Female Novel
Chapter 525
These days, Christina stubbornly asked Lucy to take her to the orphanage in Z city for a field
investigation.
"... This is the orphanage where Brianna had stayed when she was a child."
At noon, the sun was shining brightly. Christina and Lucy arrived at their destination 4 hours after flying
from A City. This piece of land had been burned to ashes and only broken walls were left there. Seeing
such a desolate scene, they could not help but feel a little scared.
It was a western-style orphanage and only its building shell was left after the fire. The big windows on
each floor were burnt to be broken, and huge flames shot up to the ceiling which made every brick
become burnt and black.
It could be seen how fierce the fire was. It was said that the fire broke out in the middle of the night.
Three old nuns and two children were burned to death.
"What was the cause of the fire?"
As a bystander, Christina could not help but sigh in her heart when she looked at the scene.
Lucy shrugged and said, "I don't know."
"Didn't you say you had started the investigation a long time ago?"
"...This is an old case. The accident happened more than 20 years ago. At most, I found the
information put on records by the police station. At that time, the network was underdeveloped and
there was no online backup. It was all handwritten records. It just said the cause of the fire in the
orphanage with a few simple words that the fire started from the back kitchen."
Christina turned to look at her, "The back kitchen?"
Then she said with righteous indignation, "Weren't they mistaken? Even if they wanted to write blindly,
they should have made up a reasonable reason." As she spoke, Christina pointed to the darkest two-
story building behind the orphanage that had been burned, "It was clear that the fire started from the
orphanage's accommodation."
It was because the fire was the fiercest there and that place had been burned most thoroughly. If she
hadn't vaguely recognized the small bunk beds, she wouldn't have known that it was the dormitory
building over there.
Lucy didn't take it seriously, "You don't have to be so excited. It can only reveal that you've seen too
little. There had been too many conflicts of interest in this fire. Some people didn't want to make things
too clear, so they just skated them over."
"However," Lucy thought for a moment and then said, "More than 20 years ago, the 'charity orphanage',
which had a lot of complicated relationships with its own interests, was not a clean place."
Brianna was sent to this orphanage for the first time when she was a child. She had lived in it for less
than a year, and it was on fire.
The fire not only burned the orphanage into ashes but also killed five people, and all the documents
about the orphanage since its establishment were burnt.
Therefore, Lucy had no idea about who Brianna's real parents were, let alone why she was abandoned
and sent to an orphanage.
"The children who used to live in this orphanage must have suffered a lot."
Lucy knew the mentality of the homeless orphans very well, because she was also an orphan.
"Maybe I can go to find those orphans who survived. They're all grown up now. I can ask them about
what Brianna's personality was like..."
When Christina heard what Lucy said, she immediately urged Lucy excitedly, "Then let's go to find the
survivors now."
Lucy glanced at her and said, "The list is in the company's computer. I don't have the ability to
remember it at a look. I have to go back first. Also, children like these who grew up in an orphanage
and experienced a disaster usually have some psychological problems."
For example, they might be unwilling to communicate with others.
"If you go to find them like this, you won't be able to get any information." Lucy added, "If we want an
answer, you have to learn to be patient first."
Christina looked at her without refuting.
After coming out for a field trip with Lucy, Christina felt that she had learned a lot.
"Does Miss Dickens want to personally visit the orphanage which Brianna had stayed in later?" Lucy
was also bored recently, so she spared her time to accompany Christina.
"... Was it burned to be like this too?"
Lucy told her truthfully in a flat tone, "It's not that serious. Just a storage room was burned down, but
seven people died."
Christina heard she said calmly that seven people had died, and she was surprised, "So many people
were burned to death in a storage room?"
"Strictly speaking, they were not burned to death. As I know, the door of the storage room had been
locked from the inside, and the people inside were suffocated to death by the smoke."
Lucy was used to these disasters and she was not surprised to see people's death. But coincidentally,
both orphanages where Brianna lived when she was a child had been on fires, and there were
casualties in both accidents.
"... That storage room was later remodeled and a new building has been built on its spot now."
So even if they went over, they could see no trace of a fire that had happened.
"... Since so many people died, did the police intervene for investigation?"
"Three of them were old nuns, and the other four men were handymen hired from elsewhere... More
than 20 years ago, the surveillance system was not as common as it is now. There was no proof of
death. The orphanage didn't want to affect the children's mentality and their daily life. Therefore, it
didn't want to make things big and just accepted the reparation as an end to the accident."
Christina was frustrated when she heard what Lucy said, "After a long time, it turned out that we didn't
find anything."
