It was at that precise moment that Toby became sure of the truth: Tina was not Maple.

After all, if she indeed was Maple, then why would she burn the letters which had brought them together instead of keeping them and reminiscing over them? Because she was afraid that keeping those letters would one day bring her lies crumbling down.

Jean saw that Toby was trembling slightly, like he was suppressing insurmountable rage. A chill ran down her spine as she swallowed and asked hesitantly, “T-Toby, what’s the matter with you?”

Toby ignored her and took out his phone to make a call.

 

Before long, Tom’s groggy voice sounded from the other line as he yawned and asked, “President Fuller, is there something wrong?”

“Come by the Fuller Residence now. I need to ask you something.” Having said that brusquely, Toby hung up the call without another word.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the phone, Tom sat up in bed with a spaced-out look on his face. Did he just ask me to drop by the Fuller Residence?

As his mind cleared up, he detached the phone from his ear and stared at the screen. When he saw that it was close to midnight, he let out a frustrated groan. For heaven’s sake, it’s late at night, and it’s nearly midnight! He must be insane to have asked me to go by the Fullers’ Residence! Whatever this is about, why couldn’t he have told me over the phone and insisted that I go over to his place?

bed anyway and begrudgingly began to get ready, then

found himself standing in Toby’s study. “What is it that you needed to ask me, President Fuller?” he asked with a polite smile, though he was cursing Toby

 

a pointed look and tapped his fingers against

was taken aback by this, but he quickly regained his composure. “President Fuller, are you suspecting

Toby nodded in affirmation.

after a long pause, “To tell you the truth, President Fuller, I don’t think Tina and Maple are the same person at all. I’ve been by your side for all these years, and I’ve seen you exchange letters with Maple. From what I’ve gathered about her, she’s warm

Toby apprehensively, worried that he might have angered the

at all but looked

goodness President Fuller isn’t mad at me for making those disparaging comments about Miss Gray, but I wonder why he doubts her identity as Maple. He scratched his head, unable to figure out what Toby was

a cold voice, “You’re right. She has none of these qualities, and she has no right to

something click in his mind. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and asked, “Have you discovered something that made

for the past two days. That makes sense, seeing how he was only kind and loving to her because he believed she was Maple. If

his eyes pensively without answering Tom’s question and asked instead, “You were the one who collected Maple’s letters on my behalf when I was

Do you want me to drop by the place and find out if Maple

“Yes,” Toby replied.

sir,” Tom said dutifully. “I’ll head

and his eyes widened as the sudden realization that something

at this.

Residence is in Eastbourne. Both these cities are practically sixty kilometers away, and the Gray Family has been in Eastbourne for the last twenty years; they never

and his eyes widened by a fraction as he pondered on this new revelation. That’s right. If Tina really was Maple, then the postal address would have

from across the desk, “I remember you mentioned that Maple used to have a pet dog,

chin jerked slightly.

never had any pet dogs. You also mentioned that Maple has a stepmother and a sister, but Mrs. Gray has always been the first wife. All these aside, I caught a glimpse of Tina’s handwriting last month when she got bored in your office and scribbled a couple of things. While she didn’t often

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