The Billionaire's Dead Fiancée

Rain lashed against the floor to ceiling windows of the Wolfe Tower penthouse, turning the glittering city below into a blur of silver lights. Adrian Wolfe stood motionless before the glass, one hand buried in the pocket of his tailored black trousers. The other held a small velvet box that had grown familiar in his grasp over the past three years. He opened it. A diamond engagement ring caught the faint morning light. For a long moment, he simply stared at it. "You should've been wearing this." His voice was quiet, almost swallowed by the storm outside. Three years. Three years since the explosion. Three years since the woman he loved disappeared in flames. Three years since the entire world attended a funeral he refused to attend. There had been no body. No final goodbye. Just ashes... and unanswered questions. A sharp knock interrupted the silence. "Come in." The door opened carefully. Nathan Brooks, Adrian's longtime assistant, stepped inside holding a tablet. "You'll be late for the board meeting." Adrian closed the ring box and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. "I know." Nathan hesitated. It wasn't like Adrian to arrive late. Not anymore. Not after the explosion. The tragedy had transformed him from an ambitious young businessman into the coldest billionaire in the country. Newspapers called him ruthless. Competitors called him dangerous. Employees simply called him "Mr. Wolfe." No one called him Adrian anymore. He preferred it that way. Nathan cleared his throat. "There's something else." Adrian looked up. "What is it?" "A woman has been asking to see you since dawn." "I don't take unscheduled meetings." "I told her that." "And?" Nathan shifted uneasily. "She refused to leave." Adrian walked toward the door. "Security?" "They escorted her out." "Good." Nathan didn't move. "Five minutes later... she came back." Adrian frowned. "How?" "We're still trying to figure that out." For the first time that morning, something resembling curiosity crossed Adrian's face. "Who is she?" "We don't know." "What does she want?" Nathan swallowed. "She said she has a message from your fiancée." Silence. The word struck the room like thunder. Nathan instantly regretted repeating it. No one mentioned Adrian's late fiancée. Not ever. Adrian's expression hardened. "My fiancée is dead." "Yes, sir." "So whoever she is, she's either insane... or looking for attention." "That's what security thought." Adrian reached for the door. "I'll deal with it myself." The executive boardroom on the sixtieth floor buzzed with quiet conversation until Adrian entered. The room fell silent. Every executive stood. "Good morning, Mr. Wolfe." He acknowledged them with a slight nod before taking his seat at the head of the long table. Nathan placed several documents before him. "The Singapore acquisition requires your signature." Adrian barely glanced at them. His mind wasn't on business. It was on the stranger downstairs. The meeting had barely begun when the boardroom doors burst open. A young security officer rushed inside, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry for interrupting, sir." Adrian's icy stare met his. "What happened?" "She came back." Nathan sighed. "I'll have her removed." The guard shook his head. "We tried." "And?" "She told us she'd leave after speaking to Mr. Wolfe." "Throw her out." "We attempted to." The guard looked visibly shaken. "Sir..." "What?" "Everyone in the lobby stopped moving." Adrian's patience thinned. "I don't have time for riddles." The guard lowered his voice. "They thought they saw a ghost." The lobby of Wolfe Tower was crowded with employees pretending to work while stealing glances toward the entrance. Conversations had stopped. Coffee cups hung forgotten in midair. Even the receptionists stood frozen. A woman stood alone beneath the enormous crystal chandelier. She wore a simple cream-colored coat, dark trousers, and low heels. Nothing about her clothing was remarkable. It was her face. Adrian stepped out of the elevator. The crowd slowly parted for him. His footsteps echoed across the polished marble floor. The woman turned. Time stopped. The ring box slipped from Adrian's fingers. It hit the marble floor with a soft click. His breathing became shallow. Impossible. It couldn't be. The same deep brown eyes. The same elegant features. The same small scar near her left eyebrow. The woman staring back at him had the exact face of the woman who had died three years ago. No. Not just similar. Identical. The lobby remained silent. Neither of them spoke. Finally, the woman took one slow step toward him. Her expression wasn't warm. It wasn't emotional. It was filled with cold, unmistakable hatred. She stopped only a few feet away. When she spoke, her voice was calm. "You don't remember me..." Adrian couldn't answer. "...but I'll never forget what you did." His heart pounded. "I've never seen you before." Her lips curved into a bitter smile. "That's the biggest lie you've ever told." Nathan stared between them, utterly confused. Employees exchanged frightened whispers. Someone quietly muttered, "Isn't that..." "The dead fiancée..." The woman never took her eyes off Adrian. "I've spent three years waiting for this moment." Adrian forced himself to speak. "Who are you?" She leaned slightly closer. Then whispered words only he could hear. "You should have died in that fire instead." The color drained from Adrian's face. Before he could stop her, she turned and walked toward the revolving doors. No one dared stand in her way. He watched her disappear into the rain. For the first time in three years... The man who feared nothing felt fear. Because ghosts didn't walk. And yet... One had just looked him in the eyes.