Chapter Twenty-Six

KEAGAN'S POV~

"...And with the shareholders potentially manipulating sales in two months, I think we should vote them out. Alpha Keagan, are you there?"

My eyes snapped to my Beta, who stood in front of the meeting hall, staring at me as everyone's gaze followed.

 I straightened my shoulders and slid on a haughtily annoyed mask. "What?"

"Sir, I was asking your thoughts on the vote," Hector said and I bit back a curse.

I hadn't been listening since the meeting began and had no clue what my Beta was discussing with the board members. Distracted by thoughts occupying my head, I couldn't even pay attention.

Slowly, I rose to my feet and sighed tiredly. "Continue the meeting without me." That said, I left the room.

My head was muddled, making it impossible to think straight. It was so bizarre how that strange rude and equally infuriating Alpha easily grabbed every single space in my head.

Sylvia Reynolds.

I had avoided women ever since Jessica's death and couldn't imagine having a relationship with anyone, despite my strained relationship with Emma.

But this strange resuscitated my long-lost emotions and it fucking terrified me. Jessica had been the only one to successfully pull my heartstrings, no one else.

At the thought of Jessica, my heart gave a painful tug as the world blurred away. Clenching my fists in my pockets, I kept my head straight, marching back to my office.

As soon as the oak door slammed behind me, I slumped in my large chair, an uncomfortable tingling spreading through my chest. I should be mourning Jessica, yet here I was, longing for a strange woman.

My conscience was sharply pricked. For years, I had been an asshole, cheating on Jessica. But after the death of the woman who made me feel more than I could ever admit, followed by the birth of my two wonderful children, I had yearned to become a better man and a role model for them. Maybe I was crazy, but I saw Jessica in my children, more than i ever did Emma who was their actual mother. Especially my little Wilhelmina. Looking at her face sometimes sent my heart into painful spasms. It wasn't that she was the spitting image of Jessica, In fact i dare say she looked like nothing like her, but her rare genuine smiles... Goddess, it brought me to my knees every single time.

My heart clenched as my gaze fell upon my drawer, my hands itching to pull it open—and I did.

I pulled a picture from the drawer, my breath catching as I stared at it. There she was—Jessica.

Icing was smeared across her face and hair, and she had a cute glare in her fiery eyes, directed at me. I had taken this photo on her birthday during our one-year anniversary.

I will never forget this day because it was the beginning of the end.

I took several pictures of her disheveled state, but this one was the best, and it was so adorable. 

My eyes stung as I gently stroked the picture. Fuck! I sniffled, inhaled sharply, and violently threw the picture back into the drawer before slamming it shut. I angrily left my chair and moved to the window for some fresh air to clear my head.

Yet again, Sylvia's smug smirk played out behind my lids. A groan rumbled at the back of my throat and I place my head on the large window screen, screwing my eyes shut. GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

What was so special about Sylvia? Why did I want her? Why the fuck does she smell so much like Jessica? 

Did Jessica have a sister I didn't know about? What the hell was going on?

I knew I was slowly going insane, but I didn't realize it had gone this far.

A sharp knock on the door jerked me upright.

"Come in," I grunted, turning to face who entered my office.

Hector's lips were pursed and I could see the questions swimming in his gaze but remained silent. He had three white files in his hands, which he placed on my desk before taking a seat in front of me.

"They're good," he muttered under his breath, but I heard it.

I raised a brow before moving toward my desk and picking up the files. "Who are they?" I asked, settling into my chair.

"I've spent weeks digging through every possible record and database, but it's as if she appeared out of thin air eight years ago." Hector said, wiping away the sweat dripping from his face with his thumb. "There's the usual media coverage about her rise in the entertainment industry since she was 18, but beyond that, there's nothing. No past records, no digital footprint, no personal dating history. Nothing! It's like she crafted a new identity for herself the moment she re-entered into the limelight."

Hmm. "That's very unusual," I murmured. "No previous employment details?"

"Nothing up until eight years ago! I saw she signed with some modeling company that brought her into limelight when she was a teenager but the company doesn't even exist anymore. My researched showed that Sylvia was a flash in the pan celebrity. Then suddenly she returned and became more popular than ever."

The rest of Hector's words drifted into the background as i flipped through the paperwork. Weeks had passed since my agreement and deal with Sylvia. And I'd wanted to know everything about her, so I instructed my Beta to do thorough research on her, no matter the cost, and deliver the findings to me.

