Rose's POV

At the end of the press conference, I didn't know what to feel. I looked at Lisa and I could still tell that something within her felt her husband and friend were innocent. It looked like she wasn't keen on believing what was right in front of her and I did have some pity for her.

I'd faced a lot of challenges, I'd seen the ups and downs of life countless times and I knew when something was wrong. This was one of those times. There was something about those two that got me thinking.

As I stared at Lisa, I could see a picture of my daughter right in front of me. I didn't want her to stay with us. It didn't seem like a brilliant idea. I knew it was only a matter of time before it'll be clear that no one can replace another, no matter how hard they try. Besides, she wasn't part of the family. Letting her get too close to Hugo might lead to some development of feelings between them. I didn't want anything like that.

After some long, hard thoughts, I decided to do as my son had said. I took some pity on her and decided to give her a chance. She was a woman like me, after all. If I abandoned her, especially seeing that her life was in grave danger, I might have struggled to live with that. She looked to also be of help to my son, so I thought, why not? What was the worst that could happen?

"You'd be staying with us for a few days," I said to Lisa, whose face brightened up as soon as I spoke. Hugo's too. I spotted a huge smile springing forth on his face. "With my influence and the resources at my disposal, I'd personally investigate this story and know what exactly happened. Until then, do stay put."

She nodded.

"Lisa, I'd love you to be very strong. You have to be. By the time the truth will be revealed, which I promise you will be soon, you'll have a big decision to make."

With that, I walked out and headed straight to my room, winking at Hugo as I left, so he could follow me. We had a case to solve.

As I got to my room, I sat on my bed and waited for a few minutes before Hugo showed up. He must have talked a bit with Lisa before heading to my room.

"What do we do, mom?" He asked, immediately he got into the room. He seemed all fired up. He had only spent a little time with this woman, yet, it seemed she already made a strong impression on him.

I took out my phone and began to scroll through my contacts. "I need to call Officer Smart. Normally, he may not want to help out due to his busy schedule but of course, he owes his life to your father so he has to make an exception."

"Hello!"

"Hello, I'd go over the pleasantries but I'm aware you're a man who has little time for all that, so I'll just go straight to the point. There's something I'll need you to do for me. I'll send a name across to you, she just had an accident yesterday and it's all over the news. I'll love you to help me find out everything that happened and see if somehow, her husband and friend who claim that she's dead, even without confirming the body, have a hand in it. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes."

I hung up and smiled at my son. I had complete trust in the officer. He was the best detective I'd ever known. There had never been a case that I brought to him that he failed to investigate properly. I hoped this one wouldn't be an exception.

*

By 6 pm, I returned from work and I had news to tell. I had received a call from the officer concerning what I asked him and he shared all the details with me, revealing to me that he sent some proof to my email. I thanked him and hung up, quite grateful that he was always ready to come to my aid. I didn't expect it so soon though, he had outdone himself.

"What's with you and my red hair? Why do you love it so much?"

"You know, apart from my mom and late sister, I'd never seen anyone that has it."

"That's because we're unique. Unique people have red hair and the rest get to choose the other colours!"

"That's a lie, Lisa!"

I heard giggles and loud laughs from the sitting room where Hugo and Lisa spoke. They were having a great time. I hated to be the one to ruin the moment but I had to. There were far too important things to talk about than red hair.

"Welcome, mother."

"Welcome, ma'am."

They greeted me as soon as I walked into the parlour. Hugo had his left-hand grazing the top of Lisa's right hand. She seemed to quickly withdraw her hand as soon as she saw me.

I acknowledged their greeting with a nod and proceeded with what I had to say. "I got all you need to know about what happened to you and I'm afraid I got a little bit more than that."

They all sat up to hear what I had to say and somehow, it felt so good. I had this feeling that I was in charge and their satisfaction hinged on what I was going to say. I thought about mentioning it to them but I knew it wasn't right. This was a matter of life and death and it was never going to be right to trivialise it. Instead, I walked to a sofa, adjacent to the one they sat on and did sit.

"Well," I began to say, taking off my wristwatch and placing it just beside me. "I got a call from officer Smart and he told me that"