Chapter 64

Romaric moved with impossible speed, faster than anyone outside his former life would expect. The discussion with Adeline, Miss Kai, and her husband had barely ended when he activated the quiet network he never spoke about. Old favors, former colleagues, and agents buried in the unacknowledged corners of the Secret Service all responded within hours. That was all he needed to locate Yada’s discreet hideaway.

In the early morning, he rushed to a private clinic tucked inside a quiet residential district, far away from the media frenzy surrounding the Niran Kai Medical Center. Romaric bypassed the front desk and navigated the corridor with the silent, efficient precision of a ghost. He scanned the room numbers, found the one he wanted, and entered without knocking.

Yada sat beside a hospital bed, calmly reading a journal. Her posture was professional, but the strain around her eyes betrayed her anxiety. She looked up, and her composure shattered into alarm.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered sharply as she rose to her feet.

Romaric did not answer immediately. His gaze shifted beyond her, toward the patient on the bed. He froze.

Kannika lay unconscious, pale and weak.

The sight jolted him. He had expected Yada to be visiting someone, but finding Kannika was a breakthrough he had not anticipated. He remembered seeing her recently, healthy and standing beside Evelyn. In an instant, the pieces he had been unable to place earlier began to align. No wonder he had been unable to track her through standard records.

“What happened to her?” he asked in a low, controlled voice.

Yada stepped in front of him, blocking his view. “How did you get here?” she demanded.

Romaric checked the corridor again, alert for movement. “Listen, I am not here to cause trouble. I need your help, right now.”

“You still did not answer my question,” she insisted.

“I traced your phone,” he admitted before lowering his voice. “Can we talk somewhere else? This floor is too exposed.”

Yada hesitated, torn between caution and the urgency in his voice. Finally, she nodded and led him to a quiet visitor’s lounge hidden away from the busy wards.

“What do you want?” she asked, arms crossed defensively.

“I need to know everything you can tell me about Evelyn. Did you see her after the shooting?”

Yada narrowed her eyes. “You should know more than I do. Williams is your boss.”

Romaric’s jaw tightened. “Not anymore.”

Surprise flickered across Yada’s face. That sudden absence of context explained his silence during the chaos at Niran Kai Medical Center. Everything in their fractured web felt as though it was unraveling at once.

“I do not know where Evelyn is,” Yada said. “The last time we spoke was when she asked to see the Mayeurs. After that, she only sent this.”

She handed him her phone. The screen displayed a neutral message with a timestamp that made Romaric’s stomach drop. It had been sent hours after the assassination attempt.

A cold certainty settled inside him.

Evelyn was in Williams’s hands.
Alive or dead, she had become leverage.

Yada snatched her phone back. “Wait. Why are you no longer working with Williams? What happened?”

Romaric paused, choosing his words carefully. If Evelyn was hurt, Yada would be next. “She was not satisfied with my services,” he said quietly.

Yada sensed the lie. She shifted her attention to something more urgent. “Tomorrow is Monday. That is the day Evelyn has to confirm whether she is keeping the baby or not. She has vanished, and I know Williams must be involved. I will find out the truth.”

Romaric reached out and held her arm, firm but gentle. “Do not involve the police. You will expose yourself to Makizal.”

Yada pulled away. “Then tell me what I do not know. Tell me everything.”

Romaric understood that the time for half-truths had passed. He leaned closer, his tone steady and serious. “The woman you know as Evelyn Hazel is actually named Esther Dara, and yes, it is possible Williams has something to do with her disappearance.” He straightened and added, “But please don’t make any attempt on Williams. let me contact you later. I will find out where she is.”

Before Yada could respond, several medical assistants rushed toward Kannika’s room. She was stirring violently. If Kannika was waking up, Yada had to be there to keep the internal affairs officers from dragging her straight into interrogation.

“If Williams is ill, then Evelyn’s case will also be postponed. I will wait for your call,” Yada said, standing abruptly. “I have to go.”

She hurried back toward Kannika, leaving their conversation unfinished.

Romaric followed at a distance. He paused at the doorway and glanced inside one last time. Kannika was fighting consciousness, and every movement hinted at secrets she had not yet revealed. The entire ward felt heavy with answers he could not afford to stay and collect.

Then he slipped silently out of the clinic.

Meanwhile, in the secret apartment, Adeline stood before the mirror. The professor’s words about Williams’s unmet needs echoed in her mind. For the first time in days, she truly examined the woman staring back at her. She saw determination, exhaustion, fear, and love all at once. She finally realized she had been fighting for something she had been neglecting in her own life.

She stepped into the living room. Her husband, Riz, sat comfortably on the couch, sipping coffee.

“Hey, are you alright?” he said warmly, setting his mug aside.

“Yes,” Adeline replied, steadying her voice. “Well, not really. I am sorry. If you felt neglected by me.”

He rose immediately and walked toward her with gentle amusement in his eyes. “There is nothing to apologize for. I understand. This case has consumed you. Besides,” he pointed at the television, “I am not exactly lonely.”

She glanced at the vibrant game on the screen. “A video game?”

He beamed. “My colleague introduced it to me. It is something we can all play together when things get stressful. Honestly, it is fantastic.”

Adeline looked at him with soft affection. This was why she loved him. He took life’s pressures and transformed them into simple comforts. They had survived difficult years and good ones, and he remained the anchor that steadied her.

“Should I be jealous of your virtual friends?” she teased.

“Maybe,” he joked.

“Well then,” she said with exaggerated disappointment, “I suppose I should go back to wherever I came from.”

She turned dramatically, but he caught her gently by the arm.

“Wait. If you leave now, you will miss the meal I prepared for you, the new cologne I placed on the dresser, and that hot coffee with milk, prepared exactly the way you like it.”

She paused, smiling. “You had me at the cologne and the coffee.” She softened. “What about the last part?”

“The last part?”

“What if we enjoy all that together? Before you return to work, especially since you are still on medical leave.”

He laughed. “Good idea. Give me one minute.” Then he hurried to the kitchen to gather the meal.

As she watched him move, her heart settled with a quiet certainty.

If Williams needed to learn how to love someday, Adeline needed to protect the love she already had. She could not allow her work to destroy the very thing she was fighting to understand.

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