Rebirth Of The Heiress And The Tycoon's Lover (Alina) novel Chapter 349

Chapter 349

AUTHOR’S POV.

Lucian didn’t respond to Ace.

Instead, he rushed forward, boots hitting the floor with sharp, restless steps as he crossed the living room in seconds. The coffee table was still buried under tons of papers…old maps, photocopied documents, handwritten notes, faded. photographs, library records, bank slips, names circled in red ink.

He dropped down in front of it and began searching frantically, fingers shaking slightly as he flipped through sheets, pushing piles aside, breathing shallowly like the answer was right there and he could feel it slipping through his hands.

Ace shot Damien a sharp, warning glare,one that could cut glass,before he hurried after Lucian and crouched beside him.

“Boss,” Ace said, low but urgent. “What’s going on?”

Lucian didn’t answer. He kept searching, jaw clenched, eyes blazing with focus.

Behind them, the door to one of the rooms creaked open.

Violet stepped out, still half–startled, her hair loose around her shoulders, eyes wide as she took in the chaos…the scattered papers, Lucian on the floor, Ace tense, and a stranger standing just inside the door.

“What’s going on?” she asked softly, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself.

The sound of her voice barely registered for Lucian.

But Damien-

The moment Damien laid eyes on Violet, it was as if the world around him stopped.

The noise of the safe house faded. The tension, the urgency, the storm brewing in his chest.All of it seemed to dimmed as his gaze locked on her. For a split second, he simply stared, something unguarded flickering across his face. Surprise. Recognition without reason. A pull he couldn’t explain.

Violet didn’t notice.

She was too busy watching Lucian, worry knitting her brows as she tried to make sense of the desperation in his movements.

Ace finally turned his attention back to Lucian, voice sharper now. “What are you looking for, boss?”

Lucian froze.

Not completely though, his hand still hovered over a stack of papers, but his breathing slowed. He lifted his head slowly, eyes dark, intense.

“What we’ve been looking for,” Lucian said, voice low and steady, “has been in plain sight.”

Ace blinked. “I… don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

Lucian pushed himself up slightly, bracing a hand on the table. “The library.”

Ace frowned deeper. “The library?”

Lucian nodded once. “Yes. The one we’re supposed to be looking for, is the one closest to Violet’s old residence.”

Violet’s head snapped up. “What?”

15:24 Tue, Dec 23 TG.

Chapter 349

Lucian turned to her then, really looked at her, as if the final piece had just clicked into place. “That has to be where your mother hid the clue.”

Silence fell.

Violet’s lips parted slowly as realization dawned. “Of course,” she whispered. “Why didn’t we think of it?”

Ace straightened. “Think of what?”

“It’s that library,” Violet said, voice gaining strength now. “It’s a really old one. Hardly anyone goes there anymore. It’s outdated, quiet and almost forgotten. That’s the perfect place to hide evidence.”

Lucian’s mouth curved into a sharp, grim smile. “Exactly.”

He plunged his hands back into the mess of papers, searching with renewed focus now, movements precise instead of frantic.

Ace watched him for a beat, then shook his head slowly. “No wonder we didn’t think about it,” he muttered. “That place looks like it belongs in another century.”

Lucian’s fingers stilled.

Then he pulled out a folded, yellowed map.

“There,” he said, unfolding it carefully. “This.”

He smoothed it flat on the table. The map was old, creased at the edges, but clear. A section had been circled in red ink. A name written beside it in familiar handwriting.

Violet leaned closer, breath catching. “That’s it.”

Ace stared at it. “That’s… the exact library.”

Lucian nodded. “The one right under our noses.”

Ace exhaled slowly. “Damn.”

Lucian stood. “We’re going there. Now.”

Ace nodded instinctively. “Alright. I understand that part.” Then his eyes slid back to Damien, suspicion hardening his features. “But what I don’t understand is what Damien Evergreen is doing in our safe house.”

Damien scoffed. “Chill the fuck off, bro.”

Ace bristled.

Damien stepped forward casually, eyes flicking to Lucian with something almost fond. “Lucius,was my best friend long before you ever met him.”

Ace’s head snapped toward Lucian. “He knows?”

Lucian let out a slow sigh, rubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah. He knows.”

Ace stared at him, then back at Damien. “You serious?”

“Dead serious,” Lucian said. “So stop glaring at him and let him in.”

Ace’s jaw tightened. “How did he find out?”

Chapter 349

Damien rolled his eyes. “Because I’m smart.“He brushed past Ace deliberately. “Now get the fuck out of my way.”

Violet finally noticed him then. As soon as her eyes met his, she froze.

