Cayenne continued to take care of her garden with the assistance of her all-around helper, Erwin. He was left by her father to make sure that she's doing alright. Anything she needed should be given without questions.
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed since she left Stefan. A week of struggle from moving on and from starting a new leaf in life. A week of toss and turn on her bed at night. A week of missing him.
"Whatever." Cayenne jumped up and down to distract herself. "Today, I'm going to paint and enjoy my life." She ran downstairs to get the canvas and painting materials which she asked Erwin to get for her few days ago.
Reuben knew that his daughter was going through a tough time of her life but even if he wanted to stay beside her, Cayenne wouldn't want him to do that. She wanted to be left alone.
"Young miss, I will go to the city and buy groceries. Is there anything you want me to buy as well?" Erwin told her when he saw Cayenne going downstairs.
"None so far. If anything comes to mind, I'll just send you a message."
"Okay. I understand. If something comes up, make sure to call me. Don't wander to the forest area as well. If anyone rings the doorbell, don't open it. Everyone who knows this property also knows the password.
There's no reason for us to ring the bell. I will get going now."
"Okie dokie." Cayenne waved her hand at him before going to the small storage room beside the kitchen. She took out her painting materials and brought them out to the backyard.
Half an hour after Erwin left, a black SUV and a police car arrived in front of the gate.
"Are you sure this is where she lives?"
"Yes, sir. This was a property owned by Mr. Montefalco but recently, it was given to Ms. Cayenne Ardolf. If I am not mistaken, she should be living here. And this place is still under the jurisdiction of City B."
Stefan stepped out of the car and looked towards the quiet and lonely house in front of him. He had been waiting for Luiz and Kyle to lead him where his wife stayed but the brothers didn't leave their school dorm at all. He had no other choice but to continue looking for her without asking for their help. Thankfully, the police found a lead which helps him a lot.
"Stefan, how about you ask the police officers to ring the door bell for you. If Cayenne sees you, I'm pretty sure that she won't open the gate for you. If she sees the police officers, she'd open the gate for sure." Chris suggested which was what Stefan thought as well. He knew his wife. She wouldn't want to see him now.
"Alright. Chief, can you please ring the bell? My wife would be upset to see me if it's me knocking on her doorstep." Stefan humbly requested to the officer who came along with them.
"Okay. Give me a moment." The officer went to the gate and pressed the doorbell button.
Cayenne heard the sound of the bell, alerting her that someone was in front of her gate. 'Hmp! Erwin said that everyone who knows this property also knows the password to the gate. I wouldn't open my door to strangers.' She mentally sneered and continued painting. She's not a great painter but she loves drawing and painting nature ever since she was young.
She's only good with art involving nature but she's not good when it comes to making human portraits.
Right now, she was drawing the trees in her backyard.
'Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!
Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!'
The sound of the doorbell didn't stop, making her felt so irritated but she remained unmoving from her place. "You can press it as many times as you want. I don't care." She mumbled to herself and continued to paint. "I don't have time for strangers."
"I'm not a stranger."
Cayenne's hand stopped moving and the painting palette that she was holding fell to the ground. As if the world stopped moving, she held her breath and didn't dare turn around. But she quickly got over her shock and picked up the palette. "I must be hallucinating. I'm starting to hear things now."
"You're not hallucinating."
Cayenne immediately turned around and found Stefan standing in her backyard. He still looked handsome despite the dark circles under her eyes and he looked thinner compared to the man in her memories.
Realizing that she had been staring at him, Cayenne returned her attention to her painting in order to hide the surprise and the longing expression on her face. "Mr. Dumrique, what are you doing here? How did you get inside?"
"I typed the password."
"I see." Cayenne continued to paint, ignoring his presence as if he didn't exist there in the first place. 'Who the hell gave him the password? I'm pretty sure it's not Erwin. And there's no way my brothers would give him that. Was it my father?'
"I didn't ask anyone for the password. I just knew it." Stefan stated as if he knew what she was thinking at this moment. He didn't know what she was thinking but he just guessed that she might be wondering how he got the password to enter the place. "It's your birthday."
"I didn't know it was my birthday." Cayenne retorted. 'Come to think of it, I haven't really typed the password on my own. I never went out of this place ever since I arrived here. So, who made the password?'
Stefan watched her paint the trees in her surroundings, looking so serene and quiet. He thought that she'd be angry when he appeared in front of her but he was proven wrong. Cayenne was emotionless with his presence. She even ignored him.
"Ayen, I didn't sign the divorce papers."