Chapter 22 - The Resurrection
Adrian returned home an hour later, stepping out of his SUV with his usual commanding presence.
He found me in his study, sitting in his leather chair with the antique veil spread across the desk.
When his eyes landed on the lace fabric, he stopped completely in his tracks.
The color drained from his face, leaving him looking like a ghost.
"Where did you get this?" Adrian demanded, his voice barely a whisper.
"It was delivered to the front gate this afternoon," I replied softly.
He walked slowly to the desk, picking up the handwritten note.
His knuckles turned stark white as he gripped the thick cardstock.
"It's impossible," Adrian muttered, shaking his head.
"I identified her car after the crash, Nia."
"I buried her."
I stood up, walking around the desk to wrap my arms around his waist.
"DNA tests can be faked, Adrian," I reminded him gently.
"Especially by a woman who had the resources of the most powerful families in the city."
Adrian closed his eyes, a look of pure, unadulterated rage twisting his handsome features.
Victoria hadn't just been his wife.
She had been the daughter of a rival syndicate boss, a marriage arranged for power, not love.
When she supposedly died in a fiery car crash, it ignited a brutal turf war that Adrian had barely survived.
"If she is alive, she doesn't want the boys," Adrian stated, his voice turning to ice.
"She never wanted them when she was here."
"She wants leverage," I finished for him, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
"She knows you rebuilt your empire, and she wants her cut."
Adrian pulled me tight against his chest, burying his face in my hair.
"I will not let her near you, and I will not let her near my sons," he promised fiercely.
But I knew the reality of our world now.
May you like
Victoria wasn't just a threat from the outside.
She was a ghost with a legal claim, and ghosts were incredibly hard to kill.
