The Second Doubt
978 Words
CHAPTER 12 📖
The message on Lucien’s phone felt heavier than it should have.
He’s dead.
For a moment, the words refused to make sense.
Lucien stared at the screen while a cold weight settled in his chest.
Across from him, Seraphina noticed the change in his expression immediately.
“What happened?” she asked.
Lucien slowly lowered the phone.
“The technician who handled my DNA test…”
Seraphina’s brows pulled together.
“Yes?”
Lucien’s voice was low.
“He’s dead.”
Silence filled the car.
Seraphina blinked slowly, as if trying to process the information.
“That can’t be a coincidence,” she said.
Lucien started the engine but didn’t drive yet.
“No,” he replied quietly.
“It’s not.”
Adrian sat quietly in the back seat, holding the small toy car he had earlier dropped near the kidnapper’s vehicle.
He looked between the two adults, sensing their tension.
“Mom?” he said softly.
Seraphina turned immediately.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are the bad people gone?”
Her chest tightened.
She forced a gentle smile.
“Yes.”
Adrian seemed to think about that for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
But Lucien noticed something in the boy’s expression.
Adrian wasn’t completely convinced.
And honestly…
Neither was he.
Lucien finally pulled the car onto the road.
The city lights slowly returned as they drove away from the industrial district.
But the silence in the car remained heavy.
Seraphina eventually spoke again.
“You said someone changed the DNA test.”
Lucien nodded.
“Yes.”
“And now the technician who did it is dead.”
Lucien’s hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
“Yes.”
Seraphina leaned back slowly.
“That means someone is trying to erase the truth.”
Lucien didn’t answer immediately.
Because she was right.
And he already suspected who was responsible.
His uncle.
But one question continued bothering him.
How had his uncle known about the DNA test in the first place?
Lucien had kept it completely secret.
Even Marco had only known after the results arrived.
Which meant only a handful of people could have known.
Lucien’s thoughts darkened.
Someone inside the company had betrayed him.
Marco’s words echoed in his mind.
“Someone inside your company is working for me.”
Lucien felt anger rising in his chest.
Whoever that person was…
They had just crossed a line.
Seraphina suddenly spoke again.
“There’s something I don’t understand.”
Lucien glanced at her.
“What?”
“Why would your uncle care so much about Adrian?”
Lucien exhaled slowly.
“I’ve been asking myself the same question.”
“Is it just the company?”
“Maybe.”
Seraphina frowned.
“That doesn’t feel right.”
Lucien agreed silently.
His uncle was ruthless, yes.
But k********g a child for a corporate move?
That was extreme even for him.
Which meant there was something else.
Something bigger.
The car finally stopped in front of Seraphina’s apartment building.
Lucien turned off the engine.
Seraphina unbuckled Adrian from his seat.
The boy yawned sleepily.
Lucien watched them quietly.
Seraphina noticed.
“What?” she asked.
Lucien hesitated.
Then he said something he hadn’t expected to say.
“You should increase security around the building.”
Seraphina’s expression hardened slightly.
“You think your uncle will come after him again?”
Lucien looked directly at her.
“I think we shouldn’t assume tonight was the end.”
Seraphina didn’t argue.
Because deep down…
She knew he was right.
She carried Adrian toward the apartment entrance.
But before going inside, she turned back.
Lucien was still standing beside his car.
Watching them.
Seraphina hesitated.
Then she spoke quietly.
“Thank you.”
Lucien blinked slightly.
“For what?”
“For choosing Adrian.”
Lucien looked at the boy resting on her shoulder.
His voice softened.
“That wasn’t a choice.”
Seraphina studied him for a moment longer.
Then she turned and walked into the building.
Lucien remained there for several seconds.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
Connecting the pieces.
Something about this entire situation didn’t feel right.
The tampered DNA test.
The dead technician.
His uncle’s sudden interest in Adrian.
It was all connected somehow.
Lucien pulled out his phone and called Marco again.
Marco answered immediately.
“Sir.”
“I want every detail about the technician’s death.”
Marco hesitated.
“That’s actually why I was about to call you.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“The police found his body in an abandoned parking garage.”
Lucien waited.
“There were signs of a struggle,” Marco continued.
“And?”
Marco hesitated again.
“There’s something strange.”
Lucien’s voice hardened.
“Say it.”
“The technician wasn’t killed tonight.”
Lucien frowned.
“What?”
“The medical report says he died three days ago.”
Lucien’s entire body went still.
Three days ago.
That meant the technician had been dead before the warehouse incident.
Before the k********g.
Before everything that had just happened.
Lucien’s mind raced.
Which meant someone had planned this far in advance.
Someone had been carefully covering their tracks.
Lucien spoke slowly.
“Marco.”
“Yes?”
“Check the technician’s phone records.”
“What are we looking for?”
Lucien’s eyes darkened.
“I want to know who he talked to before he died.”
A pause.
Then Marco said,
“There’s already one number that stands out.”
Lucien felt a cold feeling creep down his spine.
“Whose number?”
Marco’s voice dropped.
“That’s the strange part.”
Lucien waited.
Marco finally said the name.
And Lucien’s heart skipped a beat.
“Sir…”
“The last person the technician spoke to…”
“…was Seraphina Vale.”
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