Lucy was very calm, "Yes, we find nothing."
Lucy herself was also very depressed about this. It was mainly because the accidents happened a long
time ago, and the domestic development was still relatively backward at that time, which caused the
progress of the investigation to be very slow.
"... But I'm sure there's something wrong with Brianna." Lucy speculated based on her occupational
sensitivity.
The sun at noon was very hot. Christina had been basking in the sun for a long time, and she was
sweating all over. After she married into the Hopkins family, she had been pampered as a rice worm,
and now she was not used to running around like this.
She wiped the sweat off her forehead and said, "Let's go back to the hotel first."
Lucy looked at her and immediately made fun of her, "Oh, oh, who was the one who strongly requested
to come over and personally check it out? Can't you stand the hardship, Junior Mrs. Hopkins?"
Christina was too lazy to listen to her teasing. She went to find a cool place and rested for a while first.
Christina added, "If Patrick comes back, I don't allow you to tell him about this."
"Well, you think he really won't know it if I don't tell him," Lucy said disdainfully.
"... I think you should take the night flight to go home tonight. If a married woman like you have been
wandering outside for so long, there will be some gossip."
"I am not in a hurry. I'll go back after a few days."
Looking at the unique architectural scenery of Z city, Christina remembered that she had not relaxed or
gone on a trip for a long time. Besides, she had few friends since she was a child and no one
accompanied her to travel around.
Christina thought that if it were a year ago, she would feel incredulous that she would go out for a trip
with Lucy.
Most importantly, Patrick had not returned from his business trip, so she didn't have to rush back to
serve him. She could stay here for a few more days as a trip.
Lucy had always ignored these worldly rules and did not bother to persuade her. Anyway, Christina was
supported by Patrick in the Hopkins family, and the gossip could be ignored.
The two women walked side by side on the road in a relaxed and happy mood. They looked curiously
at the authentic local food from the stalls on the side of the road. They bought two skewers of roasted
octopus and ate as they walked regardless of their image.
"... Christina, if you're not married, I can barely treat you as a confidante," Lucy said frankly.
Christina glared at her, "There is no need to force yourself."
"Oh, is Miss Dickens angry?"
Lucy was in a rare good mood and said to herself, "Christina, let me tell you. My purpose in life is to eatnovelbin
well and sleep well. It's so simple. But it's not easy for a person to achieve such a simple target
smoothly without illness, pain, and financial pressure."
"Christina, do you know what your biggest weakness is? You lack patience. Your opponent is targeting
your weakness. Once you lose your patience, you will be easily controlled by your emotions. Then you
will make the wrong decision. A slight move you make may affect the whole situation, which may make
you lose everything."
Christina also listened to Lucy carefully and muttered, "No one had ever told me this."
Lucy thought for a moment and told her honestly, "That's because Patrick raised you as a pet. Of
course, humans can't be too demanding on pets."
Christina was expressionless.
"Lucy," Christina called her.
"What?"
"I was wondering since Patrick's branch companies were scattered all over the country, could it be that
some of them were in those remote mountains and forests?"
"Yes, he has five private islands in the South Pacific."
Christina gave her a meaningful look, "You'd better buy more sunscreen and mosquito repellent these
days..."
"Why do I need to buy those things? I don't like to use sunscreen..." Lucy suddenly understood what
Christina meant and jumped to scold, "You traitor! If you make me go to a desolate place, you can wait
and see as I will definitely revenge on you."
"I'm not very familiar with you. That skewer of roasted squid just now costs 18 yuan. Give me the
money!" Lucy immediately changed her expression and asked for the money.
Christina looked at her gloomily. This person was really realistic.
"... Go back and play with your pig. Our relationship is just an employment relationship and we are not
familiar with each other!"
In fact, the more Lucy changed her expression and the fiercer she appeared to be, the more clearly it
showed that she had no confidence. If Patrick really sent her to those desolate islands, the rest of her
life would be ruined.
She decided not to get too close to Christina because there was a saying that to be in the king's
company is tantamount to living with a tiger.
Lucy always joked that Crystal was a pig. First, she didn't like women who were too docile and only
gave in. Second, Crystal's surname had the same meaning as pig, and Lucy could use it to sneer that
Christina was just a pet as well.
Speaking of Crystal, Christina was not in the mood to argue with Lucy. Recently, she called Crystal
several times, but no one answered.
She felt that Chandler and Crystal still suspected the matter about saffron, and Crystal avoided the
topic on purpose.
Christina had been trying to find out about Brianna these days, because she also tried to prove that the
matter about saffron had nothing to do with her.