All Chapters of The Wife He Betrayed: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

For a moment...The forest ceased to exist.Alex stared at the weathered leather notebook in the young woman's hands.His father's name.Embossed in faded gold.Daniel Midila.His throat tightened."Where..."He swallowed."...did you get that?"The young woman looked at him with tired eyes."From the only man who trusted me."Gabriel took an involuntary step forward."Daniel?"She nodded."The last time I saw him."Joel's face hardened."That's impossible.""He died twenty-five years ago.""So everyone believed."She replied quietly.Patricia noticed Alex's hands.They were trembling.Only slightly.But enough for her to see.She had known Alex for years.Whenever he faced danger...His hands remained steady.Whenever he spoke before crowds...Perfectly calm.But mention his father...And the composure disappeared.She quietly moved beside him.Without saying a word.She slipped her hand into his.Alex squeezed it gratefully.Bethwel remained cautious."Who are you?""My name is Naom

The silence after the gunfire was almost unsettling.No birds.No wind.Only the steady dripping of rainwater from the cedar branches.Alex remained crouched behind the fallen log, studying the ranger station through a gap in the foliage.Something wasn't right."They've stopped firing."Bethwel nodded."That worries me more than the shooting."Obadiah slowly lowered his binoculars."David.""Sir.""Formation Delta."David immediately signalled with two fingers.Without a word, six members of Obadiah's security detail changed positions.Alex barely noticed.He was too focused on the ranger station.To him, they simply appeared to be finding better cover.They were doing far more than that.The team was known internally as The Protective Detail.Unlike the estate guards, these men had only one assignment.Protect.Former military special operations personnel.A former presidential protection officer.Two retired tactical firearms instructors.Years earlier, Obadiah had recruited them i

The convoy raced toward Black Ridge.Mud sprayed behind the Land Cruisers as they climbed the winding forestry road.No one spoke.Each person was occupied by a different fear.Patricia thought of Glen.Alison wondered whether every answer they sought would only create more questions.Bethwel replayed the investigation in his mind, realizing he had been chasing carefully planted evidence for weeks.Alex stared through the windscreen.Not on the road.At the smoke.It was beginning to thin."They timed the explosion."David glanced sideways."You've noticed something?""They didn't want to destroy everything.""They wanted us to see it."Obadiah sat in the lead vehicle.His eyes met those of the man in the passenger seat."Kamau.""Sir.""Status."Kamau was the commander of Obadiah's Protective Detail, a former special operations officer who spoke only when necessary."Shield One remains with Alex.""Shield Two has moved to Patricia.""Counter-sniper team is advancing two hundred metre

Rain clouds drifted slowly across the Black Ridge valley.No one hurried to speak.Every eye remained fixed on the faded photograph in Patricia's hands.Daniel Midila.Gabriel.Rose Waore.And the fourth man...His face had been scratched away so thoroughly that even the shape of his nose was gone.Inspector Bethwel Kanda accepted the photograph carefully.He reached into his field case, removed a transparent evidence sleeve and sealed the photograph inside."No one touches this again without gloves."Rose nodded approvingly."Daniel would have liked you."Bethwel smiled faintly."I wish we'd met under better circumstances."Alex could not take his eyes off the damaged photograph."My father destroyed that face."Rose nodded."He did.""Why?""He believed that a photograph could become more dangerous than a gun."Alison frowned."A photograph?"Rose looked at her."Photographs identify people.""They also preserve places."She pointed toward the background."The building behind us."E

The drizzle had eased into a fine mist.Black Ridge stood unnaturally quiet.No birds.No insects.Only the occasional creak of burnt timber from the destroyed weighbridge.Inspector Bethwel Kanda slipped on a fresh pair of latex gloves before accepting the brown file Ezekiel had handed Obadiah."You've preserved the chain of custody?"Ezekiel nodded."Every original document remains where I found it. These are certified copies."Bethwel looked up."You've done this before."Ezekiel smiled faintly."For thirty-one years."Alison looked at him curiously."I thought you said you worked for a government department that no longer exists.""I did.""What department?"Ezekiel hesitated."It was called the National Strategic Records and Infrastructure Bureau."Bethwel frowned."I've never heard of it.""Most officers haven't.""It wasn't an investigative agency. We monitored strategic records—land, infrastructure, archives and government continuity. Our reports went to senior offices and rar