A Ruling Passion – Chapter 1585

The more Mary acted this way, the more uncanny everything felt. Then, Arianne examined the entire house and found that every single one of Shelly’s belongings — her suitcase and other things — were gone. Someone even drove her car out of the garage.

There were only two possible explanations for this. Maybe Shelly was found and Mark sent her somewhere else to stay, so all of her things were transferred away. Alternatively, Shelly was dead, and a grieving Mark could not bear to look at the things she left.

Arianne was more inclined to believe the former than the latter. Shelly might be a little loco in the head, but she was not delirious. In fact, she had proven herself to be quite clever and lucid. A woman like that just didn't seem the type to accidentally kill herself just because she’d ventured into the world on her own for a few days. But if that were the case, then why would Mark hide that information from Arianne? Why would he refuse to say anything?

Arianne decided to feign ignorance. Since she had sold off much of the real estate owned by the company after the shipwreck tragedy, she was sure that Shelly had no place ready for her right away. In other words, if Mark wanted to provide his aunt with lodging, then he would need to make a hefty purchase. Then, Arianne could seize on the “abnormal amount of spending” as a chance to ask him where the money was going.

Throughout the next few days, Mark always left the house at daybreak and returned home late at night. He also ceased mentioning Shelly completely and began to feign a veneer of normalcy in his daily life.