Chapter 235: Secrets Unburied

Jasmine's POV

"Love?" I repeated, struggling to keep my voice steady. "You call kidnapping a married man, lying to him about his identity, keeping him from his family—you call that love?"

Eva's eyes flashed. "I didn't kidnap him. I found him half-dead on the shore, bleeding, broken. The authorities would have asked questions neither of us wanted answered."

"What does that mean?" Marcus demanded.

Eva's gaze shifted to him. "It means your son-in-law had a bullet wound and a Swiss ID card that wasn't his own. It doesn't take a genius to recognize someone running from the law."

I exchanged a quick glance with Marcus. Louis had been shot by Alan before falling from the cliff—we'd always known that. But a false ID? That was new information.

"Why wouldn't he want to be identified?" I asked. "His family was searching for him. We had resources, connections—"

"He didn't remember any of that," Eva cut in. "Not at first. He couldn't even tell me his name. The ID card said Aidan Wells. It seemed safer to go with that."

"And when he started to remember? When he mentioned a wife named Jasmine?" I held up the journal, the evidence of Louis's struggling memories damning her with every entry.

Eva's confidence faltered again. "I... I thought he was confused. His injuries were severe—head trauma, internal bleeding. Memory problems are common with such injuries."

"You're lying," I said flatly. "You knew exactly who he was and chose to keep him anyway. Where is he now?"

She crossed her arms defensively. "I already told you, I don't know. He became... agitated. Kept insisting he had to find his family. Then one morning, he was simply gone. Left a note saying he needed answers."

"When exactly?" Marcus pressed.

"Sixteen days ago."

I calculated quickly. That timing aligned perfectly with Alan's sudden interest in the island, his trip to New York, his disappearance in Paris.

"Did anyone else know he was here?" I asked.

Eva hesitated, her eyes darting away briefly. "Just my father. He helped arrange everything—the private doctor, the supplies, the security measures."

"And who is your father?"

"Heinrich Weiss. He owns property on the mainland."

Marcus stiffened beside me, and I knew the name meant something to him. "The arms dealer?"

Eva's chin lifted defiantly. "He's a businessman with diverse interests."

The implications were staggering. Heinrich Weiss was known in certain circles—a European magnate with shadowy connections and a reputation for ruthlessness. If he had been sheltering Louis all this time...

"Did your father know who Louis really was?" I asked.

Another hesitation. "He... had his suspicions."

"And he kept him anyway," I concluded, anger building in my chest. "Kept a man from his family, his newborn daughter, for years."

"It wasn't like that," Eva insisted. "Aidan—Louis—was free to leave at any time. Once he had recovered enough. But he stayed. He chose to stay with me."

"Because you lied to him!" I exploded, stepping toward her. "Because you made him believe he had nowhere else to go, no one else who cared about him!"

Marcus's hand on my arm restrained me gently. "Jasmine," he murmured. "Let's focus on finding Louis."

I took a shuddering breath, trying to center myself. He was right. The past—Eva's deceptions, the lost years—none of that mattered as much as finding Louis now.

"Did he say anything about where he might go?" I asked, my voice calmer. "Any clue at all?"

Eva studied me for a long moment, something like resignation settling over her features. "He mentioned New York. And a name—Mitchell. Said he needed to find out if it meant what he thought it did."

Hope surged through me like a physical force. Louis had been trying to get home, to find us.

"And you didn't try to stop him?" Marcus asked skeptically.

A bitter smile twisted Eva's lips. "I did. I told him it was too dangerous, that the man who had tried to kill him might still be looking for him." Her eyes met mine with surprising intensity. "I wasn't entirely lying about that part."

"Alan Blackwood," I said.

Eva nodded. "That's the name Louis eventually remembered. Said this man had betrayed him, tried to kill him. Louis was terrified of being found by him."

"Yet you let him leave anyway?" Marcus's tone was incredulous.

"I couldn't stop him," Eva admitted, a flash of vulnerability breaking through her composed exterior. "He'd become... determined. Said he'd rather die trying to find his family than live another day not knowing the truth."

The words pierced my heart. Even through the fog of amnesia, through years of separation and lies, Louis had fought to return to us. To me. To Grace.

"If Alan knows Louis is alive, if he's been tracking him..." Marcus began.

"Then Louis is in danger," I finished. "We need to get back to New York immediately."

Eva stepped further into the room, her posture changing subtly. "I'm coming with you," she announced.

"Absolutely not," Marcus and I said in unison.

"You don't understand," Eva insisted. "My father... he won't take Louis's departure well. He's invested a lot in keeping him hidden, protected."

"Why would your father care so much about keeping my husband isolated?" I demanded, suspicion growing.

Eva's gaze dropped for the first time. "Because of who Louis is. Or rather, who his father is."

Marcus moved closer, his expression darkening. "What are you saying?"

"My father and Richard Mitchell have history," Eva explained. "Bad history. When he realized who Louis was, he saw an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what?" I asked, though I already feared the answer.

Eva's blue eyes met mine directly. "Revenge."