Chapter 107 The Woman Who Shouldn’t Exist
Chapter 107 The Woman Who Shouldn’t Exist
The atmosphere in the room felt silent.
—
The investigator stared at the file.
Then he glanced at Adrian.
Then back at the file again.
As if revisiting it might somehow make it less impossible.
—
But it didn’t.
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If Elena is truly dead, who visited Victor three weeks ago?
—
That question lingered in the air like a phantom.
—
Adrian felt his heartbeat hammering in his chest.
Everything else faded away.
The hospital room.
The sunlight.
The discomfort in his shoulder.
—
All of it vanished.
—
Because if Charles's information was accurate,
Then Elena Carter wasn't dead.
—
And if she wasn't dead,
Then someone had been deceiving everyone for decades.
—
Lila was the first to regain her composure.
“Where did this note come from?”
—
The investigator flipped through the file.
“Charles gave it to us yesterday.”
—
Zoe frowned.
“Why didn’t he mention something this important earlier?”
—
The investigator’s expression darkened.
“Because he wasn’t sure of it's validity.”
A pause.
“He only confirmed the visit recently.”
—
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
—
Recently.
—
Implying that Charles had been looking into this even while plotting his revenge.
—
Indicating there were parts of his war that has nothing to do with KingTech.
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And everything to do with Elena.
—
The investigator continued.
“Charles apparently found unusual visitor logs connected to Victor.”
—
Another document was placed on the bed.
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Security records.
Private meetings.
Restricted access logs.
—
One name kept appearing.
—
Not Elena Carter.
—
Just a letter.
—
E.
—
Mrs. King’s face drained of color.
—
“Oh, God.”
—
Everyone turned to look at her immediately.
—
She covered her mouth.
Tears welled up in her eyes once more.
—
“You knew.”
Adrian’s voice was barely above a whisper.
—
His mother shut her eyes.
—
For several seconds,
It seemed she would not respond.
—
Then finally,
“Not for certain.”
—
The room held its breath.
—
“But I suspected.”
—
Adrian stared at her.
—
"What does that mean?”
—
Mrs. King suddenly looked two decades older.
—
“It means your father never stopped seeing her.”
—
The weight of those words hit hard.
—
Because that implied something unthinkable.
—
Victor hadn’t just hidden Elena once.
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He had kept in touch for decades.
—
The investigator looked disturbed now.
—
“Why would he keep that a secret all these years?”
—
No one had an answer.
—
Because there were too many possibilities.
—
Love.
Guilt.
Obsession.
Fear.
—
Or something worse.
—
Zoe glanced carefully at Adrian.
—
He hadn’t spoken for nearly a minute.
—
His expression had grown eerily calm.
—
The same look he wore when he was trying desperately to suppress his feelings.
—
And right now,
He must have been feeling something immense.
—
“Adrian.”
—
He turned to her.
—
And for a brief second,
His pain slipped through.
—
“My entire life…”
He chuckled softly.
Humorlessly.
—
“…every time I think I’ve reached the end of this story, there’s another layer beneath.”
—
No one could argue with him.
—
Because this was no ordinary secret.
—
This was the secret.
—
The one that existed prior to KingTech.
Before Daniel’s downfall.
Before Charles’s revenge.
—
The first crack.
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The original betrayal.
—
Suddenly, the investigator received a message on his phone.
—
His eyes widened immediately.
—
“What?” Lila asked.
—
He looked up.
—
“We found the visitor footage.”
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Everyone froze.
—
“What footage?” Adrian asked.
—
“The meeting from three weeks ago.”
—
The room exploded into action immediately.
—
Lila moved in closer.
Zoe stood up.
Mrs. King looked terrified.
—
The investigator opened a secure tablet.
—
A grainy security video emerged.
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Victor’s private estate.
Late evening.
—
The timestamp matched precisely.
Three weeks earlier.
—
The footage displayed a black vehicle pulling into the estate.
—
A woman stepped out of the vehicle.
—
The image wasn't clear.
—
The camera quality was poor.
—
But everyone could tell she was older.
Probably in her fifties.
Or maybe early sixties.
—
She wore a hat.
Large sunglasses.
A long coat.
—
Her face was partially obscured.
—
The footage continued.
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The woman walked into the estate.
—
Then disappeared inside.
—
The recording jumped ahead.
Two hours later.
—
She stepped out again.
—
And just before getting into her vehicle,
She turned slightly toward the security camera.
—
Only for a second.
—
But it was enough.
—
The investigator paused the frame.
—
Everyone in the room stared.
—
Nobody spoke.
—
Because even through the poor quality,
The resemblance was unmistakable.
—
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same face from the old photograph.
—
Elena Carter.
—
Alive.
—
Zoe slowly sank back into her seat.
—
Lila appeared genuinely shocked.
—
Even the investigator looked shaken.
—
But Adrian’s mother,
—
His mother broke completely.
—
She began to cry quietly.
Unable to stop.
—
Because after all these years,
The ghost had become flesh and blood.
—
The investigator finally cleared his throat.
—
“There’s more .”
—
Everyone looked up.
—
He opened another file recovered from Charles’s evidence archives.
—
A transcript.
—
Partial.
Damaged.
—
Recorded during Elena’s last known meeting with Victor.
—
The conversation wasn’t complete.
—
Most of it was corrupted.
—
But one segment remained intact.
—
Victor’s voice:
“He can never know.”
—
A woman’s voice responded.
Soft.
Older.
Trembling slightly.
—
“He deserves the truth.”
—
Victor:
“The truth will destroy everything.”
—
Then Elena’s voice again.
—
The final surviving sentence.
—
The sentence that made Adrian’s blood run cold.
—
“He’s our son, Victor.”
—
The recording ended.
—
Silence swallowed the room whole.
—
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
—
Because suddenly,
There was only one question left.
—
And it was on everyone’s mind.
—
Who was she talking about?