Love's Cunning Ruse novel Chapter 313

In the executive office of Simpo Co.,. Julie and Kieran sat on the plush sofa, with Karl across.

Karl handed them a few photos, saying, "Regarding Mr. Rankin's grave, we've come up empty-handed on any solid leads… But…"

He pointed at the photographs, "I looked into Mr. Rankin's family, hoping to find a thread we could pull at. All we found was his mother. This is her picture."

The woman in the photo was simple, with an understated elegance. Yet there was a clean, gentle, and endearing quality about her that seemed to echo Mr. Rankin's own disposition. Uncompetitive, content with the world as it was.

Julie, clutching the photograph, looked up at Karl and asked, "Where is she now?"

Karl frowned, his features knitting together in concern, "Mr. Rankin's mother, Natalia, has been deceased for years. The strange part is, the gravestone next to Mr. Rankin’s belongs to her. Our investigation revealed that she passed away when Mr. Rankin was just thirteen. So, the arrangements for Mr. Rankin’s final affairs couldn't have been made by Natalia. Beyond her, Mr. Rankin appears to have had no other relatives."

Julie's gaze fell back onto the woman in the photo, shaking her head at Kieran, "I've never met any of his family."

This prompted Julie to recall some rumors about Mr. Rankin from their school days, "I remember when he first transferred to our class in middle school, being an exchange student with a foreign look, everyone was quite curious about him. The most persistent rumor was that he came from a wealthy family."

Though Kieran, back in his school days, had been indifferent to the world beyond his books, he had taken notice of Mr. Rankin when Julie moved to sit next to him and sought his help with her studies.

Rankin had a distinguished air. He wore clothes that matched the so-called rich kids, sporting luxury brand sneakers that no ordinary family could afford, each pair exorbitantly priced.

Kieran picked up the photo from the table and asked Karl, "Natalia… was she a local?"

Karl, having looked into this detail, affirmed with a nod, "Yes, her background is quite clear. An only child, orphaned at a young age, she worked at a trading company, married a man from Veridia named Mike, who unfortunately drowned while swimming. After his death, nasty rumors spread about her being a ‘bad luck,' and she never remarried. Rankin was the son of Natalia and Mike."

"A tough life…" Julie murmured, looking again at Natalia's photo, "To face such slander while raising Rankin alone…"

Julie looked up at Karl, a new question forming, "Was Mike well-off?"

Karl shook his head, passing another stack of documents to Julie, "Mike left his previous marriage with nothing, living off Natalia's income. Neighbors said he was good to her, caring, but tragically, he drowned."

At this, Julie expressed her disbelief, "You are saying that Mike was poor?"

Karl nodded, confirming her suspicions.

Julie squeezed Kieran's hand, adamant, "Impossible!"

"Indeed, it's impossible," Kieran replied. Even though he didn't have much interaction with Rankin, he knew that the life Rankin led was definitely not the straitened circumstances Karl spoke of.

"I've been to Rankin's house, the villa at Regal Rose Residences, it's very luxurious. How could he possibly be living in straitened circumstances?" Julie said seriously.

Regal Rose Residences was a bastion of wealth and luxury, second only to the Noblewood Retreat. During their junior year, Julie had sought Rankin's help for tutoring. The plan was to meet at the library, but Kieran was there, and at the time, Julie was avoiding him. Considering her mother's strictness, bringing Rankin home was out of the question.

So it was Rankin who suggested, "Let's go to my place. There's just the butler."

That was how Julie ended up at Rankin's home.

Hearing Julie's account, Kieran turned sharply, "You've been to Rankin's house?"

Julie nodded, baiting him with a smirk, "Yeah, to avoid a certain someone at the library."

Kieran, who had spent that entire period in the library hoping for a glimpse of Julie, felt a familiar pang of jealousy. He turned back to Karl, pushing past the brief flare of emotion, "Did you find anything about the Regal Rose Residences?"

Karl rifled through the documents and shook his head, "No mention of Mr. Rankin living at Regal Rose Residences."

The mystery of Mr. Rankin's affluent lifestyle remained unsolved, the truth as elusive as the man himself.

Julie's voice was earnest and solemn as she declared, "No way! It's the Rosewood Heights' villa number 627. I remember it well because when I saw the house number, I laughed—it's the same as my birthday!"

But Karl retorted, "There's no record of a villa at Rosewood Heights, ma'am. Shall I take a team over to the place you're speaking of, Villa 627 at Rosewood Heights?"

Julie couldn't help expressing to Kieran, "This place looks exactly like how I remembered. It feels like nothing's changed, yet everything feels different."

As they stood at the door, a lady emerged, carrying a trash bag. Her eyes lit up with surprise at the sight of Julie and Kieran.

Julie greeted her with a smile, "Hello, is this Rankin..." She paused before continuing, "Is this Natalia’s house?"

The lady's eyes flickered at the name, then she asked Kieran and Julie, "And you are...?"

"We were classmates of Natalia's son, Rankin," Julie said.

The lady nodded, "Oh... The son of the owner passed away many years ago, didn't you know?"

"We did..." Hearing of Rankin's passing from someone else, even after visiting his grave, stirred something in Julie. She addressed the lady, "I used to come here as a child, only recently learned of his passing, so I wanted to visit..."

The lady nodded in understanding, "It's cold outside. Why don't you come in and talk?"

Inside the villa, nothing had changed. Even the ornaments on the coffee table were the same.

The lady brought two cups of tea and handed them to Julie and Kieran, "You're the first people in many years to visit the place!"

Julie frowned slightly, "Hasn't anyone visited before?"

Kieran set down his cup and asked the lady, "And Natalia..."

"I don't know any Natalia. I was hired five or six years ago to keep the house tidy," the lady sighed. "Such a big villa, and it's never been lived in. Over the years, it's seen no visitors, and the identity of the owner remains a mystery. I thought since you said you were friends with the son, maybe you were the ones paying for the housekeeping."

Julie and Kieran exchanged a glance, their brows furrowed in confusion.