The Retired CEO's Guide To Being Spoiled-Chapter 93: The Woman in the Shadows

"Do we have any concrete details regarding her?" Ethan Caldwell asked.

The questions swirling in his mind were numerous: Why had Dahlia Thorne returned, and when exactly did she arrive? Where had she been when the tragedy befell the Thorne family? Had she already returned by then? And most importantly, why was Dahlia involved with Gabriel Cole?

"We have been unable to trace her specific whereabouts prior to recent events. However, according to recorded travel history, Dahlia Thorne boarded a flight from City S back to Saint Lawrence City right after the news about her sister broke out in the media."

"Our trusted private investigator provided additional intelligence; prior to this, someone else had contacted him seeking information on Dahlia Thorne, but they came up empty-handed."

Ethan Caldwell fell into a thoughtful silence. Previously, he had not paid much attention to the details of this scandal involving the Harrington family. Ethan had simply assumed that Jason Harrington’s girlfriend had been unable to bear the despair of being abandoned while pregnant, leading her to jump to her death. As for the fact that Jason Harrington’s misdeeds were exposed, Ethan suspected that someone within the Harrington family had likely played a hand in it.

But now, upon learning that Daisy Thorne’s parents had also passed away, Ethan was certain that everything, including Daisy’s death, had been orchestrated by someone behind the scenes. The target was glaringly obvious: Jason Harrington. He was merely uncertain whether this was the result of internal strife within the Harrington family, or if an outsider was seizing the opportunity to drag the entire Harrington clan into the mire.

Ethan leaned slightly towards the second hypothesis, given that someone had deliberately sought out information regarding Dahlia Thorne.

"In truth, Dahlia Thorne’s current appearance differs somewhat from how she looked in the past."

Hearing Helen Lloyd’s remark, Ethan raised an eyebrow. He scrutinized the attached photographs, one of which was a family portrait of four. The youngest girl in the picture must have been Dahlia, still dressed in her high school uniform. She bore a striking resemblance to her sister; were it not for the age difference, one might easily have believed them to be twins.

Subsequently, he scrolled down a bit further. Below was a solo photograph of a woman holding a bouquet of camellias, a gentle smile gracing her lips. Her features were not as sharp as those typical of the Thorne family; instead, she leaned more towards a seductive allure, particularly with the way the corners of her lips quirked upwards.

"Is that solo photo Dahlia?"

"Yes, it is."

Five years could not possibly alter a human being to such an extent. Naturally, a girl would undergo significant changes after puberty, and makeup style could certainly influence one’s facial appearance. Yet, more or less, certain original features should have remained. The Thorne family members tended towards sharp, clearly defined angles. The side profiles of the two sisters, Daisy and Dahlia, had been very similar - sharp jawlines, neat chins, and high noses.

The photograph below, however, captured a girl with a rounder chin, lacking the angular definition on either side of the jaw.

"Did she undergo plastic surgery? Jaw shaving?"

"I do not know if she had her jaw shaved, but she certainly underwent plastic surgery." Helen smiled faintly. "Initially, our operatives could not identify who she was. We only knew that all cash flows related to Gabriel Cole were being diverted into this person’s hands."

"At first, I merely had her shadowed to gather more information, but I did not expect to coincidentally catch her sneaking in to visit the Thorne family graves."

Of course, to conclude that this Dahlia was the runaway daughter of the Thorne family based solely on a shared name and a grave visit would have been rather presumptuous. In truth, their investigators had not found much information initially.

"Actually, at the beginning, we dared not confirm they were the same person, as the information retrieved was too scant. However, she appeared to have detected the people we arranged and even took the initiative to contact us, expressing a desire to cooperate."

Hearing this, Ethan Caldwell raised an eyebrow.

"Rest assured, sir, she still does not know who we are. But perhaps because our moves against Gabriel Cole were quite obvious, she realized our intent. Dahlia even volunteered to undergo a DNA test to prove whether she is truly a daughter of the Thorne family. It won’t be too late to let her meet the person behind the curtain after that."

"At that time, you were busy caring for Julian Sterling, so I took the liberty of making the decision myself, instructing the private investigator to obtain a hair sample from her. Subsequently, our team also collected blood samples from the Thorne parents through the person in charge of their accident."

"The comparison results were a perfect match."

Helen paused at this point, sighing as if lost in thought. "She has only met our investigator and is still unaware of our true identity. But this woman is very sharp, and also quite ruthless. Perhaps a bit mad as well."

Not knowing exactly who the other party was, nor the extent of their power, yet daring to reveal her trump card simply based on a conjecture that they wanted to deal with Gabriel Cole. One could not say whether this was brilliance or the desperation of someone with nothing left to lose.

"Let us set that aside," Ethan replied. "What I am wondering is, isn’t she cooperating with Gabriel Cole? Why would she want to move against him? If it is for revenge, shouldn’t the first target be the Harrington family?"

Clearly, the flow of Gabriel Cole’s funds into Dahlia Thorne’s personal account was merely a smokescreen. Gabriel likely intended to divert that capital into hidden projects he wished to keep secret from his competitors.

This proved that some form of relationship existed between Dahlia Thorne and Gabriel Cole, at the very least a bilateral cooperation. So why, upon discovering she was being investigated, did Dahlia not alert Gabriel but instead seek to collaborate with Ethan’s side, turning back to bite Gabriel?