After dinner, Jon didn’t leave. Titus Zane bolted the apartment door and took Jon back to his own bedroom.
Sitting opposite each other on the big bed, although not cross-legged, Jon still tried his best to support his shins.
"carry, guess what I found out?"
Looking at him, even though Titus Zane didn’t respond, he knew well that Jon came to Banyan City because he must have uncovered some valuable information.
During their conversation, Jon pulled out a photo from somewhere and placed it in front of Titus Zane. Slowly picking it up, he saw the girl in the photo had an expression that closely resembled his own, and Titus Zane’s heart was filled with indescribable complex emotions at that moment.
If at first she still had her doubts, now, looking at the girl in the photo, she was certain there was an inseparable connection between them.
The girl appeared to be quite young, around twenty years old, with obvious baby fat on her delicate face when she smiled.
It looked very similar to her own childhood photos.
"Who... is she?" As he passed the photo back to Jon, Titus Zane’s hands trembled slightly, as did his heart, incessantly contracting.
"See for yourself," Jon gestured to the photo in Titus Zane’s hand, "there’s a name on the back."
Turning the photo over, the graceful handwriting was clearly visible.
Staring at these three characters, Titus Zane found it hard to shift his gaze away for a long time.
...Child, you are Nicole’s daughter...
Abigail Zimmerman’s voice echoed in his ear again, excited, filled with joy, as if she wanted to acknowledge their relation but couldn’t.
"How did you find this photo?" Suppressing the palpitations in his heart, Titus Zane clutched the photo tightly in his palm.
A painful feeling surged, if the girl in the photo was truly his mother, and if what Abigail Zimmerman said was true, then how should he go about unravelling the truth behind Ariana Evans causing his mother’s untimely death?
Meeting Titus Zane’s gaze, Jon showed a serious expression tinged with apology.
"carry, there are rules in our line of work, as a private detective, we only share results with our clients, never revealing the process, because... sometimes, to get those results, we employ certain special methods."
Being a private detective was just like that, sometimes risking it all to get the desired results, even undertaking illegal acts in secret if necessary.
That’s the rule of the trade Jon was talking about, as well as professional ethics!
Process could be overlooked, but—
"Who is this Nicole Zane? Where does she live, and what connection does she have with me?" Titus Zane fired off a string of questions, Jon slightly lowered his gaze, his eyes on the photo in Titus Zane’s hand becoming somewhat unfocused.
The emotions on his handsome face grew heavy.
Reaching out, he took the photo and gently caressed it with one hand as he began to speak slowly.
"Speaking of Nicole Zane, she could be considered a significant figure, by eighteen, she colluded with some corrupt Military District officials to traffic arms... It is said that she was later pursued by both the lawful and the underworld, passing away at the mere age of twenty..."
Emotions began to swell in his heart, and as Jon narrated the story of this girl whom he had never met, Titus Zane felt an almost unbearable urge to cry.
"How... did she die?"
Speaking out, Titus Zane’s voice trembled.
"Natural causes," Jon lifted his gaze, meeting Titus Zane’s obviously sorrowful eyes, his blue eyes calm and undisturbed, "It’s said that she collapsed due to extreme heartbreak and was taken to the hospital, where she died because resuscitation efforts were ineffective."
"That’s not possible," Titus Zane muttered to himself, taking the photo back, as a tear involuntarily slid down, still muttering while looking at the girl in the photo who was smiling carefreely.
"She was so young, how could resuscitation have been ineffective..."