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Chapter 48 – The Photograph
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2026-07-21 23:52:27
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.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 48 – The Photograph
Ariana’s POVThe photograph trembled in Gabriel’s hand.No.It wasn’t the photograph.It was me.Every muscle in my body locked as I stared at the woman smiling back at me. Her eyes were unmistakable. The same almond shape. The same stubborn warmth. The same tiny mole beneath her left eye that I’d seen every morning in my own reflection.My mother.Alive.Or at least…Alive when that picture had been taken.“No…” My voice barely escaped my lips. “You’re lying.”Gabriel didn’t argue.He simply held the picture a little higher.“You’ve spent your life believing she died beneath this facility.”He paused.“She didn’t.”My heartbeat hammered in my ears.Seventeen years.Seventeen years of grief…For someone who might never have been dead.“Ariana.”Damien’s voice broke through the storm in my head.“Don’t let him pull you in.”I looked at him.His face was streaked with soot. Blood ran from the cut above his eyebrow, disappearing beneath the collar of his shirt. Even injured, even exhaust
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 47 – Home Is a Lie
Ariana’s POVBefore Gabriel could lower his hand—Noah attacked.He shot across the tunnel like a missile, his fist cutting through the smoke.“NOAH!” Evelyn shouted.Too late.Gabriel didn’t flinch.He simply took one step to the side.Noah’s punch missed.The force behind it shattered the concrete wall instead.A deafening crack echoed through the tunnel.Dust exploded into the air.Christopher stared.“…He just dodged Noah.”Gabriel brushed a speck of dust off his sleeve.“I expected better.”Noah growled and swung again.This time Gabriel caught his wrist.With one hand.No strain.No effort.Noah’s eyes widened.“What… are you?”Gabriel smiled.“The man who came to finish this.”He twisted.Noah was thrown through the air like a rag doll.He crashed into a steel support beam hard enough to bend it.“NOAH!”Evelyn ran toward him.The tunnel erupted.“Take him!” Gabriel ordered.The Cleaners moved as one.Blue energy shields unfolded with a metallic hiss.Alina fired immediately.B
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 46: The Girl in White
Ariana’s POVNobody moved.The little girl couldn’t have been more than eight years old.She stood in the center of the tunnel as though she’d been waiting for us all along.Her white hospital gown was spotless despite the dust and destruction surrounding her.Her bare feet rested on the cold concrete.Most unsettling of all were her eyes.They glowed silver.Brighter than mine.Brighter than Noah’s.Brighter than Ethan’s.The light within them didn’t flicker.It burned with quiet certainty.Christopher leaned toward Alina and whispered, “Please tell me someone recognizes the creepy glowing child.”Alina never took her eyes off the girl.“No.”Christopher sighed.“I was afraid you’d say that.”The girl’s smile widened slightly.“You’ve gotten taller, Ariana.”A shiver ran down my spine.“I don’t know you.”“No.”Her voice was gentle.“You don’t remember me.”Those words again.Don’t remember.Everyone seemed to know pieces of my past except me.I was growing tired of it.Evelyn sudden
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 45: One Crazy Escape
Ariana’s POV“No!”The word ripped from my throat as I dropped beside Damien.The steel beam pinning him to the ground looked impossibly heavy.Blood stained the front of his shirt.His breathing was uneven.Yet somehow…He was still looking at me instead of himself.“You okay?” he whispered.I stared at him.“You are literally trapped under a steel beam.”He gave me the faintest smile.“I’ve had worse.”Christopher blinked.“I’m sorry…”He looked between us.“…is this the appropriate time to flirt?”Alina shot him a look.“Christopher.”“What?”He shrugged nervously.“I’m just saying if I’m dying underground, I don’t want romance delaying the rescue.”Despite everything…A tiny laugh escaped me.Damien looked satisfied.“There.”I frowned.“What?”“You laughed.”Even now.Even like this.He cared more about seeing me smile than about the beam crushing him.My heart tightened painfully.Ethan knelt beside the beam.“So… good news.”Christopher looked hopeful.“We have good news?”“No.
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 44: Echoes of the Forgotten
Ariana’s POVNoah’s scream ripped through the underground complex with such force that the tunnel walls split apart.The sound wasn’t merely pain.It was grief.Decades of grief.The silver device in the scientist’s hand pulsed rhythmically, each flash sending violent tremors through Noah’s enormous body. His hands clutched his head as he staggered backward, crashing through thick concrete pillars as though they were made of paper.The entire facility groaned.Steel beams bent.Pipes burst overhead, releasing clouds of steam that hissed through the tunnels.Christopher ducked behind a collapsed support column.“I officially hate silver lights.”No one answered him.Every eye remained fixed on Noah.His glowing silver veins flickered wildly beneath his skin, brightening and dimming like stars on the verge of burning out.The scientist smiled.“There it is.”His voice carried an unsettling satisfaction.“The obedience protocol still exists.”“No!” Ethan roared.He lunged toward the scie
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 43: The First Origin
Ariana’s POVThe tunnel fell silent.Not the kind of silence that feels peaceful.The kind that comes right before disaster.The kind that warns you to run.Nobody moved.Nobody spoke.Every silver-eyed person stood perfectly still, their attention fixed on the darkness ahead.Waiting.Listening.Fearing.And that terrified me more than the roar itself.Because these were people who had survived decades underground.People who had escaped experiments.People who had endured horrors I couldn’t imagine.Yet they looked afraid.Truly afraid.My fingers tightened around Damien’s hand.He squeezed back immediately.Grounding me.Steadying me.Reminding me that no matter how strange this became—I wasn’t alone.Christopher broke the silence first.“Okay.”His voice shook slightly.“I know I ask this every ten minutes, but can someone please explain what exactly we’re running from?”Ethan answered.His voice was barely above a whisper.“The original.”The words settled heavily in the air.Da
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 2 - The Last Pill and Threats.
I walked to the bathroom. I had to take a hot bath to get myself calmed. My body was weak and my chest was sore whenever I inhaled. I switched on the shower and got into the shower gradually. The hot water flowed along my skin, but it did not soothe me. It just made me remember that I had turned so
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 1 - Bad News and Broken Bonds.
I sat in the chair in the doctor office trying not to think too hard. I was a little shaky in the hands, and I managed to sit still. The white walls, the slight odor of antiseptic, and the quiet ticking of the clock did not help to soothe the pit in my stomach. Dr. Morrison, the expert who had trea
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 4 - The Wedding and the revelation.
The church was more stunning than I had dreamed yet I was unable to appreciate it.I grabbed the arm of my father and my fingers shook as I tried to calm my heart. Each beat was louder than the music that was playing in the background and resonating in my chest.“You ready, huh?” my father said, his
.THE SUBSTITUE WIFE RETURNS Chapter 3 - Forced to Act
“Where is she?” I questioned myself when I emerged out of the last house on my list, and, as usual, she was not there. “Where are you Alina?” I mumbled.I had already checked all possible places I could think of last night after father had left my room. I had called at the houses of the friends o
