Rise Of The Wasted Shadow Wife

Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

The afternoon sky was beginning to dim as rows of luxury cars began to arrive in the parking lot of a five-star hotel in the heart of the city. A fundraising event for an abandoned children's foundation was underway, attended by dignitaries, officials, and elite socialites. Among the crowd of elegantly dressed guests and suited gentlemen stood Alessia Samantha with almost untouched elegance.

A navy blue gown wrapped her body perfectly, simple but striking to the eyes of anyone who looked. Her hair was in a neat bun, her lips painted a dark red. Her every move was measured. She was no longer the Alessia of old, the woman who had been destroyed by love and lies. Now she was Laura Smith, a woman born from wounds.

"Laura Smith?" A heavy voice greeted her from behind. A voice she knew all too well, even after seven years.

She turned around slowly, and her eyes met Axel Anthony's dark pair. The man stood with a polite smile, his face still the same as the last time she saw it, only now a little older and more mature.

"Yes?" Laura replied flatly, keeping her dignity and mystery in her expression.

Axel smiled, as if he was trying to dig up a memory. "For some reason, I feel like I know you. Your face... it's very similar to someone I knew a long time ago."

Laura held her breath for a split second, then smiled faintly. "Ah, maybe it's just a coincidence. Many faces in this world are similar, aren't they?"

Axel nodded slowly, though his eyes remained probing. "Perhaps. But the look in your eyes... very familiar."

"Often it's the memories that are familiar, not the faces," Laura replied calmly, then turned away, picked up the glass from the high table, and stepped away elegantly.

Axel could only stare at the woman's retreating back among the gala guests. There was something inside him that trembled. Not just curiosity, but like an old wound being re-scratched. But he didn't know why.

Meanwhile, Laura stepped into the hotel lounge, where Nadine was waiting for her. Nadine was wearing a white blazer with neat black pants, her face lightly made up but looking stern. They both looked like two warriors with a strategy, not two women who had been in a cycle of suffering.

"He saw me," Laura said after sitting down.

Nadine looked surprised. "Axel?"

Laura nodded. "But he wasn't sure. I managed to turn that conjecture on its head."

"You've always been good at putting on a mask," Nadine murmured as she sipped her coffee. "We're proceeding as planned. The next step is to enter the foundation project managed by his group. I'll find a way for you to be the main contact."

Laura nodded. But before they could discuss further, Laura's cell phone vibrated. Her face instantly changed when she saw the name on it: Sister Dina.

"Yes, Sister?" she asked quickly.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Laura. Galen has a high fever. We've taken him to the hospital. The doctor is examining him, but he's very fussy, and his temperature is almost 39 degrees."

Laura got up instantly, her face pale.

"I have to go now. Galen's in the emergency room," she said hurriedly to Nadine. "We'll continue another time."

Without waiting for a reply, Laura took a small jog out of the room, hopped into her private car, and rushed to Jakarta Main Hospital, where her little boy was being treated.

On the other side of the hospital, Axel had just visited one of his friends who was being treated for a minor accident. He was just about to leave when he saw a little boy being carried by a woman in a nurse's uniform in the pediatric emergency room.

The boy was crying softly, his face reddish. But it wasn't the crying that caught Axel's attention; it was the boy's face.

He stopped what he was doing.

There was something about the boy's face that made his chest feel tight. The small forehead, the shape of the eyes, and the line of the lips were too similar. Too familiar.

It was like looking at a small version of himself.

"Impossible," Axel muttered inaudibly.

He took a few steps closer without realizing it. The nanny holding the boy was trying to calm him down with soft singing. Even in fever and pain, the toddler still looked like a reflection of his childhood self. That nose, those cheeks, that look in his eyes it was all too real.

"Who is this child?" Axel thought.

He wanted to ask but felt it was too presumptuous. He turned away, trying to dismiss the strange thoughts that began to swirl in his mind. But before he could really leave, his eyes caught the figure that had just entered the hospital with hurried steps.

Laura.

The woman looked panicked, walking quickly towards the emergency room without paying attention to her surroundings. Her hair was loose, her face without makeup, but still exuding an elegance that could not be hidden.

And in that instant, all the splinters in Axel's head seemed to merge.

That child's face.

That woman's face.

"Laura Smith or Alessia?"

Axel stood transfixed. His heart was racing. He felt the whole world around him turn into an echo. His head was filled with questions.

Was it possible?

Was it possible that the woman was Alessia?

And... that child... could it be?

But before he could move, Laura had already entered the room. The emergency room door closed, leaving Axel with a thousand puzzles that began to choke his chest.

He closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath, but it all made no sense. The world he thought he had control over was slowly cracking before him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Laura hugged Galen tightly. The little boy was crying in her arms, but his fever was starting to subside a little.

"Sshh... Mama's here, baby. Mama's here."

Laura's tears fell slowly. Not just because Galen was sick, but because the world she had been keeping close... was now starting to peek out. And Axel, the man she wanted to avoid the most, had begun to smell the shadow she had been hiding.