CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SELENE’s POV

I stared at the silver bracelet inside the black box one more time. The tiny moon charm rested against the velvet lining.

Ava gave me that bracelet on my twenty-fourth birthday and I remembered vividly that I wore it the night my car went over the bridge. And now it was sitting on my office table four years after like someone wanted to remind me that Serena Vale never truly disappeared.

I stared at the note taped beneath faintly. Of course, I know the answer to that question. After the accident four years ago, I had woken up two days later in one of Leonard’s estate in the far end of the city. One that is known only to few people in the elite circle.

Then suddenly, Leonard’s security team intercepted someone attempting to access the estate servers and the access request came from Adrian’s private network.

That only means one thing: Adrian Laurent initiated my accident four years ago. And even Leonard thinks thesame before he suddenly starts thinking otherwise.

I remembered how sick that discovery made me feel at the time and that was the moment I promise myself to pay Adrian back in hundred folds for the humiliation, betrayal and dehumanizing attack he caused me.

But all of these happening in recent times doesn’t make sense to me. It feels complicated beyond reasoning.

The flowers sent through Laurent executive services, the bracelet left inside my office, the confidential Laurent footage leaking almost immediately. None of it was normal, seems like someone was connecting things intentionally.

“Should I call security?” Clara’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She stood across the office looking confused.

My eyes remained on the bracelet. “No.”

“Miss Arden—”

“I said no.”

She went quiet immediately.

I picked up the note beneath the bracelet again.

THIS TIME, ASK YOURSELF WHY YOUR BODY WAS NEVER FOUND.

The words irritated me more than they frightened me because whoever sent this clearly wanted a reaction and I hated giving people that satisfaction.

I closed the box slowly before finally looking up at Clara. “Who entered this office today?”

“Nobody unauthorized.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

She looked nervous already. “Executives, assistants, the Milan investors earlier and cleaning staff before noon.”

I nodded once as I leaned toward the desk. No one unusual and it somehow worsen the situation.

I took the note and walked toward the windows overlooking the city below. The entire financial district looked alive beneath the afternoon sun while people somewhere downstairs kept discussing stock prices and acquisitions.

Meanwhile someone was leaving pieces of Serena Vale around me like breadcrumbs.

I stared at my reflection faintly through the glass. Selene Arden, face carefully rebuilt by experienced surgeons. And somehow, pieces of my old life still kept finding me.

Because this wasn’t random intimidation, whoever sent it knew details from my old life and details connected directly to Serena.

“Get rid of the flowers downstairs,” I said again.

“They already have.”

“Good.” I said calmly.

My fingers pressed lightly against the glass. Suddenly another memory fragment resurfaced in my brain.

Rain hitting the windshield violently. My bracelet sliding down my wrist while I gripped the steering wheel. Adrian calling my phone.

The memory suddenly disappeared before I could hold onto it properly.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Sometimes it felt like my brain only released fragments when it wanted to torture me.

“You have another meeting in forty minutes,” Clara reminded quietly behind me.

******************************************************

By evening, Laurent Group was trending across every financial platform.

Business blogs kept reposting the archive breach while financial analysts debated whether Adrian Laurent was losing control of his company internally. Some investors defended Laurent Group publicly while others quietly began pulling back.

I sat alone inside my office watching the headlines scroll across the screen of my tablet.

LAURENT GROUP SECURITY FAILURE RAISES INVESTOR CONCERNS.

CONFIDENTIAL ARCHIVE BREACH SHAKES FINANCIAL DISTRICT.

ARDEN CORPORATION CONTINUES AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION.

A faint smile touched my lips at the last headline. At least a bit of today was still going according to plan.

Clara walked into the office carrying another stack of reports. “Singapore approved the transfer structure,” she stopped abruptly before she continued. “And Valencia postponed Laurent negotiations again.”

I nodded once without looking up.

Every delay weakened Adrian’s position a little more. And that is exactly what I wanted.

She placed another file in front of me. “You also received interview requests from Bloomberg, Forbes and—”

“Decline them.”

“All of them?” She asked in surprise.

