When we got back to the city after our two-week stay in the Maldives, one of the servants in our penthouse told me that Rylie has been staying in here sometimes and even sleeping in here just to rewrite some of the notes she wanted to give me from all the lessons I missed. I'm also told that sometimes she's with another girl, and I bet that's Maureen since they became close after they attended my wedding together with Luke. I think the three of them just got closer while I wasn't around.
The whole penthouse was so clean that I even squealed when I smelled the scent of newly installed fabrics that had been put around both the sofa and the couch.
As soon as I got back, I immediately called Rylie for a small gathering in our penthouse, and even Cooper wants to know my small circle of friends now mainly consists of Rylie as the biggest contributor of laughs and rumors to talk about, Maureen, who's been quiet for a while, and lastly, my brother, who's been staying with me since he doesn't talk to people from our university.
"You bitch, you better show your face right now!" Rylie yelled at me the second she answered my phone call.
"Go here tonight with Maureen and Luke; I have to tell you something," I said, trying to get her interested.
I need to tell them what I've been feeling about him.
"I'll get there with the two of them just around 5:30; wait for us; I missed you!" She excitedly said this before she ended the call.
Cooper, on the other hand, is busy arranging some of the files that have piled up in their office. He needs to sign all of it, and he'll just greet my friends when they get here later. He told me to just go ask the chef downstairs for our food later and even told me to clean my wound like I'm a five-year-old kid receiving lots of notes if I get home alone.
Even though I'm still tired from our flight, I changed my clothes and arranged some stuff in the living room that we got from our two-week stay in the Maldives. We've got a couple shirts inside our luggage, and I even bought a couple bracelets there. But what makes me feel happy even more is when I finally take out four picture frames that I bought from a shop there. Since most of the people know Cooper there, some of them took a stolen picture of us having a good time at the beach, and so I printed three of the pictures that I find so good to display and one picture that we took when we were in the sun lounger. He's not smiling in it, and it looks like he was forced to take that picture, but I find it good to look at.
I placed all of it on the shelves beside our TV, and the photos of us taken in the Maldives are even happier than those taken during our wedding and even at our reception that day.
It's been two weeks now.
I've been married to him for two weeks now, and it felt good to think that we already got the chance to enjoy our first two weeks alone in a place where we are never judged by any kind of dangerous creature that's trying to get in our way.
I heard the elevator ring, and the next thing I know, Rylie is running in my direction with her arms wide open and giving me a tight hug before she whispers.
"Those two assholes behind me are getting to know each other now, just like you wanted, right?"
I slightly moved away from her, and she winked at me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to sound innocent, while I saw my brother and Maureen walking almost side by side. Maureen was looking in my direction while my brother was stealing glances at her.
This is going to be a bad idea.
"You want both of them, right?" Rylie whispered again, and I immediately shook my head. It's against our law, and I'm pretty sure that if they do like each other now, there will be no guarantee of staying for a long time.
I shrugged it off as I noticed what my brother was holding. He has a suitcase with him that's definitely not the same as the one he always brings for our antidote. It's more like a bunch of files and papers.
We sat down the moment we greeted each other, and just then Luke brought out a folder containing a thick pile of papers. As I opened, I frowned as I saw a picture of a woman.
"Who's this?" I asked him.
"That's your husband's mother," he said, like it was the normal thing to say.
My mood shifted, and I immediately scanned the information about her. There's nothing suspicious about it, but as I saw her pictures taken while her body was still at the crime scene and covered in blood, I noticed a tattoo imprinted on the side of her waist. It's not totally an eye-catcher, but when you scan the picture closely, you'll see a sign of an inverted triangle with a phrase inside saying "från norr." I don't know the meaning of it, but I suddenly got curious upon checking it. Maybe it's like a simple tattoo, but who knows?
"Can you check what the translation of these words is?" I asked Luke for help, but it seems like he also doesn't know what the meaning of it is. I'm trying to figure out what happened when Maureen suddenly spoke.
"From the north," she uttered, and I looked at her right away.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I think it's a Swedish word saying from the north," she said, and that hit me.
I looked at my brother again and asked.
"You have a copy of Theo's autopsy pictures, right?"
He confusedly nodded and got the paper from his suitcase.
I immediately got it from his hand as soon as he took it out. I scanned Theo's body, and as I saw a picture from his waist down to his legs, I cursed out.
Cooper's mother and Theo got the same tattoo.
Just like what I thought.
It's not just a simple tattoo.
It's their symbol.
"Shit."
Her mother is one of them.
I think my confession to him can wait until I know what to do with this.