Rise Of The Wasted Shadow Wife

Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

In the depths of an old building almost forgotten by the city map, downstairs where few people knew about it and only one person really mastered it, the dim light of a desk lamp cast long shadows on the stone walls. The air in the room had not changed over the years. It was damp, full of dust, and smelled like documents that no human had touched in a long time.

It was in this room that Axel sat again-the place where he once kept a secret and slowly killed it with time. His slightly trembling hands opened a shabby folder; the color had faded, but the writing on the front was still clearly visible.

"ALESSIA SAMANTHA."

The name stabbed into her chest like an old bullet that had suddenly embedded a new pain. Behind her, the sound of slow steps approached. Gerard, a gray-haired man in a gray suit that was always too neat for such a dusty room, stood up straight, though his body showed fatigue that could not be hidden.

"This is all we've found so far," he said quietly, placing some files on the table. "But, sir... if I'm honest, finding someone who died years ago and deliberately erased himself from the system would be very difficult, especially if he doesn't want to be found."

Axel stared blankly at the small window above the concrete wall. There was no view, no sky, just an old wall that never spoke.

"Means our system is weak," he muttered. "Or he's too smart, too wounded, to corrupt my own mind."

He clenched his fist on the table, and the folder shook under the pressure of his fingers.

"The hole he made for himself, and we let him in."

Gerard looked down. He knew this wasn't about the data, it was about an old wound that had never healed and was now bleeding again.

On the other side of the city

Laura sat silently in the darkness, lit only by the blue glow of the three monitors in front of her. Her eyes stared unblinkingly at the main screen, her heart racing as if her body knew in advance that tonight would change everything.

He had infiltrated Anthony Group's internal servers-the deepest part, the part that no one but Axel himself should touch.

And that's where he found it.

A hidden folder named after a meaningless legal document file. But once he broke through the second layer of encryption, the folder opened by itself. Inside was a PDF file dated May 5, five years ago.

The title was very simple.

"Pre-Nuptial Agreement A/A"

Laura's heart skipped a beat. She opened the file slowly, as if the document could physically hurt her.

The first party: Axel Anthony.

Second party: Alessia Samantha.

But it wasn't just the names that made her body freeze.

The contents of the document were like a nightmare typed in legalese: psychological monitoring, an article on "social surrender," a protocol for "legal de-identification" in the context of emotional rehabilitation, and an agreement disguising manipulation and control as therapy.

And underneath it all, a signature. Not hers. The signature was forged.

Her hand covered her mouth. Her tears flowed-not from fear, but from the memories of the past that came crashing down. She wasn't crazy, she had never been crazy. But her mind made it seem so.

The door to her room suddenly opened. Nadine entered quickly, her face tense.

"Laura, Axel knows you're digging. He told Gerard to find out about your past, when you lived in that safe house."

Laura rose to her feet, her hands clenched into fists.

"Let him search," she whispered. "He'll only find the bones of his own lies."

Nadine looked at him. "We have to speed it up. I'll send this data to the lawyers and reporters. But Laura... you realize this is more than just a company."

Laura looked at Nadine sternly, undaunted.

"Good. The world should know. I've been silent long enough."

***

Anthony Family Home - Nighttime

The night sky hung thickly over the Anthony family's old residence. The golden yellow light from the chandelier bounced off the shiny wooden surfaces and half-filled wine glasses.

Axel sat in an old leather chair inherited from his father. In front of him, Nadine looked elegant in a cream-colored dress, her face soft, her smile shady. A woman from a world shaped by silence, not resistance.

"I know you're stressed," she said softly, pouring wine into her husband's glass. "But this is just a momentary storm. You'll get through it. As always."

Axel looked at her sharply, a look that usually made people shy away. But not Nadine.

"You've changed, Nadine. Too calm. Even for a wife of a man dragged through the media."

Nadine smiled a little. "Maybe because I know this storm will pass."

Axel squinted. "Or maybe because you know who ignited the lightning first."

Nadine's smile froze, but only for a moment.

She leaned closer, kissed Axel gently on the forehead, then whispered, "I'm on your side. Always."

***

Axel was now alone-not in the office, not in the living room, but in the basement of his father's old house, which no one had entered since his father's body was buried with the secrets it carried.

In front of him were old sheets of records from a shelter for victims of domestic violence. The name on the report had been forged. Axel stared at the paper for a long time. He was breathing heavily. His hand reached for his cell phone.

He typed:

"We need to talk. Don't run away, Alessia. You're not going to win like this."

She stared at the screen.

Her thumb was ready to press the "Send" button.

But she didn't.

She turned off her phone.

Silence fell over the room. Outside, lightning flashed loudly. The shadows on the wall moved as if alive. And there, for the first time in his life, Axel realized.

He was losing.

And his enemy wasn't just the woman he'd left behind.

His enemy was the past that returned with a face full of love, but brought hell with it.