I casted her a knowing glance, she gave a small nod before she hurried out. I leaned back into my chair after she left the office.

My phone buzzed softly against the desk, the caller was Leonard. I answered immediately.

“You picked a good day to call.” I said dryly.

“I think you may need someone to talk to,” he said from the other end of the phone, ignoring my sarcasm.

I stood from my chair and walked toward the windows overlooking the city again. That spot has been therapeutic to me, my feet always took me there when my mind is burdened. Rain that started about thirty minutes ago dragged slowly against the glass outside. I guess I’ve been deeply connected to the rain lately.

“The Laurent breach leaked publicly,” I said. “And someone keeps creating connections between Adrian and me.”

Leonard stayed quiet for a second before asking. “You think Adrian is responsible.”

“I think too many strange things keep leading back to him.”

“That isn’t the same thing,” he argued.

I folded one arm beneath the other. “Years ago, someone tried accessing your servers through Adrian’s private network.”

“Yes.”

“One minute you thought he was guilty and the next you think he’s innocent.” I argued further.

“I think emotional people notice evidence selectively.”

“You’re avoiding the question.” I snapped.

“No,” Leonard replied evenly. “I’m reminding you that suspicion is not proof.”

“You sound very sure for someone who refuses to explain anything for the past four years.”

I can hear Leonard exhale deeply through the line. “Adrian Laurent is many things. He may be careless emotionally, blind with ambition to see people’s sacrifice. But calculated murder?” He paused briefly. “That doesn’t fit him.”

My grip tightened slightly around the phone as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Then why was his network connected to your servers?”

“Because someone wanted access to my systems while making sure Adrian Laurent could be traced back to it.”

Suddenly, a question popped in my head. If Adrian didn’t orchestrate the accident, then who actually did?

“Who benefited more from all this?” I asked again.

“That,” Leonard replied calmly, “is finally the correct question.”

The line became quiet for a second before he continued. “That should be the next mystery to unravel but be careful and stay vigilant.”

Then the call ended at his end.

I lowered the phone slowly and looked back toward the city.

Some days I felt completely removed from Serena Vale. Other days, it felt like she was still standing somewhere inside me waiting for answers.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

Clara stepped back into the office. “Your car is ready.”

I checked the time, it’s almost nine. I picked up my bag and headed out of the office.

“Cancel tomorrow morning’s media appearances too.” I said as I walked out.

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

She nodded once.

By the time I got outside the building, the rain had reduced to a light drizzle across downtown streets. My Aston Martin waited near the private entrance while security teams stood nearby.

The drive home stayed quiet, my mind kept drifting back to Leonard’s words.

Maybe I was connecting emotions to evidence, but how was I supposed not to? The last weeks before the accident were messy.

Adrian became more distant and emotionally unavailable, always buried in his private phone. And to make matters worst, he lied about traveling for work, when he was actually with Celeste, discussing my divorce like I never mattered to him.

Then suddenly my car went over a bridge and everybody moved on with their lives while my body disappeared into the ocean. None of that felt easy to forget.

My phone buzzed once against the seat beside me, I checked and it was a business notification forwarded from Clara.

I stared at the headline briefly before locking the screen again.

Adrian must be under pressure now. A strange part of me wondered how he looked while handling all this—probably still calm and confident.

That used to irritate me during our marriage too. Adrian walked through chaos looking composed while I struggled around him emotionally.

I looked away from the phone, that version of my life was over.

The car finally pulled into the underground entrance beneath my building.

Marcus stepped out first while security opened the private access gates.

I entered the penthouse upstairs already drained from the day. The entire place was quiet except for soft jazz playing somewhere through the built-in speakers.

I slipped off my heels near the living area and poured myself a glass of wine before walking toward the balcony windows. The city lights that stretched below looked beautiful from a distance.

My eyes drifted toward the dining counter where today’s reports still sat untouched and I somehow walked toward it. Getting nearer, I saw a folder neatly placed on the dining table with just my name written across it. SELENE ARDEN.

I opened it hurriedly, and just one page inside…