"Let me spare you the trouble of reading everything, Alpha," Hector said, though I didn't look away from the paperwork. "We couldn't find much information beyond this, and the three investigators all said the same thing—and they're the best, before you question their abilities." That finally made me look up.

"What do you mean?" I snapped at him.

Hector sighed. "Can you tell me why you're thirsting for information on this woman?"

Irritation sliced through me. "I gave you a simple fucking task! Why couldn't you fulfill it instead of asking me bullshit questions?!" I barked and Hector's jaw tightened.

"I did find it, Alpha, but it's not enough. If you read what's written there, you'll see that the information includes her background and when she started her career, but nothing more," Hector explained, and my shoulders slumped.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I felt my hope slipping away, and I couldn't accept it. Frantically, I began flipping through the pages, only to find them filled with young images of Sylvia, detailing how she started her modeling career and information about her parents, just as Hector had mentioned.

"Fuck!" My fists slammed down on the table with force, and the objects on it clattered, trembling from the impact.

"But there's something very odd about this model, Alpha," Hector said, drawing my gaze back to him. "I distinctly remember hearing that this particular model committed suicide eight years ago after an unfortunate incident, but now, the blogs had been deleted. Usually, it's not rare for blogs to make posts about celebrities fake death but taking the lack of electronic trail into consideration, it's all very suspicious."

My body went still with shock as I processed Hector's words. I leaned back in the chair, staring speechlessly at him.

"Very good," was all I could say after several moments of silence.

I picked up my cell phone and started scrolling through my contact list, searching for a particular number while Hector watched me in silence.

Once I found the number, I clicked dial.

A voice filtered through after the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"It's me," I said, gripping the phone tightly as I leaned forward, my stomach in knots. "Send me your account details and get this done. I have someone I want you to investigate. Every single detail about her, hidden and public. I want to know everything." I repeated, "Name your price, but I want it in two days."

The person on the phone replied a "yes," and I hung up. I quickly took a photo of Sylvia's recent pictures and sent them to the number before letting out a breath. It was then that I realized Hector hadn't taken his eyes off me.

"What?" I asked, raising a brow with an irritated expression.

"What's going on?" he asked, and I sighed.

Although Hector was my Beta, he was also my good friend, and I rarely kept secrets from him. But this time, I thought it was better to keep it hidden. Besides, I wasn't sure how he would react if I told him I was attracted to Sylvia; he might call me a scumbag or a man whore, and I knew I wouldn't stay calm if he did.

"It's nothing for now. I'll tell you later," I said, slowly gathering my things.

"Are you leaving now, Alpha?" Hector asked, and I nodded in response.

"I'll be right back; cover for me. I need to get the kids some chocolates. Wilhemina scored highest in her class." A brief smile tugged at my lips when I remembered how excited she'd been yesterday. "Take notes from the meeting."

Hector nodded with a soft smile of his own.

Recently, I'd been personally buying things for my kids, feeling that I wasn't doing enough as a father and wanting to do everything possible to make them happy.

They already had a strained relationship with their mother, so I'd tried to fill the gaps within my capacity. I personally did their shopping, often arranged their favorite meals just how they liked, and took them to school whenever I wasn't late for work.

Mina, as I call my twin girl, wanted a box of chocolates, and her brother wanted some mints. I couldn't trust anyone to give them these treats, not even Emma, who might deny them, so I decided to buy them myself.

As I drove down the busy road, I stopped to let an old lady cross the street. Once they were safely on the other side and I was ready to continue, I caught sight of a familiar figure walking past my car, heading toward the opposite side of the road.

It was Sylvia. I could recognize her anywhere, and it was strange that I could. She had a shawl covering her face, sunglasses perched high on her perfect nose. Flanking her on both sides were two hefty men—one might assume they were friends, perhaps her brothers, but I could tell they were her bodyguards by their movements and how their eyes scanned the surroundings with sharp alertness.

I reversed and slowly started trailing their car as Sylvia climbed into a taxi, followed by the two men.

Keeping a decent pace, I ensured they didn't leave my sight. When the taxi finally stopped, I realized that the place they were entering was a cemetery.

My next breath seized in my lungs when I watched Sylvia return to the car to collect red roses, and when I looked up at the tall tombstone she was heading towards, I found it oddly familiar. Then it hit me—it belonged to Isabella, Jessica's deceased mother.

I had no idea how my hands moved but suddenly a loud honk echoed out of my car, drawing their attention to me immediately.

I froze. 

Shit!