All Chapters of After I Died, I Became The Alpha's Greatest Regret: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Chapter 41 Darius POV I hadn't slept. Not since the cemetery. Rylan had been across from me for four hours. His laptop was open‚ a stack of folders arranged in the precise way he arranged everything‚ by date‚ by source‚ by level of certainty. There was a cold cup of coffee at his elbow that neither of us had touched in a while. The desk lamp was the only light on in the study. "The cord blood was sent from a private medical facility in Meridian‚" Rylan said‚ turning the laptop to face me. "That's the largest city in Theo's territory. It arrived here three years ago‚ within weeks of—" He paused. "Within weeks of what we were told happened." I looked at the courier records on the screen. "Third party delivery service." "Arranged through an intermediary. Payment made in cash. No name on the sender's documentation‚ but whoever did it knew Aurora's full name and her patient ID number at our hospital." He set the laptop down. "That's not information a stranger would have." I already

CHAPTER 43 DARIUS’S POV I stared at the photo until my vision blurred. The woman in the picture was standing beside a large canvas painting‚ her body angled slightly away from the camera. She wasn't posing‚ it looked like someone had caught her mid-conversation‚ her chin lifted‚ a faint smile on her lips. The gallery lighting hit her face at just the right angle to show every detail. The jawline. The nose. The way her hair fell across her shoulder. Celeste. My hand was shaking so badly that the phone screen kept jerking in front of my eyes. I gripped it tighter with both hands‚ trying to steady it‚ trying to focus‚ trying to make sense of what I was seeing. "Where was this taken?" My voice came out hoarse. Wrecked. I barely recognized it. "Art exhibition in Aldenmere‚" Rylan said. "About two hours north. The photo was posted on a gallery's social media page last night." "Who is she?" "We don't know yet. No name tag in the post. Just a caption about the exhibition and a few cr

CHAPTER 45 CELESTE'S POV The exhibition hall was bigger than I expected. High ceilings‚ white walls‚ polished concrete floors that reflected the warm gallery lighting. People milled around in small groups‚ holding wine glasses and speaking in low‚ thoughtful voices about art they probably didn't understand. The kind of crowd that came to these events to be seen rather than to see. Perfect. My paintings hung along the eastern wall‚ a collection of twelve pieces‚ each one mounted in a simple black frame. I'd spent three months on them‚ working late into the night in Theo's spare room while he pretended not to hear me crying between brushstrokes. The series was called Lunar Wounds. Abstract pieces‚ mostly. Deep crimson reds that bled into silver‚ moonlight fractured through layers of darkness‚ shapes that could be bodies or could be landscapes depending on how long you looked. One critic who'd previewed the collection called them "hauntingly visceral." Another said they look

Chapter 47 DARIUS'S POV I grabbed her wrist. "Come with me‚" I said. She looked down at my hand. Then up at my face. Her expression was flat‚ unreadable. "No." "It wasn't a request." "I don't care what it was." She pulled against my grip. "Let go of me." "One blood test‚" I said. "That's all I'm asking. One test‚ five minutes‚ and if you're not who I think you are‚ I walk away. You never see me again." "I already know I'm not who you think I am. So do you‚ somewhere underneath whatever this is." She gestured at me with her free hand‚ at my gold-streaked eyes‚ my clenched jaw‚ the barely contained wildness rolling off me in waves. "You don't need a blood test. You need a therapist." A few people nearby shifted uncomfortably. Someone whispered something I couldn't hear. The gallery owner was hovering near the front desk‚ looking like he was two seconds from calling security. I didn't care. "If you're not her‚" I said‚ lowering my voice until only she could hear it‚ "then a b

CHAPTER 49 CELESTE’S POV The room was quiet except for the sound of his breathing. I stood at the foot of his bed with my arms wrapped around myself, watching his chest rise and fall. They had bandaged his hand, thick white gauze wrapped tight around his palm where the needle had gone straight through. A small red stain was already blooming through the layers. He looked terrible. Not just because he'd collapsed. He looked like someone who had been falling apart for a long time, and tonight had simply been the moment the last piece gave way. His face was thinner than I remembered. The bones in his cheeks stood out too much, and the shadows under his eyes were so dark they looked like bruises. His skin had a grayish tint that wasn't from the hospital lighting. This was not the Darius I remembered. The Darius I remembered had been powerful. Solid. A man who filled every room he walked into, who never looked tired, who never looked weak, who sat behind his desk signing orders to dra