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Chapter 16 — The Man She Thought Was Dead
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2026-09-15 09:41:59Lena couldn't move.
The man at the top of the stairs held the gun steady, but his eyes weren't on Adrian. They were on her. “Lena.” Her lips parted. “No…” The man looked older than the photograph, his hair streaked with gray and his face marked by years of exhaustion. But she knew him. Somehow, she knew him. “Dad?” The word escaped before she could stop it. Adrian's hand tightened around hers. Michael Carter lowered the gun slightly. “I've waited a long time to hear you call me that.” Lena's eyes filled with tears. “You're alive.” “Yes.” “You knew where I was?” “I always knew.” Her voice broke. “Then why didn't you come back?” Michael looked away. “Because coming back would have gotten you killed.” Adrian stepped forward. “You expect us to believe that?” Michael raised the gun again. “Stay where you are.” Adrian didn't stop. “You disappeared after my mother's death.” “I disappeared before she died.” Adrian froze. “What?” Michael's expression hardened. “Your father found out I had evidence against him. He ordered people to find me. I went into hiding.” “And my mother?” “I tried to warn her.” Adrian's jaw clenched. “You knew she was in danger.” “Yes.” “And you did nothing?” “I did everything I could.” “Then why is she dead?” Michael's eyes lowered. “Because I was too late.” Silence filled the hallway. Lena looked at him. “What happened to Mom?” Michael looked at her. “She's alive.” Lena's breath caught. “Where?” “I don't know.” “You're lying.” “I wish I were.” Michael slowly lowered the gun. “Your mother was taken from the hospital before I could reach her.” Lena shook her head. “Then why bring me here?” “I didn't.” She stared at him. “What?” “I didn't send the message.” Adrian's expression changed. “Then who did?” Michael looked toward the dark hallway behind them. “Damian.” A sudden noise came from outside. A car door slammed. Michael's face went pale. “They found us.” Adrian immediately moved toward Lena. “Go.” Michael pointed toward a narrow doorway. “There’s a passage behind the library. It leads outside.” Lena stared at him. “You're coming with us.” “I can't.” “You just found me.” “And that's why you have to go.” Footsteps echoed outside the house. More than one person. Adrian grabbed Lena's hand. “Now.” They ran toward the library. Behind them, Michael disappeared into the shadows. Lena turned once. “Dad!” Michael looked at her. For the first time, his expression softened. “I'm sorry.” A gunshot shattered the silence. Lena screamed. Adrian pulled her through the doorway and slammed it shut. Another shot rang out. Then silence. “Adrian!” “I've got you.” He pushed a bookshelf aside, revealing a narrow passage. They rushed inside. Lena's breathing was ragged. “What happened to him?” “I don't know.” “He was shot.” “We can't go back.” “He's my father!” “And he's trying to give us a chance to survive.” They reached the end of the passage. Adrian pushed open the hidden door. Cold night air hit Lena's face. They ran into the trees. Only when they were far enough from the estate did Adrian stop. Lena bent forward, trying to catch her breath. Then her phone vibrated. One message. She looked at the screen. YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED. Another message followed. YOUR FATHER WAS NEVER THE ONE YOU NEEDED TO FEAR. Lena's fingers went cold. A final message appeared. ASK ADRIAN WHY HIS FATHER KEPT YOUR BABY PICTURE. She slowly looked up. Adrian was staring at her phone. His face had gone completely pale.
