Hu Lei found herself passed out on the plush rag on the floor of her living room. She felt more tired than she had after returning from the tour the previous day. She stretched her sore muscles and tried to recall the events of the night. If she could put her finger on the precise trigger, she might be able to control her blackout episodes.

But again, it was obvious that the cause was the dark dreams. How could she control her memories and dreams?

Before she had time to think further, she received a call from Chen Li. He had not only organised for the recovery of her father's remains, but he had also gotten in contact with his lawyer. She pushed her other troubles to the back of her mind, took a shower and left the house.

She rode her motorcycle to the lawyer's office instead of calling Beatrice. She felt like this was a matter that she needed to face alone.

Right after she left the building, an unremarkable man entered the building in a maintenance van. He nodded to the security personnel as they checked his credentials. He was not worried. He had valid documents to get him around the high-end apartments without drawing attention. As far as they were concerned, he was a normal IT guy.

After he stepped out of his vehicle, he went directly to the lift and stopped at Mrs Brown's home. He had been informed by the actual IT guy he had paid off that she was a foreign woman who could not figure out basic problems with her internet and computer. Moreover, she always wanted house calls instead of having the solutions explained.

The middle-aged woman welcomed him with a lot of complains about her connection and how she could not talk to her children. He chatted with her, agreeing with her as needed while he updated her computer and reset her router. The task took less than fifteen minutes. She tipped him generously in spite of his refusal.

When he left her house, he did not exit the building. He navigated the complex with ease and found the apartment that Hu Lei had left no more than an hour earlier. This was the real reason he had come to the Westend area. His client had paid a lot of money for him to put a few little bugs around the apartment.

He opened the door with his usual tools. In less than three minutes, he stepped into the house and found that it was quite a simple apartment: beautiful but not lived-in. He could also tell that the person who lived inside was conscious about security and was sensitive to changes. He had to be careful.

His eyes looked at the space, mapping out the details quickly so that he could leave it as he found it. Then, he opened his kit and placed the minute devices with care around the space, ensuring that they were concealed.

Then, he took out his laptop and tapped on the keyboard continuously, concealing his movements around the building. As far as anyone was concerned, he had only visited Mrs Brown before leaving. He smiled. Like other hackers, he had an obsession of his own. He liked espionage and breaking and entering. It gave him more of a challenge than simply working with his computer.

He packed up his gear, checked the room and left the building. It had been so easy that he felt that he did not deserve the high pay that he had gotten for the job. But again, who understood what went on in crazy women's minds?

"Ms Hu, I am sorry for your loss. Your father, he was a great man. He had the hands of a healer." A middle-aged man shook Hu Lei's hand when she entered the office.

This old man was her father's lawyer as well as the executor of his will. Hu Lei nodded slightly towards him. "Thank you. I know that he died doing what he loved."

"Do you know the circumstances of his death?" The curiosity in the man's eyes could not be concealed.

Hu Lei sighed and shook her head. "I do not know. He was doing his charity work somewhere overseas. I was also shocked to hear about his demise."

The ease with which she told the lies would have shocked those who had come to know her in the recent past. There was no hint of unnaturalness in her speech, emotion or facial expression. No one could guess that she had witnessed the death of her father.

"It is truly sad." The lawyer sighed. "As you can guess, your father bequeathed all of his belongings to you. You know that he was not a materialistic man. However, many of the people that he helped gave him a lot of property for which I was responsible."

Hu Lei nodded. She had expected as much. She signed the documents and thanked the lawyer for handling the rest. He promised to let her know once everything was finalised. Just as she was about to stand and leave, he stopped her.

"Miss Hu, your father also left a letter for you. I am not sure if it will help you because it was written quite a while ago, but it is my responsibility to hand it to you." He passed to her a brownish envelope. "I hope it will bring you comfort in this tough time.

Hu Lei thanked him once again, took the letter and left.

When she was leaving the building, she had the intention to go back to her apartment directly so that she could wait for Chen Li. However, curiosity, or perhaps it was her longing for her father's voice, got to her. She chose a bench in the garden outside the building and opened the letter.