Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE DIEDWhen the lights returned, Victor was gone.
The door was locked from the inside.
Security surrounded the archive within seconds.
But there was no sign of him.
Only the message remained.
And the date.
Adrian stood motionless.
Valeria watched him.
"Tell me everything."
He looked at her.
"I don't know everything."
"Then tell me what you do know."
Adrian's expression remained distant.
"My father was a powerful man."
"How powerful?"
"He controlled half the technology industry in South America."
Valeria's eyes widened.
"And your mother?"
"She was his business partner."
"Not his wife?"
"Both."
Adrian looked at the paper.
"Then one night, they disappeared."
"Your father died."
"Yes."
"And your mother?"
"I was told she died too."
"By whom?"
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"My uncle."
Valeria slowly understood.
"Who inherited the company?"
Adrian said nothing.
She answered for him.
"Your uncle."
He nodded.
"Everything."
"And you?"
"I was seventeen."
Valeria stared at him.
"Why didn't you investigate?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"My uncle sent me away."
"Where?"
"Boarding school."
"Then?"
"University overseas."
"And when you returned?"
Adrian's expression became bitter.
"The company was gone."
Valeria looked at the message.
"And now someone claims your mother is alive."
Adrian nodded.
"Someone who knows the truth about my family."
She studied him.
"Victor Hale."
Adrian looked at her.
"I don't know if that's his real name."
"Then we find out."
Adrian gave her a strange look.
"Why are you helping me?"
Valeria answered honestly.
"Because you hired me."
"That's all?"
She paused.
"No."
He waited.
"Because I know what it feels like to have your family decide who you are without asking."
Adrian's expression softened.
For the first time that night, he understood why she was different.
Why he had trusted her.
Why he had chosen her.
Not because she was talented.
Not only because she was brilliant.
But because she understood the language of people who had been underestimated.
A phone rang.
Adrian answered.
His assistant's voice came through.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We found Victor's vehicle."
"Where?"
The assistant hesitated.
"At the wedding."
Adrian frowned.
"Where?"
"Outside the children's room."
Valeria's blood ran cold.
"Why would he go there?"
Adrian suddenly understood.
He looked at her.
May you like
"Because someone is still inside."
They ran.
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