"Hubery is my son! How could I possibly mistake him?!"


    Suri was sobbing uncontrobly, her words tumbling out between gasps. "Just now, on the balcony down the hallway-I saw a boy in a ck leather jacket, smoking. He looked exactly like Hubery! How could there be two people in this world who look so alike?!"


    Emeric''s mind was a storm of emotion, but he forced himself to speak calmly, not wanting to get swept away by false hope. "Suri, maybe it was just a coincidence..."


    "It wasn''t a coincidence!"


    Evadne sat up straight on the velvet sofa, her eyes burning bright. "Suri didn''t make a mistake. There is a man who looks just like Hubery-I''ve met him. His name is Hans. When Avery kept me trapped on Rose Ind in Helgen, I crossed paths with him."


    The Ashbourne family stared at her in stunned silence.


    “Evadne! Then is he-Hubery?!" Emeric pressed, barely able to keep the tremor out of his voice.


    Evadne bit down hard, her jaw set as she hesitated. Why would Hans show up at the hospital now, of all times? There was only one exnation. The person who ran her down that night-it was Hans. The one who brought her to the hospital was Hans too.


    But when she woke up from hera, the first person she saw wasn''t Hans-it was Chad.


    Avery. Chad...


    Suddenly, a chilling revtion swept through Evadne, making her shiver. A chain of seemingly unrted events snapped together in her mind, forming a terrifying possibility. She''d never believed in coincidences. Every so-called chance encounter was connected by invisible threads.


    "Evadne, answer me!" Suri''s eyes were red and brimming with tears. "Was that Hubery? Hubery isn''t dead, is he? He survived-didn''t he?!"


    Evadne took a deep breath, her eyes suddenly shining with rity. "Suri, when you saw him on the balcony, was he still smoking, or did he leave after he finished?"


    "I—maybe I startled him. As soon as he saw me, he stubbed out his cigarette and hurried off."


    "Suri, please ask Arnold to go check the balcony-see if he can find the cigarette butt he left behind."


    Evadne''s heart was pounding. The dense, swirling fog that had been clouding her mind seemed to thin just a little. "Once we have the cigarette, we canpare the DNA to Hubery''s. We''ll know for sure if it''s him."


    ...


    Hans walked alone through the hospital''s underground parking lot, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his leather jacket. His were inturmoil the


    woman who imed to be his mother-just seeing her had sent a sharp pain through his chest, leaving his mind a tangled mess. <fn80d5> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n fin?novel</fn80d5>


    "Hans!"


    He jerked his head up. Alexia was striding toward him, her expression icy. "Why are you still here? Didn''t Sir tell you to leave immediately after bringing Evadne


    in?"


    His eyes narrowed. That night, after dropping Evadne at the hospital, he hadn''t been able to walk away. He''d hovered in the shadows, anxious, unable to shake the fear that he''d been too rough, that the girl might not make it out of the ER. But he couldn''t tell Alexia any of this. In his eyes, she was a serpent-a


    cold-blooded creature wearing a


    human face. There was no way he''d


    let her in.


    "I''m keeping an eye on Sir. The Ashbournes are all here," Hans said coolly, his


    tone dismissive.


    "That''s exactly why you shouldn''t be here!" Alexia blurted out, her nerves getting the better of her. She instantly realized she''d said too much and scrambled to exin. "Evadne isn''t easy to fool, and you already showed your face to Elvis. If the Ashbournes find out you''re at the hospital, they connect you to the ident. Sir is here too-if you''re seen together, Evadne will start to suspect there''s a connection


    between you and Sir. We''ll be in


    serious trouble."


    Hans pressed his lips into a thin line, saying nothing.


    "Just go. Take my car," Alexia urged.


    "No need." His voice was cold as he brushed past her.


    "Wait—are you sure you didn''t leave anything behind in the hospital?" Alexia''s eyes narrowed, watching him closely.


    Hans suddenly remembered the cigarette butt he''d tossed on the balcony. But he brushed the thought aside. In all these years working for Sir, he''d never left evidence at a crime scene. His DNA wasn''t in any database. Even if someone found the cigarette, it would lead nowhere.


    "No. Nothing." His answer was curt.


    Without another word, Hans strode away, his figure retreating into the dim light— aloof, solitary, and unbowed.