Chapter 30 Entangled

• Taking a break from my computer screen, I decided to take a walk through Lachlan's private garden. As I wandered through the lush expanse of trees, bushes and vines, an inexplicable pull guided my steps. The air was thick with the heady aroma of jasmine and the distant sound of the ocean which should have been a balm to my soul, but my mind was stayed clouded with anxiety. Cat's last email replayed over and over in my mind like a sinister song, highlighting the shadows in Lachlan's past that seemed to loom over me.
• Then, I saw it: a grand oak tree, its gnarled branches stretching skyward, beckoning me closer. I didn't understand what it was doing here on a desert island. And more than that, how did Cat tell me to meet her at an oak tree just yesterday and here was an oak tree. What the fuck was this?
• While brushing against the coarse bark, a glint caught my eye, revealing a shimmer beneath the thick carpet of leaves. My breath hitched as I sunk to my knees, fingers trembling as I dug into the earth. There, partially buried, lay a delicate piece of jewelry: a locket, ornate and embellished with intricate details. Instantly, I recognized it from the photograph Lachlan had shown me—the one of his estranged, missing wife, Julia, her haunting beauty frozen in time.