Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 102: Chapter 102

The person who just arrived was in a military uniform, accompanied by a sharply dressed woman.
It was Mark and Nina.
Ethel didn't even bat an eye when Mark and Nina walked in.
She knew Mark's identity, but wondered why someone like him kept showing up at the orphanage, especially since all his inquiries were about Aubree.
Ethel remained cautious with Mark, offering only vague answers to his questions. She had no idea how much he already knew, or if he had connected the dots to Aubree.
When Aubree ran into Mark today, Ethel involuntarily furrowed her brow.
Bowen, however, was waiting for Mark. Nina had tipped him off that Mark would visit the orphanage today.
He wondered why Mark had been so interested in the orphanage lately, and what he meant by those words he'd said to him last time.
'Why did he tell me to stay away from Bree?' Bowen wondered.
Mark's gaze shifted and landed on Aubree. He frowned. 'Her again?'
Bowen stared at him. "That's my line. What are you doing here? Since I had Nina follow you, you must've known I'd come looking for you eventually."
Speaking of which, Mark rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You call this following me?"
'It's more like blatant surveillance!' Mark thought.
"Only a scheming bastard like you would think to send Nina to tail me," Mark said. 'If it were anyone else,' he thought, 'I would've packed them up and shipped them back to the sly old fox Bowen by now.'
'But Nina...' Mark rubbed his temples, feeling a wave of guilt. He owed her too much. He couldn't bring himself to do anything about her.
"Looks like you have something to discuss, so I'll leave you to it," Ethel said with a chuckle, giving them their space.
Before leaving, she gave Aubree a knowing wink. "Aubree, could you run a quick errand for me?"
Aubree froze. 'Is Grandma Ethel deliberately sending me away?' she wondered.
"Sure," Aubree replied.
Nina had never met Aubree in person, but from what she'd heard from Ethan and the others, she knew Aubree was very likely to become the future Mrs. Turner.
Nina watched as Aubree walked away, noticing nothing out of the ordinary.
"Mr. Turner, I'll wait over there," Nina said.
Soon, the space was cleared, leaving just Mark and Bowen.
Bowen cut straight to the chase. "Come on, spill it. Why have you been haunting this place lately? Don't tell me your dad's marriage pressure has you so desperate you're thinking of just adopting someone from here."
Mark rolled his eyes. 'Sometimes this guy can piss me off so much,' he thought.
He quipped, "If you won't hand her over, how am I supposed to answer my dad?"
Bowen threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, don't pin that on me. Nina's not into you. I already sent her your way, so if you want something to happen, you'd better step up your game!"
After trading a few jabs, Bowen's expression turned serious. "Enough small talk. Get to the point."
Mark sighed inwardly. 'Guess there's no dodging this after all.'
He sprawled in his seat across from Bowen. "That girl's name is Aubree. You're into her."
As longtime friends, Mark could instantly read the changes in Bowen.
"Yeah, I am," Bowen said.
"If you trust me, you'd best steer clear," Mark said.
Bowen's gaze froze. "Mark, I thought you knew me better than that. What I've set my heart on, I won't let go of unless it's impossible." Then, he thought to himself, 'Even if there's not a sliver of hope, I'll still fight for her.'
Mark let out a sigh. He knew all too well how stubborn Bowen could be. That was why, back at Nightworld, he'd tried to nip things in the bud before Bowen even realized how he truly felt.
'That kid Ollie doesn't know anything,' Mark thought, 'He just loves to stick his nose in.'
Mark stopped hiding it.
He said, "You know, Alvin has had me investigating what happened to his parents all these years. It all happened so suddenly, and with no surveillance footage from that long ago, I've just been hitting dead ends.
"The only witness was a villager passing by from a nearby village, who caught a glimpse and knew that his parents got into trouble while trying to save someone.
"I've got a new lead. The person who got rescued back then might have been sent to this orphanage. If that girl is here, then Aubree most likely checks all the boxes."
Bowen lowered his gaze. "Hypotheticals and probabilities don't equal facts."
Mark sputtered, exasperated. 'Is this guy just impossible to reason with?'
He continued, "With my methods, when I call something a hypothesis, it's practically a fact. I've been coming here to question the director. She's always evasive. She must know who I'm talking about.
"If it was just suspicion before, after seeing how she acted with Aubree today, I'm practically certain she's the one!"
Bowen remained unmoved. "So what? Even if it's Bree, she was a victim too back then."
'That may be true for him, but others might not be so clear-headed,' Mark thought.
Mark knew how stubborn, no, downright obsessive, Bowen could be.
He sighed and patted Bowen on the shoulder helplessly. "Even if you don't care, you have to consider Alvin. He's grown quieter and quieter since his parents passed away. Though he never said anything, we could all tell it still bothered him.
"He's had me investigating this all along. Besides tracking down the real murderer who killed his parents, he isn't about to let the person they saved off the hook either."
Alvin took out his anger on everyone connected to that incident.
Bowen frowned in contemplation. "Then we'll make sure he never finds out."
'Eliminate all risks, and there will be no danger at all,' Bowen thought coldly. 'Letting Alvin know the truth might not be wise. This kid's mind works in shadows too deep.'
"Let me know when you find the murderer. I'll deal with them myself," Bowen said as he narrowed his eyes, his gaze murderous. "I'm off to find Bree. Let's grab a drink sometime."
Mark facepalmed in resignation. 'How did I end up with friends like Bowen and Alvin?' he thought. 'I must owe them from a past life.'
Meanwhile, Aubree beamed at Ethel. "Grandma Ethel, was there something you wanted to tell me?"
Ethel looked at Aubree with mixed emotions. 'Such a wonderful girl,' she thought. 'Why does fate keep dealing her such a rough hand? She thought life would get better once she was back home, only to find herself in a den of wolves. After leaving the Wilson family, things finally started looking up, until someone new set their sights on her.'
Ethel looked at Aubree with concern. "That man's name is Mark. I'm not sure exactly who he is, but he must be a big shot. I don't know what he's investigating, but it seems to involve you."
Involving me?' Aubree thought.
"Did he say my name directly?" Aubree asked.
Ethel shook her head. "No, but from the way he was asking, I just had a feeling he was talking about you."
I've never even met Mark, and I haven't done anything illegal. Why on earth is he investigating me?' Aubree wondered.
Ethel looked hesitant, her expression troubled. "Aubree, do you not remember anything about what happened after you got taken all those years ago?"
Aubree shook her head. "I only remember being rescued, then waking up in the orphanage."
Back then, she'd hit her head and couldn't even remember her name. All she knew was that she had a home with loving parents and four doting older brothers.
It was only after the Wilson family found her that these memories began to return.
Come to think of it,' Aubree realized, 'I don't know Mark, but we do have mutual acquaintances. I heard Alvin's parents died saving someone. Was the person they saved me? What are the odds?'
Aubree quickly dismissed the thought. 'No, that's impossible!'
"It's probably just a misunderstanding," Aubree said, giving Ethel a reassuring smile. "I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm not worried about him looking into it. Oh, right, Grandma Ethel, I also wanted to ask who exactly Mr. Quinn, the one who sponsored me all those years ago, was? I want to repay his kindness."
Honestly, Ethel didn't know.
So she said, "I never kept in touch with him. I only met Mr. Quinn that time when he wanted to sponsor you. He was just a boy then, maybe fifteen or sixteen. After all these years, it's all fuzzy now."