A blush crept up her cheeks instantly, unbidden and warm. He was so gorgeous it hurt, nothing else seemed to matter at that point as she shamefully stared at him.

Damien stopped in front of her, and smiled that slow and devastating smile of his. “Hello, darling,” he drawled. “And who might you be?”

Violet swallowed. “I…‘m Violet,” she said softly.

Ace watched her flatly, unimpressed.

Lucian rolled his eyes. “Damien, stop flirting. That’s not why you’re here.”

Damien grinned. “Can’t blame a man for appreciating beauty.”

“Sit the fuck down,” Lucian snapped. “We don’t have all the time in the world.”

Damien winked at Violet. “We’ll continue this later, darling.”

Violet’s blush deepened.

He dropped onto the couch, stretching out like he owned the place. “Alright,” he said, tone shifting, sharp now. “Now tell me what exactly is going on.”

The room stilled.

Lucian looked at the map again, then at the people around him,Ace, loyal and tense. Violet, hopeful but afraid.Damien, sharp–eyed and finally understanding.

“Everything,” Lucian said quietly, “is about to change.”

“What’s exactly going on?” Damien asked at last.

The room felt smaller the moment the question left his mouth. The hum of the lights overhead seemed louder. Even the air felt tense, like it was holding its breath.

Lucian didn’t answer immediately.

He stood near the coffee table, one hand braced against it, eyes fixed on the spread of papers like they might rearrange themselves into the truth if he stared hard enough. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm,but it was the kind of calm that came from exhaustion, not peace.

“You ask why I have been hiding all this while right?” Lucian asked, turning to Damien.

“Yeah,” Damien responded, eyes locked on Lucian.

“I’ve been hiding all this while,” Lucian said, “because I’ve been looking for the person responsible for the downfall of my family.”

Damien leaned back slightly, absorbing that. His brows drew together. “Then why didn’t you come to us?” he asked. “Why didn’t you come to my father? To Darius? You know he would have helped you.”

Lucian let out a slow breath through his nose. “No,” he said quietly. “It’s more than that.”

Damien frowned. “More than what?”

Chapter 349

Lucian straightened and finally turned to face him fully. His eyes were dark, sharp, carrying the weight of years Damien had never seen up close before.

“This person is sneaky,” Lucian said. “Careful. Calculated. You have no idea how many times I’ve been close to finding him.”

His jaw tightened.

“And every single time,” he continued, “he slips. Like smoke. Like he knows I’m coming.”

Damien’s lips parted slightly. He searched Lucian’s face, then nodded once. “Okay,” he said slowly. “So what’s the plan?”

Lucian didn’t answer.

Damien stared at him. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No,” Lucian said simply.

Damien huffed a short laugh. “Figures.”

Lucian moved then, pacing once before stopping near Ace. “But now Cassian is in the picture,” he said. “And I feel…no, I know for a fact that Cassian is working for this man.”

Damien’s eyes sharpened. “Why do you think so?”

Lucian turned to Ace. “Do you remember that conversation?” he asked. “The one those two morons trailing us were having.”

Ace blinked, then frowned. “The ones we bugged?”

“Yes.”

Ace thought for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly. “Oh,” he said slowly. “That one.”

Damien looked between them. “You’re going to have to fill me in.”

Ace crossed his arms. “They were talking like idiots,” he said. “Didn’t think anyone was listening. They mentioned their boss sending someone to pretend to be somebody else.”

Damien stiffened.

Ace went on, “At the time, it didn’t really make sense. We didn’t pay much attention to it because there were bigger things going on.”

Lucian nodded. “I didn’t see it then either,” he said. “But now?“He turned back to Damien, eyes burning with certainty. “Now it makes perfect sense.”

Damien swallowed. “You think…?”

“It has to be Cassian,” Lucian said. “He’s pretending to be me. Right now.”

Silence slammed into the room.

Violet’s breath caught softly, her fingers curling into the fabric of her sleeve.

“And if that’s true,” Lucian continued, “then everything points back to the same man. The one pulling the strings. Cassian isn’t the mastermind….he’s a pawn.”

Damien rubbed a hand over his face. “Jesus.”

“And now,” Lucian said, voice hardening, “we need to get this evidence before the marriage between Cassian and Alina.”

15:25 Tue, Dec 23 TJ G

Chapter 349

At the sound of her name, Damien’s head snapped up.

Lucian turned fully toward him. “When is it?” he asked. “When is the wedding happening?”

Damien shook his head. “They haven’t fixed a date for the wedding yet,” he said. “But the engagement-”

He hesitated.

“The engagement is happening this weekend.”

Lucian nodded once. “Fine,” he said. “The engagement can happen.”

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