All Chapters of Reborn as the Ruthless Heir’s Contract Wife: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“Ask him who he killed before he came to marry you.”Edmund Vale’s accusation followed us out of the underground laboratory.The police transported Edmund to a fortified detention centre under three separate identities so Crowne could not locate him through official records. Darius escaped, Alaric disappeared, and the tunnels beneath the bridge began collapsing before investigators finished collecting evidence.Caelan and I returned to the Voss estate before sunrise.He did not enter our bedroom.I found him inside the west wing, standing before the evidence wall. His wrists were bruised from the restraints, and dried blood marked his collar.“Who did you kill?” I asked.He did not pretend to misunderstand.“A man inside a Crowne safe house.”“Name?”“Dr. Elias Marrow.”“Marrow is alive.”“The man I shot used that name.”“Why were you there?”“When I woke in this timeline, the bridge was the first place I went. I thought your crash might still happen that morning.”“Our wedding was th

Nessa’s signal came from a commuter train moving toward the northern border.Mara contacted railway security without identifying the witness. Stopping the train would alert Crowne, so we boarded at the next station while it slowed for maintenance.Caelan learned about the operation through estate security.He called me.“I should be there.”“You are the person Nessa fears.”“I protected her.”“She says you did something worse than murder.”Silence.“You know what she means.”“I know what she may believe.”“What?”“That I returned Darius to Crowne.”“Did you?”“Yes.”The admission stunned me.“You saved him and then handed him back?”“He offered information about your crash.”“In exchange for freedom?”“In exchange for access to the bridge chamber.”“Why would you agree?”“I had been awake in the past for less than three hours. He was the first person who confirmed the future I remembered had been real.”“You trusted him.”“No. I used him.”“And Nessa’s son?”“Darius had him.”The piec

Before listening to the full call, Helena received the laboratory results from Pike’s second blood sample.The blood found at the Meridian warehouse did not belong to Darius alone.A second man had bled beside him.Police marked the sample unidentified because the profile did not match any criminal database.Now we had Alaric’s hair from an old Mercer family brush preserved by Father.The partial match was close.The unidentified blood belonged to Alaric—or his biological son.Father was excluded.That left an unknown Mercer heir or my grandfather himself.“He was inside the warehouse that morning,” I said.Ronan checked the recovered photographs.“If Caelan fought Darius on the upper platform, Alaric may have watched from another room.”“Then Caelan did not chase a Crowne vehicle by chance. They drew him there.”“Using the same method they used with you,” Mara added. “A familiar asset moving in an unexpected place.”Crowne knew Caelan would follow evidence connected to my death.They

Caelan had not begun warning me on the night of the crash.His first attempt came two years earlier.Ronan found the record inside the files Richard preserved. It documented messages, letters, meeting requests, and warnings sent under different names.Most never reached me.Selene intercepted two letters at Mercer House.Lucien’s assistant deleted three emails.Father’s former legal secretary redirected a package containing proof of the poisoned medication.Crowne did not rely on my refusal alone. It built a wall around me and allowed only messages that made Caelan appear dangerous.One warning did reach me.A handwritten note arrived six months after my wedding to Lucien.ASK WHY YOUR HUSBAND VISITS THE LAKE ARDEN HOTEL EVERY MONTH.I remembered tearing it apart.Selene found me holding the pieces and laughed.“Caelan Voss must be desperate if he thinks cheap jealousy will break your marriage.”I accepted her explanation because questioning Lucien felt humiliating.The hotel records

Caelan’s father was named Marcus Voss.He was Octavian’s second son and Evelyn’s second husband. Officially, Marcus died when Caelan was twelve after falling from a mountain road.No body was recovered.Of course.Octavian told Caelan his father had been weak, unreliable, and unwilling to accept family responsibility. Evelyn rarely spoke about him afterward.“Did you believe he was dead?” I asked.“Yes.”“Did you see him in the warehouse?”“I saw Darius.”“Someone wearing Darius’s face.”Caelan returned to the memory.“The man had Darius’s limp, voice, and ring. I shot him in the shoulder. He fell into the river.”“But Richard says your father died.”“I never saw the body.”Ronan searched photographs of Marcus and Darius. The brothers resembled each other closely when younger.Crowne’s prosthetics could have completed the disguise.“Why make Marcus look like Darius?” Father asked.“To control whom Caelan pursued,” I said. “He believed Darius knew about my death.”“And if he discovered