Transmigrated: I Became My Nemesis's Woman novel Chapter 171

Chapter 171: Mom...

The next morning, Ivy woke before Xander, a dull ache lingering through her body from the intensity of the previous night. She let out a quiet groan as she pushed herself upright and reached for her phone on the bedside table.

She had received a message from Sal the night before, but exhaustion had overtaken her before she could read it. Now that she was awake, she unlocked her phone and opened the attachment.

The file contained detailed information on Logan Mortini, just as Xander had mentioned. Alongside the documents was an old photograph.

Ivy frowned.

She immediately recognized Logan and Lucas Emerson—Xander’s father—but the third man standing beside them was unfamiliar.

Scrolling further, she opened his profile and read the heading aloud.

"Officer Frederick William," she murmured.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the report before suddenly stopping on a single line.

"Dead?"

Her brows knitted together as she stared at the screen, a growing sense of unease settling in her chest.

"What about his family?" Ivy muttered to herself.

She scrolled through the file again, carefully reviewing every section, but there was no mention of any relatives.

*Did Sal overlook something?* she wondered.

The thought vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Sal was meticulous in his work. If he hadn’t included any information about Frederick’s family, it was probably because he hadn’t found any trace of them.

Lost in thought, Ivy nearly jumped when a voice broke the silence.

"Where did you get that photo?"

She looked up to find Xander awake, his eyes fixed on the screen in her hands with unmistakable curiosity.

For a brief moment, her mind went blank. *When did he wake up?* Then she realized he wasn’t watching her—he was staring at the photograph.

"I asked someone to look into Logan," she replied.

Xander’s brows drew together.

"Someone?" he repeated.

"I’ll explain that another time," Ivy said, smoothly sidestepping the question. She turned the phone toward him instead. "First, tell me this. Do you know who this man is?"

Xander studied her for a moment before shifting his gaze to the image. His expression changed almost instantly, and he gave a slow nod.

"Yes," he said. "That’s Frederick William—a respected police officer and one of my father’s closest friends."

Ivy’s eyes narrowed slightly at his answer.

"A friend..." she echoed under her breath, her thoughts beginning to race.

Something about the man unsettled Ivy, but Xander’s voice pulled her away from the thought before she could dwell on it.

"What’s going through your mind?" he asked, studying her expression.

Ivy met his gaze but kept her suspicion to herself. She had the strange feeling that she had seen Frederick somewhere before, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember where.

Instead, she asked, "Where is he now? And what about his family?"

Although Sal’s report listed Frederick as deceased, she wanted to hear Xander’s perspective.

Xander was silent for a moment before answering.

"We don’t know where Frederick is," he said. "Officially, he’s presumed dead, but I’ve never been convinced."

Ivy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The records state that Frederick died," Xander explained, leaning back against the headboard. "But when I had the case investigated years later, I found inconsistencies. The body recovered by the police didn’t appear to be his. It belonged to someone else."

Ivy’s expression grew serious.

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