Vindicta

Earrings

Chapter Twenty Five - Earrings

It was Monday morning again and I was dragging my slothful form downstairs to have breakfast when something caught my attention.

The door to Alec's study was slightly ajar.

I was sure I had heard him leave a while ago when I had just woken up late enough to skip my first class.

Did he really leave? I peeked my head to look at the empty living room and empty dining table.

A frown fell upon my face. He would never leave his study like that.

My head turned to the door again and I debated if I should go inside. This could be my chance to work on my self proclaimed detective activities.

Without another thought, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The lights were turned off and I concluded that he probably forgot to lock the study.

I switched the lights on and glanced at the empty room. Nothing looked suspicious here. Just a normal study. I started tapping my hand gently against the walls like an idiot in hopes of discovering a secret room but obviously, there was no such thing here.

Next, my gaze fell on the drawers. Taking in a deep breath, I pulled the first one open, thankful that it wasn't locked. There was just some extra stationary and a few papers.

I shut it and opened the next drawers but there was nothing besides his work files.

The last drawer was the biggest one and as I tried to pull it, a frown formed on my face realizing that it was locked.

This is it.

The chamber of secrets.

I opened the other drawers again, hoping to find a key there but something else in the corner, deep into the drawer caught my attention.

It was a picture.

Two very young boys were smiling cheekily at the camera, their arms around each other's shoulders. I ran my finger across the picture of the one with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.

Alec

Something broke deep inside my chest at the sight of him being so carefree, grinning like a fool.

A feeling of familiarity sprawled across my senses once more and I was reminded of the day I had met him for the first time in his office's parking lot.

The way he had manipulated me into the marriage deal, leading one thing to another, with us sleeping together, all that time we spent in Barbados, me on the verge of falling for him and here I was now in his study, spying on him.

I shook my head at the thoughts and focused back on the picture.

The other boy seemed a little younger with emerald green eyes and blond hair. My eyes grew wide as I slowly recognized him.

Walter Reed.

Walter said that he met Alec in middle school. This picture seems way before that.

Did he lie to me?

Oh God! What if...?

No. Alec had no family.

There's no way they could actually be brothers.

Right?

Was Walter hinting at something when he joked about being Alec's brother?

What if they really are brothers?

Blinking, I fished my phone out and clicked a picture of the photograph and placed it back in the drawer. There was nothing else left to see so I quickly shut the lights off and left his study.