Reclaiming Her Heart

Victor's hand froze, surprise flickering in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Paul replied, "The current Tessa Smith is an impostor. Jason asked Raymond to find his real daughter, and now that Raymond's gone, the responsibility of finding the Smith family's biological daughter has fallen to me."

He lowered his head, casually taking out a cigarette and offering it to Victor.

As Victor reached for it, Paul narrowed his eyes slightly. "Victor, all these years I've known you, I never realized you smoked."

Victor smiled coolly, lighting the cigarette with practiced ease and bringing it to his lips. "Picked it up overseas years ago. Just have one occasionally since the surgery."

Paul lit one for himself, his expression somber. "Being a doctor must be exhausting. You hardly ever take vacation, and sometimes patients die on your table only for their families to cause scenes at the hospital. What a mess."

"Have you found any leads on the Smith family's biological daughter?" Victor asked.

"It's nearly impossible. This happened over twenty years ago. Cora was pregnant when she got separated from Jason. By the time they reunited, she already had a baby girl in her arms, and they immediately returned to Vistalia. All records vanished. I suspect Cora is the key to everything, but Jason doesn't want to alert her."

Victor remained impassive as a doctor, he had little interest in high society gossip.

Paul chose to confide in him for two reasons: they were longtime friends, and Victor was notoriously discreet, his social circle limited to their small group.

Victor tossed his cigarette into the trash.

Paul, uncomfortable with Victor's smoking demeanor, offered another.

"Have one more. I'll be sure to tell Alex about your new habit when I see him."

Victor, nushed it away. "One is enough. I'll be at the hospital if you need anything. Just ask."

Paul nodded, finished his cigarette, and departed.

His assistant accompanied him to the car waiting outside the hospital entrance. Paul wanted desperately to call Raymond but couldn't-it had been less than three days since Raymond had taken Christopher abroad, and their communications were still under heavy surveillance.

He massaged his temples, feeling the weight of an unprecedented challenge.

Looking at the cigarette pack in his hand, he suddenly instructed, "Focus our investigation on all hospitals within a three-hundred-mile radius of where Cora appeared back then."

His assistant highlighted an area on his laptop. "The area is marked, Mr. Adams. It covers several districts."

Paul leaned back, gazing at the sunroof. "Categorize the hospitals and look for any instance where ten or more staff members resigned simultaneously about twenty years ago. This should help narrow our search."

"Yes, Mr. Adams."

Paul's eyes sharpened. Medical positions had always been considered stable employment. Mass resignations without major incidents were unusual-unless someone was covering something up. Despite powerful forces trying to bury the past, he was determined to uncover whatever trail remained.

"Mr. Adams, we've identified a primary target: Ridgefield Hospital, about two hundred kilometers from Silver Bay City. Twenty-some years ago, eight people from the same department resigned on the same day. Our team is already tracking down these former employees."

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Paul thought he'd misheard. "Where?"

"Ridgefield Hospital. Our people are tracking the former staff now."

Paul's eyes narrowed as he gave a cold smile. "Let's go to Ridgefield."

The car immediately headed toward Ridgefield. Meanwhile, Paul pulled up files on Lawrence and Richard, studying their faces carefully.

The brothers didn't actually look that similar-they weren't twins, after all. Each had distinctive features.

He enlarged Richard's photo, covering the lower portion of the face with his hand. Paul stared at the eyes for several minutes, his brow furrowed.

Then he covered the eyes, examining the lower features.

He repeated the process with Lawrence's enlarged photo, scrutinizing each facial feature.

Their similarities required careful observation. Individual features magnified showed resemblance, but overall, they shared few identical traits. Yet together, there was an inexplicable harmony.

After thirty minutes, he slammed the laptop shut, his mind a tangled mess.

Just then, Alex called, asking his whereabouts and why he wasn't at the villa. "I'm heading to Ridgefield."

"What? Why is everyone suddenly interested in Ridgefield? That tiny place Raymond's been there several times, now you're going... is there some buried treasure there? And Selena's from Ridgefield too. Is everyone congregating there now?"

A flash of insight struck Paul. His grip tightened on the phone.

Alex, receiving no response, asked, "What is it?"

"Alex, I just remembered a story I heard."

"What story?"

"Nothing important. I'll probably be back next week."noveldrama

After hanging up, Paul was about to address the driver when a violent impact struck the car, sending it tumbling over a nearby cliff.

Two figures emerged from another vehicle parked along the roadside. They exchanged glances as flames erupted from below, then pushed their own car over the cliff as well. Another explosion of fire blazed forth.

Their task complete, the two figures melted into the darkness and disappeared.