Chapter 106 The Secret Buried First
Chapter 106 The Secret Buried First
Silence enveloped the room.
\---
The marriage certificate rested on the hospital bed like a live grenade.
\---
Married.
\---
Just four months after her alleged disappearance.
\---
Adrian stared at the document.
Then shifted his gaze to his mother.
Then back to the marriage certificate.
\---
It all felt incomprehensible.
\---
"That can’t be true."
The words slipped from him automatically.
\---
His mother averted her gaze.
\---
And somehow,
That hurt more than any answer could have.
\---
"Mom."
His voice was quieter now, tinged with danger.
\---
"Tell me this isn't true."
\---
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
\---
But she didn't deny it.
\---
The quiet spoke volumes.
\---
Zoe slowly settled down.
Trying to make sense of it all.
\---
"So Victor married the woman who was engaged to Daniel Madison?"
\---
The investigator grimly nodded.
\---
"According to the records, yes."
\---
Lila folded her arms tightly.
\---
"It's no wonder Charles was fixated on uncovering the past."
\---
Because suddenly,
This wasn’t just about a company.
Or financial gain.
Or revenge.
\---
It was about betrayal.
\---
The first betrayal.
\---
The one that set everything in motion.
\---
Adrian's mother finally found her voice.
\---
"You don't grasp it."
\---
Her voice sounded broken.
Worn.
As though she’d been carrying these words for years.
\---
"Then help us understand," Adrian urged.
\---
She shut her eyes.
\---
And when she opened them again,
She looked defeated.
\---
"Elena didn’t leave Daniel of her own accord."
\---
The room froze.
\---
The investigator immediately looked up.
\---
"What?"
\---
Mrs. King swallowed hard.
\---
"Victor was already in love with her."
\---
A brief silence followed.
\---
"And Elena..."
Her voice cracked.
"...wasn't."
\---
No one moved.
\---
No one interrupted.
\---
Because every instinct screamed that what came next was important.
\---
"Victor and Daniel were friends before they became rivals."
\---
Another pause.
\---
"They built things together."
\---
Adrian thought of the photograph.
Victor.
Daniel.
Elena.
Standing beneath the observatory telescope.
Smiling.
\---
Before everything fell apart.
\---
"Daniel proposed first," Mrs. King continued.
\---
"And Elena accepted."
\---
The investigator began jotting down notes quickly.
\---
"But Victor couldn’t let it go."
\---
A dreadful feeling settled in Adrian’s gut.
\---
Because he understood his father.
\---
Obsessive.
Strategic.
Patient.
\---
The type of man who rarely accepted defeat.
\---
Even personally.
\---
"What happened?" Zoe asked softly.
\---
Mrs. King gazed out the window.
Toward the sunlight.
Toward somewhere twenty years in the past.
\---
"There was an accident."
\---
The room fell quiet.
\---
"An accident?" Adrian echoed.
\---
She nodded slowly.
\---
"Elena's car went off a bridge during a storm."
\---
Lila's expression instantly changed.
\---
"But she survived."
\---
"Yes."
\---
Another pause.
\---
"She lost part of her memory."
\---
Shock rippled through the room.
\---
The investigator's eyes widened.
\---
"You're saying she suffered amnesia?"
\---
Mrs. King nodded.
\---
The room suddenly felt colder.
\---
Because everyone shared the same concern.
\---
If Elena couldn't remember,
Then what happened afterward?
\---
Mrs. King finally looked at Adrian.
And the guilt in her eyes was devastating.
\---
"Victor found her before anyone else did."
\---
Silence.
\---
Complete silence.
\---
"No..."
Adrian whispered.
\---
His mother began to cry again.
\---
"He told everyone she was dead."
\---
The revelation struck like a bombshell.
\---
Zoe covered her mouth.
Lila went completely still.
\---
Even the investigator appeared astounded.
\---
"Victor hid her?" he asked.
\---
Mrs. King nodded.
\---
"For months."
\---
No one could believe what they were hearing.
\---
Months.
\---
Daniel searched.
Mourned.
Fell apart.
\---
While Elena was alive.
\--
Somewhere with Victor.
\---
The investigator's expression hardened instantly.
\---
"Did Elena eventually regain her memory?"
\---
Mrs. King's gaze fell.
\---
"Yes."
\---
Adrian's heart raced.
\---
"Then why didn't she go back?"
\---
The reply took several seconds.
\---
When it finally came,
It shattered what little certainty remained.
\---
"Because by then..."
His mother murmured.
"...she was pregnant."
\---
The room stopped.
\---
Completely.
\---
No one breathed.
\---
No one moved.
\---
Pregnant.
\---
Victor.
Elena.
\---
Pregnant.
\---
The investigator slowly lowered his notes.
\---
Lila appeared to have forgotten how to blink.
\---
And Adrian,
Adrian felt the ground fall away beneath him.
\---
Because suddenly,
He grasped why Charles sent the photograph.
\---
Why Charles wanted him to see this.
\---
Why Charles believed the past wasn't unfinished.
\---
There was still one question nobody had asked.
\---
One question hanging over the entire room.
\---
Zoe was the first to finally say it.
\---
"Where is Elena now?"
\---
The room fell silent again.
\---
Mrs. King's face went pale.
\---
The investigator slowly opened another file.
\---
And what he saw made him freeze.
\---
"That's impossible."
\---
Adrian's heart raced.
\---
"What?"
\---
The investigator met his gaze.
\---
Then turned the file around slowly.
\---
At the top of the page were five words.
\---
ELENA CARTER— CURRENT STATUS UNKNOWN
\---
Beneath this was a note retrieved from Charles's evidence archive.
\---
A handwritten note.
\---
"If Elena is dead, who visited Victor three weeks ago?"
\---
And in that moment,
Everyone realized the secret wasn't twenty years old.
\---
It was still very much alive.