Chapter 836

Husband? The first face that popped into my mind was Hayden’s, but I’d never seen this mother and daughter before. They had to be new neighbors, so how could they possibly know him?

“Miss, we live on the 9th floor!” the little girl chirped happily.

The 9th floor. Right above me. That’s where Tanya used to live.

“How long have you been here?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. After all, I hadn’t been living here very long. Things with Hayden had fallen apart not long after I moved in, and he’d only visited a handful of times under his “Xander persona.”

The woman started to answer, but her phone rang.

“Daddy’s calling!” the little girl squealed. “I want to answer it!”

“The signal’s bad in the elevator,” her mom said gently. “Let’s wait until we’re outside, okay?”

“No! Daddy will worry if we don’t pick up!” the girl protested.

I watched them from the side, warmth flickering in my chest. They were such a happy little family. My hand drifted to my stomach. I had a baby now, too. A little life growing inside me. And I wanted my baby to feel that kind of love—the kind that comes from a family. But where was Hayden?

The elevator dinged, announcing my floor. I gave them a small smile as I stepped out. I wanted to keep asking questions, but it wasn’t the time.

“Miss, bye-bye!” the little girl called, waving enthusiastically. “When your baby girl is born, I’ll play with her!”

“Okay, see you!”

The elevator doors slid shut, taking them up another floor. But the mother’s comment stayed with me. Had she met Hayden before? Or maybe even me? The thought gnawed at me, though I eventually convinced myself they must have moved in long before I even noticed.

When I reached my door, I unlocked my apartment with the facial recognition system and stepped inside.

Chapter 836

That’s when I saw them: men’s dress shoes sitting by the door. My heart skipped a beat. Hayden was the only one who should have been able to get in here. But after we split—before his “death”—I’d packed up all his things, including these shoes.

Could someone have broken in? A wave of panic shot through me. My instincts kicked in, and I spun around, reaching for the door to leave. But before I could open it, a deep voice stopped me cold.

“Where are you going?”

My hand froze on the doorknob. My heart thundered in my chest, my brain buzzing like it had short-circuited. Slowly, I turned.

And there he was. Hayden.

He was standing in my living room, casually dressed in gray loungewear, his short hair framing his sharp features. Sun-kissed skin, strong bone structure—he looked exactly like I remembered, yet there was something about him that felt impossibly distant.

It felt surreal, like my desperation had conjured him out of thin air. He stepped closer, reaching out to lightly tap my nose. “Don’t recognize me? Or are you just pretending not to?”

A tidal wave of emotions surged inside me. I swallowed hard, trying to keep it all down.

“Are you…Hayden?” I managed, my voice trembling.

“Who else would I be?” His smile was faint but unreadable.

I blinked, my mind racing. At DracoLux, he was ‘Xander.’ During Lena’s kidnapping, he’d been cold.

Thinking of Lena, my emotions snapped. “Were you the one who kidnapped Lena that day?”

Hayden’s smile faltered, just for a second. That tiny pause was all I needed to know the truth.

“Why would you do that?” My voice cracked, rising with anger. “Why would you take Lena? I told you to take me!”

“Kiki, calm down,” he said, stepping closer, his hands raised in a soothing gesture. “Let me explain, okay? Let’s sit down first.”

Chapter 836 (+25 BONUS)

I yanked my arm away from his reach. “Where’s Lena? What happened to her?”

“She…” Hayden hesitated.

My chest tightened. Panic clawed at me. “Where is she, Hayden? What did you do to her?”

Hayden didn’t answer. The look in his eyes made my heart plummet.

I grabbed his arm. “Say something! What happened to Lena? Tell me! Is she—”