Jesse’s mom saved it for me!” She shakes the toy. “This is my legacy.”

I shoot my gaze at Jesse, who explains, “Mom said before the fire happened here all those years ago, Mrs. Wright gave her a brand-new teddy bear and asked her to give it to Lavender. But only to Lavender.” She digs her knife into the peanut butter and applies it generously to her toast. “After the tragedy, Mom stayed with them for a couple of months, but then she had to leave. So she gifted the teddy bear to Lavender, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.”

I choke on my tea at this information, coughing loudly before snagging a tissue and wiping my mouth while realization washes over me.

The teddy bear.

A gift from a mom who expected to die, so she gave her diary to the only person who would not lose it.

Because we tend to cherish the gifts our parents give us, especially if they pass away.

Could it be this easy and freaking convenient?

I get up, the chair scraping against the floor, but don’t dare to reach for the bear, since Jade is still in the house, and God knows what we will find in that diary. The guy gives me the creeps, and he might destroy the evidence before Rush gets here and then feed some lies to him.

“We need to go to the garden.” Jesse and Lavender look at me as if I lost my mind, and maybe I have. “Let’s go.”

“No.” Lavender scrunches her nose. “Chocolate!” She taps on the chocolate jar and continues to munch on her toast.

“We need to say goodbye to your mom’s garden.”

That snags her attention, and she freezes, nodding and getting up while picking up her teddy bear.

Jesse rolls her eyes, clearly not buying my bullshit, but goes along with the plan, and we quickly walk through the terrace doors, heading to the greenhouse.

And only when we are far enough so no one hears us, I spin us around, creating a circle so no one can see what we’re doing. “I’m sorry, Lavender.” She frowns at my apology and then gasps when I rip the toy away, gripping it on each side, and my heartbeat speeds up when I detect something firm inside it. “Has he ever talked or sang songs?”

She shakes her head, trying to get it back, while I study the toy.

Then, finding a small opening, I rip it in two, while Lavender whispers, “No, no.” Deep down, I know this is a traumatic experience for her, but right now, there are more important things to worry about. “Jesse! My bear!”

“We’ll sew it up. I promise,” I tell her. Before Lavender can choke me again, I take out a diary that makes her blink once more in confusion. “Your mom left us this.”

She’s so stunned from this, along with Jesse, that she doesn’t say anything and snatches the torn teddy bear from my hands while they gape at me as my hands tremble.

I cannot believe my assumptions were correct. Sometimes, answers are indeed right under our noses!

“What in the hell is this?”

“Mrs. Wright’s diary and the key to ending all this madness.” With this, I flip it open and a picture I saw at Rafael’s house greets me, the one where she was blissfully happy.

I take the picture and notice handwriting on the back of it.

My heart. My love. My soul

I scan the diary, through various entries, the majority of them talking about her pregnancy and happiness, how she adores her husband and writes down what he surprised her with this time around.

Judging by all this, he was a very loving husband.

I pause at one of the entries, though, when Jade’s name is mentioned.

My body still shakes from horror. Joaquin finally kicked Jade off our island and forbade him to ever step foot on it again.

Once upon a time, we were friends, but I can’t stand him now. Especially how he looked at me as if he wanted to see me naked and hurt me at the same time whenever he visited.

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