Shadows Of A Forgotten Spring

Marina boiled with anger. She was pacing through her office with thoughts going through her mind. The thought that Mrs. Walker would hire someone like Emma, someone with no good background or qualifications, into the company and give her such an important position made Marina burn. She had spent all her life proving her loyalty. She had made unspeakable sacrifices all in the name of earning the trust and status she believed she deserved from Mrs. Walker. Now, this nobody, "Veronica Moore, Marina growled, was threatening it all

She grabbed her desk, her mind spinning. What actually did Me Walker even see in her?! Marina was sure that whatever innocence Emma was displaying was nothing more than a ruse.

"I will not allow you to ruin everything I've worked for. Marina said under her breath. Her voice laced with Venom

Marina picked up her phone and dialed the investigator's number with renewed anger. "Get me informations on Veronica Moore, and don't keep me waiting. Find out where she's from, who she really is, and why she disappeared."

The voice on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then they replied, "I understand. I'll double my efforts."

Marina leaned back in her chair after hanging up the call. A twisted smile formed on her lips. If Emma wanted to play innocent, Marina was ready to rip that mask off her face in front of everyone.

As Emma prepared for work that morning, something felt odd. But she couldn't quite pinpoint it out. She stood out in the

outside Mrs. Walker's room, as she usually did, ready for them to make their drive to work. But when the door finally opened. Mrs. Walker wasn't putting on her usual work attire but a plain, gray, somber dress. Her face was white and tired, and her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

The sadness in Mrs. Walker's eyes was almost palpable in its weight, and Emma felt her heart clutch at its sight. She immediately reached out, her voice low to barely a whisper. "Elizabeth, what's wrong!

Mrs. Walker took a shaken breath; her poise quivered. Today..." she started, voice cracking. Today makes a year since my daughter passed away. Her face fell that moment, and she finally let go sobbing openly. The rawness of her pain filled the space between them, and Emma immediately closed the distance between them and pulled Mrs. Walker into an embrace.

some sort of comfort but felt that words were futile considering the situation. She wrapped her arms tightly around

sake but has come across her things one way or the other. An old scarf, lipsticks, headbands, and Diana's framed photos were everywhere in the living room. Each relic of Diana's

pulled backward a little, brushing a hand over her cheek, although more tears still ran down "Would you come with me today. Vero?

hesitating, her words

Emma found herself whisked into Mrs. Walker's pain, and the sorrow they held in each other arms was too much to bear; she

towards the door. She remebered what Mrs. Walker had told her about Diana's death. and a tragic picture surfaced in her

cancer, had red not from the disease but from what it

a delicate

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Chapter 19

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in some dark parking lot, leaving behind for her mother a letter that would have torn at anyone's heart. In the letter Diana had poured out her regrets, apologizing for not having the

Walker had publicly declared Diana had died in her sleep peacefully, thus saving her daughter from the ignominy and saving her memory from the cruel rumors of this world. "That was my final gift to her," Mrs. Walker had said to

Marina, who was just arriving at the house. Marina's expression transformed in an instant from surprise to disgust as her

Marina's voice was as calm as the ocean as she turned her gaze back

trembling. I'm already on my way there," she said softly, her hold on Emma's hand