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The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 25 —The Truth She Was Never Meant to Know
Lena stared at the letter in Adrian’s hand. For several seconds, neither of us spoke. The small cabin was quiet except for the rain tapping against the windows. Adrian stood near the fireplace, his face unreadable, but I could see the tension in his jaw. “The baby they were searching for wasn’t you.” The words kept repeating inside my head. You were the child I chose to save. I swallowed hard. “Adrian…” He looked at me. There was something different in his eyes now. Not anger. Not suspicion. Fear. “Your mother knew,” he said quietly. “I don’t understand.” “She knew about the baby.” My heart started pounding. “What baby?” Adrian looked down at the letter again. “Your mother wrote that someone was searching for a child. A child connected to both our families.” I shook my head. “No. That doesn’t make sense. My mother never told me anything about this.” “That’s exactly the problem.” He stepped closer and handed me the letter. I took it with trembling fingers. The ha
The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 24 — The Name They Stole
I stared at the envelope in Margaret’s hand.The name written across it didn’t belong to me. At least, not the name I had lived with for twenty-four years.My fingers felt numb.“What does it say?” Adrian asked.Margaret looked at me before answering.“Evelyn Carter.”My heart stopped.Daniel’s face changed.He knew that name.“Daniel?” I whispered.He looked away.“You’ve heard it before.”He rubbed a hand over his face. “Your mother mentioned it once.”“Once?”“She told me never to ask questions about the night you were born.”I stepped back.“So you knew?”“I knew there were things she was hiding. I didn't know you had another name.”Adrian took the envelope from Margaret.“Why would Lena have been registered as Evelyn Carter?”Margaret shook her head.“She wasn't. Evelyn Carter was the name given to the other baby.”My stomach tightened.“The other girl?”Margaret nodded.“The baby who disappeared.”A cold wind passed through the trees.Adrian opened the envelope.Inside was a pho
The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 23 — The Other Girl
The bedroom door slammed against the wall. I flinched at the explosion of wood and glass, and Adrian immediately pulled me behind him. “Stay behind me.” A man stepped through the doorway, his face covered, a gun pointed straight at us. Everything inside me froze. Adrian grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the hallway. Daniel shoved the small table beside the door into the man’s path. “Run!” he shouted. A gunshot cracked through the house. Margaret screamed. Adrian pushed me down just as another bullet tore through the wall above us. My heart hammered against my ribs. “Adrian!” “I’m fine.” He wasn't even looking at himself. His eyes were fixed on the hallway. “Go with Daniel,” he ordered. “I’m not leaving you.” His jaw tightened. “Lena, please.” It was the first time I had heard fear in his voice. Not for himself. For me. Daniel grabbed my arm. “We have to move.” We ran through the kitchen as another shot echoed behind us. Margaret followed, clutching something
The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 22 — Margaret Vale
The house was supposed to be empty.That was the first thing Adrian noticed.The second was the front door.It was open.Lena stayed close to him as they walked toward the small house at the end of the quiet street. Daniel remained a few steps behind them, watching the road.“Your mother is supposed to be inside?” Adrian asked.Daniel nodded. “That's what I was told.”Lena's heart was pounding.After everything that had happened, hearing that her mother was alive should have made her feel relieved.Instead, she felt afraid.Adrian reached for her hand.She looked at him.“We go in together.”She nodded.They stepped inside.The house was dark and unusually quiet.“Margaret?” Daniel called.No answer.Lena looked around.There were old photographs on the walls. A younger Margaret stood beside Adrian's mother in several of them.Then Lena saw something that made her stop.A photograph of her mother.She walked toward it.Her mother was much younger, standing beside Margaret.And in her
The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 21 — The Child They Wanted
Lena stared at Adrian.“I don't understand.”Adrian kept his eyes on the phone.“If they're looking for you, then the message about the baby was meant to confuse us.”Daniel stepped closer.“Maybe not.”Lena turned toward him.“What do you mean?”Daniel looked at the photograph in Adrian's hand.“Your mother spent years making sure nobody knew where you came from. If someone is still searching for that child, they may have believed Lena was the one.”“But why?”“Because they didn't know the truth.”Adrian looked at Daniel.“Then who was the baby?”Daniel shook his head.“I don't know.”Lena felt frustration rising again.“Everyone keeps saying they don't know.”She grabbed the photograph.“But somebody does.”Her eyes moved over the faded image.Her mother was holding a newborn.Michael stood beside her.And behind them was Adrian's father.Three adults.One baby.A secret that had survived for twenty-four years.“There has to be something else,” Lena said.Adrian nodded.“My father's
The Boss Who Hated Me Back Chapter 20 — The Child I Chose
I read the sentence again.Then again.It didn't change.The baby they were searching for wasn't you. You were the child I chose to save.My fingers went numb.“What does that mean?”No one answered.I looked at Daniel first.He couldn't meet my eyes.Then I looked at Adrian.He was staring at the letter as if it had just changed everything he thought he knew about me.“Dad,” I whispered. “What was she talking about?”Daniel finally sighed.“Your mother wanted to tell you herself.”“She can't. She's missing.”“I know.”“So tell me.”He sat down heavily on the old chair.“Your mother wasn't supposed to have you.”I felt my chest tighten.“What?”“She was protecting another child.”Adrian straightened.“Who?”Daniel looked at him.“We don't know.”“You expect us to believe that?”“I've spent twenty-four years trying to understand it myself.”I looked back at the letter.“Then why did she choose me?”Daniel hesitated.“Because the people looking for that child were willing to kill anyone
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