Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle-Chapter 153: The Girl at the Small Desk

The study remained quiet after Arianne opened the door. Sunlight entered through the tall window overlooking the back garden, drifting slowly across the polished wooden floor. Dust moved through the beam of light in soft currents, the particles rising and falling whenever someone shifted their position inside the room.

For a moment no one spoke. The space had the same stillness as the rest of the house, but the study carried something else as well. The air smelled faintly of paper and leather, the scent of books that had remained undisturbed for years.

Arianne stepped inside first. Her movements were steady, as if she had already decided exactly what needed to be done.

Franz paused briefly near the doorway before following.

The study was larger than he had expected. Tall bookshelves lined two walls, filled with binders and documents arranged with precise order. The spines were carefully labeled with years and subject headings in neat handwriting. Near the far side of the room, a heavy wooden desk stood beside the window. The desk faced the garden. Behind it sat a leather chair whose arms had worn slightly with use.

Franz glanced slowly around the room. Nothing appeared out of place. Even after two decades, the room looked as though its owner had simply stepped away and might return at any moment.

Gio walked toward the desk while checking the list on his tablet. "The property manager said the land records should be somewhere in here."

Arianne nodded. "My father kept most of the property documents in this room."

Franz’s gaze shifted toward the shelves again. Gabriel Summers. The study felt unmistakably like the working space of someone methodical. Folders were arranged by category. The binders followed a chronological order. Even the books on the shelves had been placed with careful symmetry.

Leo wandered toward the shelves on the left side of the room and studied them quietly. After a few seconds he typed something on his tablet and held it up toward Franz. Many papers.

Franz nodded. "That’s usually what studies are for, little man."

Leo looked back at the shelves with thoughtful seriousness.

Nearby, Lily had already moved toward the far corner of the room. "This chair is big," she said, pushing gently against the back of the leather seat. The chair barely moved.

Gio opened one of the drawers in the desk and began checking through the folders inside. The drawer slid smoothly, revealing several stacks of carefully arranged documents.

Franz stepped farther into the room. A framed photograph on the desk caught his attention. He picked it up.

The image showed Gabriel Summers standing beside a younger Arianne in what appeared to be a school courtyard. Gabriel wore a dark coat, one hand resting lightly on Arianne’s shoulder. Even in the photograph, the resemblance between them was unmistakable. Arianne stood with the same straight posture, her shoulders steady and her expression calm, suggesting discipline beyond her age.

Franz studied the photograph for a moment. The resemblance between father and daughter went beyond appearance. The way she carried herself. The way she held her head. It was all there.

He set the frame back down gently.

Across the room, Lily crouched beside a smaller desk positioned near the shelves. "This one is little," she said.

Leo walked over beside her. The desk was noticeably lower than the one near the window. Its surface was worn in places, as if someone had spent many hours working there.

Lily pulled open the top drawer. Inside were several stacks of paper. "These look like school things."

Leo leaned closer to examine them. He typed something and turned the tablet toward Franz. Homework.

Franz walked over and glanced inside the drawer. The papers were neatly stacked. On top lay several worksheets filled with rows of numbers. Mathematics problems. Fractions, equations, geometry diagrams carefully drawn with ruler lines. The handwriting across the pages was small and precise. Every number sat exactly within the lines of the page. Even the margins were straight.

Franz lifted one of the worksheets. The problems had been solved correctly. Several corrections in red pencil marked the page. He glanced toward Arianne.

"That was your desk."

Arianne stood near the shelves reviewing one of the binders Gio had removed. "Yes."

Lily held up one of the worksheets. "Uncle, there are so many numbers."

Leo typed again. Math practice.

Franz nodded. "That’s right."

He placed the worksheet back in the drawer. Beneath the stack of math papers were several notebooks. Each one labeled with dates. Carefully written schedules filled the pages. Study hours. Practice times. Reading lists. The structure of the schedules was almost identical from week to week.

Franz closed the notebook slowly. "You were organized."

Arianne glanced briefly toward the desk. "My father believed discipline with time was important."

Leo typed something else. He held the tablet toward Franz. Like Aunt Aria now.

Lily leaned closer to read the message.

"That’s true," she said brightly. "You’re the same."

Arianne did not respond. But Franz noticed her pause before she turned back toward the shelves.

Lily continued exploring the desk drawers. After a moment she pulled out another stack of papers. "These are songs."

The sheets were filled with printed musical notation. Piano scores. Across the margins were handwritten markings. Small notes in pencil. Finger placements. Tempo adjustments. Practice annotations.

Franz examined one of the sheets. "You wrote these?"

Arianne stepped closer and glanced at the page.

"No." She pointed to one of the annotations. "My mother did."

Franz studied the markings again. "They’re detailed."

"Yes."

Arianne returned the sheet to the stack. "She liked listening when I practiced."

The explanation was simple. But Franz understood the rest. The piano in the living room. The untouched keys. Arianne had stopped playing when Ysabella died.

Lily carefully placed the music sheets back in the drawer.

Leo looked around the room again. After several seconds he typed something else. He turned the tablet toward Franz. Organized house.

Franz nodded. "Yes."

Leo typed again almost immediately. Like Aunt Aria.

Arianne remained focused on the shelves.

Gio’s voice came from near the far wall. "I think I found the cabinet."

Everyone turned toward him. He had opened a tall wooden storage unit built into the wall beside the bookshelves. Inside were several large document boxes. Each box carried handwritten labels. Years. Property titles. Legal references.

Gio pulled one of the boxes out and set it on the desk. "This looks like the registry files."

Arianne walked over. She lifted the lid of the box. Inside were several thick envelopes tied together with old ribbon. Each envelope contained folded documents. The paper had yellowed slightly with age, but the seals remained intact.

Gio leaned over the desk and began scanning the labels. "These are land boundary records." He flipped through several of the pages. "Original copies."

Franz stepped closer to look. The documents contained detailed maps and handwritten legal descriptions of the property lines surrounding the estate.

Gio compared one of the pages with the notes on his tablet. "This matches the property manager’s request." He looked up. "These should resolve the registry issue."

Arianne nodded. "Good."

Gio continued examining the documents.

"Although there is something else here." He spread one of the pages across the desk. The map showed several adjacent properties connected through older boundary agreements.

"These clauses explain the complication," Gio said. "The land rights are tied to neighboring estates."

Franz studied the map. "So if one property changes ownership—"

"It affects the others," Gio finished. He tapped one section of the document. "And several of these neighboring properties have been purchased recently."

"Developers," Franz said.

Gio nodded. "Most likely."

Arianne considered the document quietly. "So the sale can’t proceed yet."

"Not until the registry review is complete." Gio gathered the envelopes back into the box. "This will take some time."

Arianne accepted the information without visible reaction. "Then we’ll wait."

Leo typed something else. He turned the tablet toward Franz. Investigation finished.

Franz smiled slightly. "Looks that way."

Lily stood and stretched her arms. "Are we done now?"

"Almost," Gio said. He placed the documents carefully back into the storage box.

The room grew quiet again as everyone began preparing to leave. Franz glanced around the study one last time. The desk. The shelves. The smaller study desk where Arianne had once spent hours solving equations and practicing piano pieces. The room had preserved an entire life without changing.

Across the room, Arianne stood beside the window reviewing one final document. Her posture remained calm. Steady. Composed. But now Franz could see the traces of the girl who had once sat at that smaller desk, solving math problems and practicing piano while her parents watched.

The study door remained open behind them. Beyond the hallway, the piano in the living room waited quietly where it had been left years ago.