All Chapters of Married by Fate, Broken by Love: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

Aliya's POVI knew something was wrong the moment Dylan walked through the front door the following morning.Not because he looked angry. Anger had become familiar lately. This was different. There was a stillness about him now that unsettled me immediately. The kind of stillness that appeared when someone learned information they couldn't stop thinking about. He moved through the foyer quietly while security personnel spoke with Detective Morris near the entrance, but his attention seemed elsewhere entirely. Like part of him was still standing inside Victor's apartment replaying that final video over and over again.The estate had been awake for hours already despite the early morning. Officers continued coming and going while investigators occupied multiple rooms downstairs. The entire house felt caught between preparation and anticipation. Everyone was waiting for the next breakthrough. The next lead. The next disaster. Living inside that constant uncertainty was exhausting in ways

Aliya's POVI stared at the message for nearly a full minute before I realized I had stopped breathing properly.The words remained on the screen exactly as they had appeared. No explanation. No follow-up. No indication of who sent them. Just a single sentence that somehow felt more unsettling than many of the threats we had received recently. My pulse hammered against my ribs while questions raced through my mind faster than I could process them. Who was Sophie Calloway? Why would someone want me to ask Dylan about her? And most importantly, why did I suddenly have the horrible feeling that I had stumbled onto something deeply personal?Leo's voice pulled me back to reality."Aliya?"I blinked and looked up immediately. He was watching me from across the table with concern written all over his small face. Children noticed far more than adults often gave them credit for. After everything that had happened lately, he had become especially sensitive to changes in people's moods."Are yo

Aliya's POVThe photograph changed the entire investigation.Until that moment, Sophie's death and Elana's kidnapping felt connected only by suspicion and timing. Now someone was deliberately placing them side by side. The newspaper clipping behind Elana wasn't an accident. It wasn't decoration. It was a message. Whoever had taken that photograph wanted Dylan to see it. More importantly, they wanted him to understand something. The question was whether they were revealing the truth or manipulating us toward the wrong conclusion.The emergency meeting started less than twenty minutes later. Detectives, analysts, and members of the task force gathered around the conference table while enlarged copies of the photograph appeared on multiple screens. Every detail was examined carefully. The office furniture. The walls. The lighting fixtures. The angle of the windows. Even the placement of the newspaper clipping became part of the discussion. Nobody dismissed anything anymore because recent

Aliya's POVThe moment the call ended, I knew something had changed.Dylan stood completely still beside the fountain, his phone lowered slowly at his side while every trace of color drained from his face. The evening breeze continued moving through the gardens around us, but suddenly the peaceful atmosphere felt artificial. Fragile. Like a thin layer stretched over something much darker beneath. I had watched Dylan receive terrible news before. Lydia's threats. Elana's kidnapping. Sophie's murder. None of those moments looked like this. Whatever Margaret Sinclair had just said had shaken him in a way I had never witnessed before."Dylan?"He didn't answer immediately.His eyes remained fixed somewhere beyond the estate grounds as if his mind was struggling to process the conversation. The silence stretched between us uncomfortably while fear slowly settled into my chest. Eventually, he blinked and looked toward me. The expression in his eyes frightened me more than anything else that

Aliya's POVThe estate was unusually quiet when we finally returned shortly after two in the morning. Most of the lights had been dimmed, security patrols moved silently through the grounds, and even the constant stream of investigators had slowed for the night. Under different circumstances, the calm atmosphere might have been comforting. Instead, it felt deceptive. Too much had happened in a single day for anyone to truly relax. We had uncovered Project Renewal, learned that Evelyn Calloway may have survived her reported death, and received evidence suggesting she remained alive for years afterward. Every revelation seemed impossible until another piece of evidence appeared and made it harder to dismiss.Dylan barely spoke during the drive home.The photograph of his mother had affected him more deeply than he wanted to admit. I could see it in the way he stared out the window for most of the journey. I could hear it in the silence that followed every question. He wasn't simply proc