With a faraway expression on her face, she carassed the journal in her hand. Stephen watched her in silence, for a while.

"Hey, won't you put that in the bag?" he asked and she turned to look at him. He pointed to the suitcase on the bed, which he had helped her pack. She nodded at him and stretched her hand to give him the diary. He took it from her, put it in the suitcase, and then zipped the suitcase close.

"Come on, let's go," he said, taking the suitcase off the bed, and then reaching out to offer her one of his hand.

She took his hand and together they started to leave the house.

They were almost at the big black gate when it opened and a young curvy lady stepped in. The lady had a smirk on her face, which looked so natural. The smirk curved even more upwards as they reached her.

"Aunt Kate? I thought you were out of the country," Elena muttered.

"Hello to you too Elena," the lady spoke and passed a quick glance to Stephen. She chuckled when he got no reaction from him, and then returned her gaze to Elena.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

"Just Stephen's. The police are closing this place since it is the crime scene," Elena said.

"Yeah I heard… But I am here now," Kate said and confusion loomed over Elena's face.

"I don't understand," Elena voiced out.

"I mean, I am here now, you don't need to stay at Stephen's. You can just stay with me," Kate said and Stephen finally flinched.

"Stay with you? Why the hell would I do that? Like we have such a great relationship…" Elena's voice had a hint of sarcasm laced in it. Kate laughed.

"Come on Elena. Do you really want everyone to know about the conflicts in the family? You want the police to know that we all don't get along?" Kate spoke with a raised eyebrow. Elena scoffed. She pulled her hand away from Stephen and took a step closer to Kate.

"You are not family but you see Stephen here, he is…" She paused to heave in a deep breath.

"And I don't f**king care about the police or how they might quote our relationship because you do not matter to me and I cannot even feign it. I am an adult, I don't need someone to take care of me," Elena said,

and then started to walk past Kate. Stephen followed behind her.

"There is something that the police would find interesting though. Remember a few months ago, how you pushed me down the stairs? I was hospitalised for a week, remember?" Kate's words made Elena halt.

Elena drew a sharp breath, and then turned. She started to walk towards Kate, brushing Stephen's hand when he reached out to hold her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Elena asked.

Kate smiled, her green eyes peering into Elena's. "You tell me step-niece… I mean we all know that you have always had anger issues," Kate spelled out.

"You never liked my brother. And you were angry at your mother. Who knows, maybe you got so angry that you…" Kate was interrupted.

"Stop it Kate. This act of yours is Pathetic," Stephen spoke, coming to join the ladies. Kate turned to him with a smile.

"I am just saying. You think you know Elena? You have no idea the kind of secrets she keeps," Kate pressed.

"Don't even go there Kate," Elena said.

"Let's go Elena," Stephen said, grabbing Elena's hand. In the next minute they were gone.

******

The first thing they noticed was the police van in front of Stephen's apartment.

"They probably want to question you, that's expected," Stephen said as they got out of the car. Elena could only nod at him.

"Miss Elena Finn," a female uniformed police greeted as soon as they stepped into the sitting room.

Elena first greeted Grandma Fiona with a smile before nodding at the police woman and her male colleague beside her.

Elena sat across the police personnels and Stephen sat beside her.

"We have a few questions for you," the female police started.

"Okay, fire away," Elena said, holding the female police gaze.

"The autopsy results show that your parents were poisoned around 6pm yesterday and based on your alibi, you were here at the time, correct?" the male police took over the conversation and Elena turned to look at him.

"That's right. My boss and I were working on a presentation. It wasn't until 8pm that he drove me home," Elena replied. Stephen was actually her boss.

"And what happened when you got home, where were your parents?" The policeman asked and Elena started journeying down memory lane…

After waving goodbye to Stephen, Elena proceeded to the one storey building she had lived in all her life.

Both her parents were in the sitting room when she got in. She simply muttered a greeting to them and then went up the stairs to her bedroom. Her mother hadn't even responded to her greeting. She hadn't even as much as acknowledged her presence.

"Miss Finn?" It was the female police voice that brought her back to the present. She blinked, and then drew a sharp breath.

"My mom and step-dad were in the sitting room when I got back home. I simply greeted them, and then went up to my room. I didn't come downstairs again until midnight when I got thirsty… and then I saw them, lying cold in the sitting room," Elena ended with a sniff. The tears that had welled up in her eyes as she spoke fell and flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Here," the female police handed Elena a tissue paper but before she could accept it, Stephen reached out to wipe her tears, and then pull her into his embrace.

"I think that's enough questioning for today," he told the police personnels and they rose to leave.

"We will find the person who killed your parents, that we can promise you," the female police swore to Elena before leaving.

As soon as they left, Elena broke down crying profusely, even grandma Fiona had to come to join in comforting her.