Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 280

The moment Elysia was mentioned, Elliot's face turned icy cold.

"I never planned on killing Tarquin, nor did I ever want you to play daddy. Of course, if there’s something between you and Tarquin, that's none of my business. But, if you dare target my mom, I won't let you off the hook!"

"Little devil, huh? Little devil," he chuckled, a hint of irony in his voice.

Right after his words hung in the air, he seemed to sense something and suddenly leaped out of the window.

Elliot rushed to the window only to find no trace of the masked man. The man vanished without a trace, like a ghost.

The next moment, Lowell's voice came from out of the door, "This place looks deserted. Should we check it out? He might be hiding inside."

"Break in!"

Elliot's brow furrowed tighter as he quickly climbed out the window, too. He slid down the drainpipe to the ground floor and swiftly left Sunshine Community.

Leaving the place, Elliot was deeply troubled. He was wary of this masked man. Today's encounter had been fruitless, gleaning no information.

It wasn't even clear if the man was targeting Tarquin or them.

If it was Tarquin he was after, it wasn't their problem to solve. But if they were the target, then they needed to figure out who he was and what he wanted!

And that man had mentioned his mom, too!

Glancing back in the direction of Sunshine Community, Elliot's expression was thoughtful. His hand reached into his pocket and found a crumpled piece of tissue.

He unfolded it and saw a strand of hair he had sneakily plucked from Tarquin's head earlier that day at the cemetery as they were making a quick escape.

Rumor had it that the Bradford family had a long lineage of direct descendants, which made Elliot question his and Tarquin's relationship.

Planning to shed some light on this, he decided to get a paternity test.

Elliot plucked one of his own hairs, placed it alongside Tarquin's, and made a call to arrange for the test.

...

That evening, when Elysia returned, she held out a photo to Elliot and Evan, asking if they recognized the person in it.

It was the masked man!

It was clear someone tech-savvy had been at it, even if they didn’t succeed. And knowing Elysia, if she needed his computer, she would have asked; she wouldn't just tamper with his things.

So, if it wasn't Elysia, and not their dad...

A third person had been in his room!

Who?!

Elijah's expression darkened as he scanned his room, noticing nothing out of place until his eyes landed on the calendar.

On the fifth day of the month, a day traditionally reserved for honoring ancestors, his dad didn’t call him to join.

Why?

He missed the ancestral honor day, and an unknown visitor had been in his room... Something was off!

With a furrowed brow, Elijah returned to the study and asked Tarquin coldly, "Why didn't we honor our ancestors today?"