Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE WIFE HE REPLACED: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 68

MARCUSThe room remained eerily quiet and Marcus walked down a silent corridor till he reached an old office that looks like it was still in use only recently. Elena followed, bent on finding out who Marcus truly was and why everything is happening. At the room, Elena stared at Marcus, searching his face for the slightest hint that this was another one of his elaborate jokes. Nothing.His expression remained painfully calm. “I suppose you're wondering how long," he said softly.Her voice came out colder than she intended. “Since when?"Marcus exhaled. “Long before Adrian met vanessa."The words landed harder than a slap. Elena blinked. “Impossible.""I wish it were."She laughed—a dry, hollow sound that didn't even resemble amusement. “So every conversation… every piece of advice… every late-night meeting..." “…wasn't always for my benefit."Silence settled between them again. For the first time in years, Elena felt something unfamiliar. Fear. Not the fear of losing. The fear of real

ELENAThe envelope felt impossibly heavy. Elena stared at the elegant handwriting for several seconds before unfolding the cream-coloured paper. The ink had faded slightly with age, but every word remained perfectly legible. She read it out loud.“My dearest Elena, if you are reading this, then I have failed. Not in business. Not as a leader but as your father…”Elena's chest tightened. Marcus stood silently across the room, giving her space and she continued reading.“…You will hear many versions of who I was. Some will call me a visionary. Others will call me a fool. The dangerous ones... will call me a criminal. Believe none of them until you discover the truth yourself. I have spent my entire life building something I hoped would protect families like ours. Unfortunately... I built it with people who never intended to protect anyone…”Elena frowned. People? Not one person. Several. She turned the page.“…There are people in this world who never appear on magazine covers. They don'

The steel door groaned. Not because it was old but because it had remained unopened for nearly two decades. Dust drifted through the narrow opening as stale air escaped from the darkness beyond. Neither Elena nor Marcus moved. They simply stared.Marcus finally broke the silence. “…Ladies first."Elena shot him a sideways glance. “I don't think my father would have appreciated your sense of humour.""I don't think your father had much of one."For the first time that night, she almost smiled. Almost. The lights inside the hidden chamber flickered on automatically. Soft. Warm. Not the cold fluorescent lighting of the surveillance room. This room felt personal. Unlike the war room outside, there were no walls covered in photographs or conspiracy boards. Instead, bookshelves, leather-bound journals, family photographs, awards, a chessboard frozen halfway through a game, an old record player etc. Marcus stopped at the doorway. “I've never seen this room.""I can tell." Elena stepped insi

The emergency lights painted the hidden room in flashes of crimson.Marcus watched the security monitor in silence. “They're here."Elena folded the letter carefully and slipped it into the inside pocket of her blazer. “How long?"Marcus checked the observatory floor plan displayed on the monitor. “They've breached the main room upstairs.""They'll have the first vault in less than five minutes if they can find it.""And this room?"He looked at her. “If they know it exists, three."Neither of them panicked, working at Carter holdings for years had prepared Elena for moments exactly like this. She understood that panicking only made matters worse and for a structure to hold, it has to be trusted. She had to trust what her father and Marcus’ father had put in place. *"Never make important decisions while frightened."* Her father’s words echoed in her mind. She walked calmly toward a desk.Marcus frowned. “What are you doing?""I'm thinking.""We don't have time."She looked at him. “M