All Chapters of The Woman He Buried: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The drive to the lakeside estate took several hours.Idris drove steadily, eyes on the road, while Dominic occasionally reviewed documents on his lap. In the back seat, Nina checked on Isla, asking if she was alright whenever the SUV hit rough patches.The farther they left Vesper City behind, the quieter everything became.City streets gave way to open countryside. Buildings disappeared, replaced by scattered farmhouses and wide, empty fields.Isla rested her head against the window, watching the world blur past.For the first time since the accident, there was only silence, unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.Nearly five hours later, the SUV turned off the main road onto a private gravel path.A few minutes later, an iron gate came into view. Beyond it stood an old stone house overlooking a still lake, nothing grand, only weathered by time. A wooden dock stretched into the water, dissolving into its calm surface.The SUV came to a stop. Before anyone could step out, the front door opened

Cassian hadn’t stopped searching.For weeks, every waking hour had been spent with investigators, on calls that led nowhere, and reviewing reports that all said the same conclusion in different words.Nothing.The exhaustion was impossible to hide now. His usual precision had dulled, his eyes were heavy with fatigue, and even his posture carried the weight of too many sleepless nights.Brody noticed it first. He waited until the last briefing ended, until the room had emptied except for them.“You need to go home,” Brody said.Cassian didn’t look up from the maps spread across his desk. “I’m fine.”“No,” Brody replied calmly. “You’re functioning. That’s not the same thing.”Cassian exhaled through his nose and rubbed a hand over his face. “There isn’t time. There won’t be more of it tomorrow than there is today.”Si

Three Months Later…Morning light spilled through the tall windows of the Vega estate, casting pale gold across the polished marble floors. For over fifty years, the house had belonged to one of Astera’s most influential families, witnessing boardroom victories, political alliances, lavish celebrations, and quiet losses that never reached the headlines.Through all of it, one tradition had never changed.Breakfast.No matter how demanding the day ahead, Franklin Vega insisted the family begin it together.The dining room was already filled with the low hum of conversation.Franklin sat at the head of the long table, the morning newspaper folded beside his untouched plate. Beside him, Rosalyn poured coffee into fine porcelain cups, calm and practiced, as if time itself never rushed her.Across from them, Evander Vega, chairman of Vega Corporation and Cassian’s father, reviewed reports on his tablet between bites while his wife Diana discussed an upcoming charity gala with the estate ma

The headquarters of Delacroix Holdings rose above Vesper City’s financial district, its stone façade standing apart from the glass towers surrounding it.The company never relied on spectacle. Its name carried enough weight on its own.Inside, employees moved with quiet efficiency through the executive floor, reflecting a company built over generations rather than overnight success.On the top level, Graham Riggs reviewed the morning reports at his desk.He had been with Delacroix Holdings for over thirty years. He had served under Silas Delacroix, later under Silas’s son, Magnus. When Magnus and his wife, Lavinia, died in a tragic car accident, Graham stayed.Not to lead the company, but to preserve it until the future became clear.A knock came at his door.His assistant entered with a folder. “Good morning, sir.”“Morning, Claire.”She placed it on his desk. “The overseas legal recruitment has begun.”Graham nodded. “How many made the shortlist?”“Eight candidates.”“Good.”He open

A week passed faster than Isla expected. One moment she was settling into a quiet routine at the lakeside estate, and the next, the morning of her departure had arrived.Mist drifted low over the water outside, softening the edges of the lake as the first sunlight turned its surface gold. The house behind her felt unusually still, as if it too understood that something was about to end.Isla came downstairs with a medium suitcase in one hand and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder.She wasn’t trying to travel light. She simply didn’t have much left to carry.After the accident, most of her old life had disappeared. What remained had been gathered slowly over the past months, clothes Nina had quietly bought for her, a couple of pairs of shoes, a few books on finance and corporate law, and the laptop Dominic had given her for work.It wasn’t much. But for the first time in a long while, everything she owned was truly hers.Mara looked