?Chapter 692:

    She longed to stay beside Dobbs, to arrange a burial with the dignity he deserved. But she could not afford to linger. Her identity could not be exposed. Not now. Not yet. So, with a heavy heart, she slipped the nurse’s mask back over her face and tucked her hair beneath the cap. Without a word, she left the room and disappeared into the hospital corridors like a shadow melting into the walls.

    Not long after her departure, a team of medical staff hurried into the room. They checked vitals, confirmed the silence of his heart, and pronounced Dobbs dead. With no next of kin, the hospital arranged a quiet burial in a city-run cemetery.

    Elliana couldn’t be seen—not yet. But she stayed close. Hidden beneath the shade of a distant tree, she watched everything. She saw them lower his body into the ground and observed as the soil was gently packed over the grave.

    When the mourners had gone and silence returned to the lonely cemetery, she finally stepped out from the shadows, ready to pay her final respects. But just as her foot touched the gravel path, her gaze locked on a familiar figure across the cemetery.

    The sky hung low, gray and heavy. A deep silence settled over the cemetery like a nket.

    A man in a sharp suit walked slowly toward Dobbs’ grave. He stopped and stared at the name carved in stone.

    Elliana watched from behind a wide tree. Her breath hitched. It was Darin. She hadn’t seen him since their tense exchange at the Jones’s house. Now, seeing him here hit her like a punch to the chest.

    A question red in her mind, followed by a wave of pure rage. Had Darin sent someone to kill Dobbs? She stepped out from behind the tree, her voice sharp, cutting through the quiet. “You killed Dobbs, didn’t you?”

    Darin flinched and turned fast. His face showed real surprise. “Elliana? What are you doing here?” he asked.

    “Answer me!” Elliana snapped.

    “It wasn’t me,” Darin said, his jaw tight.

    A bitterugh escaped her lips. “Oh,e on. You’ve always wanted full control over Mom’s form. Dobbs stood in your way. You tracked him down, demanded the forms, and when he refused, you snapped. You killed him. That’s what happened, right?”

    Darin let out a breath, his mouth twisting into a grim smile. “It really wasn’t me. I get why you’d think that way. You’re right—I’ve been trying to locate him. I needed theplete form to break free from him. But by the time my men and I found him, he was already dying.”

    M??? ??d???? ?? g????????.????

    Elliana’s eyes locked onto his, cold and steady. “Why should I believe you?”

    Darin looked down at the tombstone and sighed. “I didn’t want him dead, Elliana. More than the form, I’ve always just wanted your mother back. Dobbs was ourst connection to her. Why in God’s name would I destroy that? Believe me or not, Elliana, I truly love your mother. If I could trade everything to bring her home, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

    Elliana said nothing. Her lips pressed into a hard line.

    Darin took a step closer. “Those who seriously injured Dobbs… I bet they were professionals. Hired guns. Probably sent by your biological father. After all these years, he’s still hunting your mother.”

    At the mention of him, Elliana’s hands clenched into fists. Could it be him? The thought crept in like poison. That bastard. Cold resolve settled in her chest. She would find him and make him pay.

    .

    .

    .