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Chapter 18 — The Shot
publish date:
2026-09-15 16:43:59“Adrian!”
His knees buckled. Lena caught him before he hit the ground, but his weight nearly pulled her down with him. “I'm okay,” he breathed. “You're bleeding!” “It’s a graze.” She pressed her hand against his side. Her fingers came away warm and red. “That does not look like a graze.” Another gunshot tore through the trees. Adrian grabbed her wrist. “Move.” “I’m not leaving you.” “You won't have to. Just keep moving.” He pushed himself upright, using a tree for support. Lena stayed beside him, one arm around his waist as they stumbled deeper into the woods. Behind them, voices grew louder. “Check the left side!” “They couldn't have gone far!” Lena's heart hammered. “Where are we going?” “There's an old maintenance road ahead.” “You know this place too well.” “I spent half my childhood here.” He suddenly stopped. Lena nearly ran into him. “What?” Adrian pointed toward a small stone structure hidden behind thick bushes. “Inside.” They hurried toward it. The building looked abandoned, but Adrian found an old metal door and forced it open. They slipped inside just as footsteps passed nearby. Adrian pulled the door closed. Darkness swallowed them. Lena could hear his breathing. Slow. Uneven. She reached for him. “Sit down.” “I’m fine.” “Adrian.” Something in her voice made him stop arguing. He sat against the wall. Lena knelt in front of him and carefully pulled his jacket aside. The bullet had grazed his side, leaving a deep cut across his ribs. She exhaled shakily. “You're lucky.” “I know.” She looked at him. “You could have died.” His eyes met hers. “But I didn't.” “Don't say that like it makes everything okay.” “I didn't mean—” “I thought I was going to lose you.” The words came out before she could stop them. Adrian went quiet. Lena looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “I just…” “I know.” “No, you don't.” He reached for her hand. This time, she let him take it. “I do.” His thumb brushed over her knuckles. “You were scared.” “So were you.” “For you.” Her heart skipped. She looked at him. “For me?” Adrian nodded. “I've spent years thinking you were the person I needed to hate.” Lena swallowed. “And now?” He gave a tired smile. “Now I'm not sure I know how to stay away from you.” The moment hung between them. Lena's eyes dropped to his lips. Adrian leaned closer. Then a loud sound came from outside. They both froze. A car door slammed. Someone was standing just outside the building. Lena held her breath. A man's voice spoke. “They're here.” Adrian's expression changed. He silently reached for the old metal pipe lying beside him. The door handle began to turn. Lena squeezed his hand. The door opened. But no one entered. Instead, a small envelope was pushed across the floor. Then the door slammed shut. Adrian and Lena stared at it. Neither moved. Finally, Lena picked it up. There was no name. Only the same black triangle. She opened it. Inside was a single photograph. Lena's hands trembled. It showed her mother holding a newborn baby. Standing beside her was Michael Carter. And behind them stood Adrian's father. But that wasn't what made Lena's blood run cold. Written on the back were four words: THE BABY WAS NOT YOU. Lena looked at Adrian. “What does that mean?” He took the photograph from her. His face went pale. “I think…” He stopped. “What?” Adrian looked at the baby in the photograph again. Then he whispered, “I think we've been searching for the wrong child.”
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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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