บททั้งหมดของ His Wife, His weakness: บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

“Say that again, Nathaniel, and I swear I'll never forgive you.”Aria stared at the man standing in the doorway.Nathaniel Hayes.Her childhood sweetheart. Her first love. The boy who had disappeared from her life without an explanation, leaving her with years of unanswered questions.The man she had once dreamed of marrying.Now he stood before her, holding a photograph of three newborn babies, claiming to be her brother.“No,” she whispered.Nathaniel's eyes glistened.“Aria, please let me explain.”“No!”The word burst from her throat.She stepped backward until her shoulders struck the wall. Her mother reached for her, but Aria barely noticed.“You told me you loved me.”Nathaniel lowered the photograph.“I did.”“You kissed me. You promised you would come back for me. You disappeared, and I spent years wondering what I had done wrong!”His face twisted with pain.“I never stopped looking for you.”“Then why didn't you tell me the truth?”“Because I didn't know the truth myself un

Aria's mother had just chosen to kill her.She read the message again, hoping the words would rearrange themselves into something less cruel.They didn't.YOUR MOTHER HAS ALREADY CHOSEN.Beneath it was the photograph of Victoria Bennett pointing toward someone outside the frame. Her face was twisted with terror, but the gun in her hand was unmistakable.Aria's knees weakened.“No,” she whispered. “She wouldn't do that.”Julian caught her before she fell.“Aria, look at me.”She pushed his hands away.“Don't!”“Listen to me. Alexander wants you to believe your mother betrayed you.”“What if she did?”“Then we'll find out why. But you cannot let him decide what you believe.”Aria stared at the photograph.For eighteen years, she had dreamed of seeing her mother again. She had imagined apologies, tears, and explanations. She had pictured herself asking why Victoria had abandoned her and finally hearing the answer.She had never imagined seeing her mother holding a gun.Nathaniel snatched

The gunshot had barely faded when Aria saw blood spreading across Marcus's shirt.“Marcus!”He collapsed against the wall, one hand clamped over his side. Julian lunged forward, dragging him behind the heavy wooden staircase as a second bullet shattered the mirror above them.“Get down!” Julian shouted.Aria dropped to her knees.Nathaniel pulled Victoria behind a marble pillar while Richard stumbled toward the nearest doorway. Alexander was already retreating, his expression calm enough to make Aria's stomach turn.He had known someone would fire.He had planned for it.“Don't let him escape!” Aria screamed.Julian looked at Marcus, then at Alexander disappearing down the corridor.“I can't leave him.”“Then I'll go!”“Aria, no!”But she was already running.She chased Alexander through the rear hall, her shoes slipping on the polished floor. A door slammed ahead of her. She threw herself against it and stumbled into the garden.Two black cars waited beside the gate.Alexander stood

The man Aria loved had once promised to marry another woman—and the proof was sitting in his pocket while her family waited to die.“Tell me it's a lie.”Aria's voice barely reached the end of the corridor.Julian stood motionless, his face drained of color. The photograph of Victoria and Richard remained on the laptop screen, and the message demanding that Aria come alone to the old chapel glowed on her phone.Thirty minutes.That was all she had to save the people who had raised her, given birth to her, or might somehow be connected to her by blood.And now she had discovered another secret about the man she loved.“Julian.” She stepped closer. “Who were you engaged to?”He swallowed.“Elena.”For a moment, Aria heard nothing.Not the rain beating against the windows. Not the faint ringing of a telephone somewhere downstairs. Not even her own breathing.“Elena Sterling?”“Yes.”“The woman your father raised? The woman everyone told me was your sister?”Julian closed his eyes briefly

Aria wasn't alone in the dark—and whoever stood behind her knew the truth about her birth.She stopped breathing.The message glowed on her phone.YOUR REAL FATHER IS ALREADY INSIDE THE VAULT WITH YOU.Aria spun around, illuminating the darkness with her trembling flashlight.Shelves. Boxes. A desk. The open safe.Nothing else.“Who's there?”Her voice sounded painfully small.No answer.She backed toward the steel door, clutching the original birth register against her chest.“I'm warning you. I know you're in here.”A soft metallic click came from behind the desk.Aria swung the flashlight toward it.A man stepped out of the shadows.He was tall and thin, wearing a dark coat. A fresh bandage covered his forehead, and one hand rested against his ribs as if he were struggling to remain upright.Aria recognized him.She had seen his face in old photographs, on hospital records, and in the memories Victoria had described with tears in her eyes.“Daniel?”The man lifted his head.For a m