From His Invisible Wife to the World's Icon novel Chapter 170

Instantly, her wrist was seized.

The file was yanked right back out of her grip.

Yanked forward by his ruthless strength, she collided with Xavier's impenetrable stare.

"Looking for a free ride, Ms. Sterling?"

She gasped, remembering their agreement to exchange information. "No, of course not."

"I found a few things on my end too."

He let her go immediately.

Stumbling back, she caught her balance, the phantom pressure of his iron grip still burning her skin.

"Let's hear it," he said dismissively.

"I tracked down the guy who was managing the traffic cameras on that stretch of road. He received a massive, untraceable wire transfer the exact day of the crash."

"He was definitely bought off."

"Where is he?"

"By the time I found him, he had already emigrated."

"Look..." Afraid he'd think she was lying, she pulled up a heavily encrypted folder on her phone. It contained two years' worth of her own relentless digging.

"What else do you remember about the crash?" Xavier demanded.

The memory was agonizing, but she knew his brilliant mind might catch a detail she missed.

Taking a shaky breath, Lydia began, "That day, I had just finished meeting with my professor. I walked out of Averton University and stood under the locust tree by the main gates. Suddenly, I heard the screaming roar of an engine. By the time I looked up, a red sports car was already barreling straight for me."

"Frederick... he threw himself in front of me... We were both sent flying..."

Twisting her hands together, the sheer horror of that day paralyzed her limbs. "I remember the red car speeding off... and I think I saw Wesley rushing in with a team to drag Frederick to safety..."

She took a slow, deep breath, trying to suppress the rising panic.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

She turned to find him staring at her with unsettling intensity.

"Why were you standing there?"

"I... I was..."

She was waiting for someone.

Someone extremely important.

"Does it matter?" She really didn't want to talk about it.

"Every detail matters for an investigation," he replied coolly, withdrawing his hand.

"I was waiting for..."

She didn't even know what to call her relationship with that person.

A mentor?

He only ever offered cryptic advice when she was desperate, yet he never formally accepted her as a student.

A friend?

She remembered complaining to him about being overworked at The Zener Institute, only to find a comforting mug of hot cocoa on her windowsill the very next day.

When she was being stalked and the police did nothing...

She had cried to him online. The next morning, her stalker turned himself in, beaten to a bloody pulp.

She had been the one to confess her feelings first.

Three days ago: [Focus on your studies while you're young. Education is the one future no one can steal from you.]

Two days ago: [Graduate and come back home first.]

Yesterday: [Once you return... if you still like my face, we'll talk.]

Her heart had soared, but terrified he might find someone else, she hastily typed: [Don't get a girlfriend. Wait for me.]

He had replied instantly: [Okay.]

It was as if he had been staring at the screen, waiting for her all along.

But the euphoria of that moment only magnified the crushing despair that followed.

They had finally agreed to meet in person that day.

And then he vanished from her life completely.

"I... I was waiting for a classmate..." she lied.

He was nothing to her now. Just a phantom from her past.

Choking down the bitterness, Lydia looked up at Xavier. His pitch-black eyes were burning with a terrifying, contained rage.

Before she could process the look, he sneered.

"Your 'classmate' was probably working with the driver."

"What?!"

"He told you to stand right there, handing your exact location to the hitman on a silver platter."

"Impossible!" Infuriated by the accusation, Lydia shouted without thinking. "He would never hurt me!"

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