All Chapters of MY EX WANTS ME BACK: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Abe's povNo one spoke.The photograph lay in the center of the conference table.Richard.Charles Holloway.The unidentified executive.Three men standing shoulder to shoulder, smiling for a camera almost twenty years ago.Only one face had been circled.The man no one could identify.Richard rubbed a hand over his face."I've seen him before."The room looked at him."But I can't remember where."His frustration was obvious.Like trying to remember a dream that disappeared the moment you opened your eyes.Olivia slid the photograph into a protective sleeve."I'll scan it.""Maybe enhancement software can recover more details."Richard nodded absentmindedly.His eyes never left the man's face.By sunrise, every member of the investigation team was running on caffeine.The chase through the maintenance tunnels had changed everything.For weeks...The anonymous messages had felt distant.Calculated.Almost theatrical.Now...Whoever was behind them had been close enough to touch.Close

Richard's pov"My brother."The words barely left my mouth.The conference room disappeared around me.All I could see was the newspaper clipping on Olivia's screen.LOCAL ACCOUNTANT KILLED IN HIGHWAY COLLISION.Michael Lawson.Twenty years ago.I remembered the phone call.I remembered my mother crying.I remembered standing beside his coffin, wondering how someone so careful could die on a straight stretch of road.We were told his brakes failed.It was tragic.Unfortunate.An accident.No one questioned it.Not for long.Until today.---"Richard?"Diane's voice pulled me back."Are you alright?"I looked at everyone around the table."No."I answered honestly."I'm not."No one tried to comfort me.No one offered meaningless reassurance.They simply waited.Sometimes...That was enough.---"I need to know everything."My voice had steadied."Everything Michael was working on before he died."Olivia frowned."Wouldn't that be in your family's records?"I shook my head."My brother

Diane's pov"I know who he is."Every conversation in the conference room stopped.Richard's voice came through the speaker from Charles Holloway's study."You found him?""I think so."I laid the old employee newsletter on the conference table.The paper had yellowed with age, but the photograph was remarkably clear.Charles Holloway stood in the center, smiling as he shook hands with several senior executives.Standing beside him...The mysterious man.The one whose face had been blurred in every archived photograph.The one who had haunted our investigation for weeks.His face was finally clear.Olivia zoomed in.A small caption sat beneath the photograph.Executive Consultant – Nathan MercerSilence.Sarah looked confused."I've never heard that name."Richard's voice crackled through the speaker."Neither have I.""But apparently...""...he existed."Olivia immediately searched the company database.Nothing.Nathan Mercer.No personnel file.No payroll history.No retirement reco

Diane's povNo one slept.By sunrise, the conference room looked like a second home.Coffee cups littered the table.Evidence files were stacked in uneven piles.The city outside had awakened.None of us had noticed.Richard stood in front of the map, staring at the red circle surrounding the abandoned harbor district."The original Sentinel Dynamics headquarters."He said quietly."I want a full history."Sarah was already typing."It was built twenty-six years ago.""Officially closed eighteen years ago.""Scheduled for demolition six months later."She frowned."That's odd.""What?""The demolition permit was approved...""...but according to city records...""...the demolition was never completed."Silence filled the room.Richard looked up."So the building is still standing?"Sarah nodded slowly."It shouldn't be.""But yes."By midmorning, two black SUVs rolled through the rusted gates of the old harbor.The neighborhood looked abandoned.Broken warehouses lined the waterfront.

Zephyr's povThe camera shutter echoed through the bunker.Click.Silence followed.Then Richard shouted."Someone's here!"Abe immediately dropped the archive box."I'll take the east corridor."Marcus pointed toward the opposite hallway."I've got the west."Richard looked at me."Stay with Diane."I nodded without hesitation.The others disappeared into the maze of concrete corridors.Within seconds...Only Diane and I remained beside the growing stack of rescued evidence.She let out a shaky breath."I didn't think you'd come."I looked at her."You stopped answering.""You sounded frightened.""I wasn't going to stay home."For a moment...The alarms.The flashing lights.The investigation.None of it mattered.I stepped closer.My hands brushed soot from her cheek."Were you hurt?"She shook her head."No.""You?"I smiled softly."I ran into three spider webs getting down here."Despite everything...She laughed.A real laugh.The kind I'd been missing lately."I missed that."