Adrian stopped sleeping properly after that. Not because of stress. Not even because of fear but because every answer he uncovered created ten more questions behind it and all of them led back to the same impossible reality: Elena had never been who he thought she was.
By midnight, his office lights were still on. Files covered his desk. Printed records. Archived contracts. Foundational documents dating back years. He had gone through them all. Twice and every single trail, every hidden authorization, every protected account, every silent safeguard ended with her name. Elena E. Carter. Not attached but embedded.
Adrian leaned back slowly, rubbing a hand across his jaw. “This makes no sense,” he muttered because it didn’t. Not emotionally. Not logically. Not with the woman he remembered.
