Chapter 344: He played everyone

Raphael’s POV

I froze at the sight of the thick manila envelope in front of me. “You should check that, it will answer your questions.” Dad casually said. It felt like the moment everything was about to come crashing down.

I reached for the envelope. It felt heavier than it should have.

For a moment, I just stared at it resting on the counter between us, my fingers unmoving. Something about it made my chest tighten, as if once I opened it, there would be no going back.

Ronan did not rush me. He simply lifted his glass and took a slow sip, watching me the way he always did when he already knew how things would end.

I finally picked it up and slid my finger under the flap. The papers inside were thick, neatly arranged, almost too organised. The first page I pulled out was a report. My eyes skimmed the header, and my grip tightened without me realising it.

My breath slowed as I turned the page..Then I saw the pictures.

They were grainy, taken from a distance, but clear enough to recognise the man in them. My fingers stilled as I brought one closer. The lighting was poor, the angle imperfect, but the face was unmistakable.

Lucien, I knew that face too well. The one bastard who could be mistaken for me if you didn’t look properly. Except that the name printed beneath the image was not his.

Killian Orlov.

My jaw tightened as I flipped to the next page. More images followed. Different locations, different settings, but the same man. In one, he stood among men I recognised immediately. New Horizon executives. In another, he was seated at a table, leaning slightly forward like he was in the middle of a negotiation.

My pulse began to pound in my ears. “What is this?” My voice came out lower than I expected, controlled but strained.

Ronan set his glass down with quiet precision. “An intelligence report,” he replied calmly. “I had Killian Orlov investigated. Every piece of information in that file has been verified.”

I barely heard him. My attention had already shifted to another document. I had also investigated Killian Orlov but there was almost no information about him, as if he were a ghost.

The next paper was a DNA report.

My hand trembled slightly as I read through it, my eyes scanning the lines over and over again, as if I was hoping they would change. Comparative analysis. Matching markers. Probability percentages that left no room for doubt. 100 percent DNA match.

I let out a sharp breath. “This does not make sense,” I muttered. “What is Lucien doing here?” I asked a question I already knew.

I looked up at him, my gaze hard. “Lucien is a doctor. He trained for years then abandoned his practice for illegal racing for years. The bastard didn’t even have the decency to attend my wedding. How is he suddenly leading meetings with New Horizon?”

Ronan’s lips curved slightly, but there was no humour in it. “You are still trying to separate them,” he said. “That is your mistake.”

My grip tightened around the paper. He leaned forward slightly, his voice calm, almost patient. The type of tone he used to lecture me. “Killian Orlov and Lucien Volkov are the same person.”

The words landed heavier than anything I had read. For a second, I almost laughed. It sounded ridiculous. Impossible. Lucien, reckless, arrogant, and unpredictable, is the man behind New Horizon’s calculated attacks.

But the evidence was right in front of me.

I thought back to the summit. The way he had walked in with those executives, as if he belonged there. The deal he had stolen right under so easily from New Horizon. The ease with which he handled negotiations I had assumed was far beyond his experience. He played us all as fools..

It all lined up too perfectly. Not forgetting that his maternal surname was literally Orlov. It was the truth lying in plain sight that we all ignored

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “Why?” I asked quietly.

Ronan did not hesitate. “You already know the answer.”

And I did.

My mind went back to everything the family had buried. The truth about his mother. The way Lucien had been treated growing up. The whispers. The label that had followed him everywhere.

Bastard.

A humourless smile tugged at my lips. “Of course, he would want revenge.”

Ronan said nothing, but the silence between us was heavy with agreement.

I looked back down at the file, flipping through the remaining pages. Financial trails, call logs, and more images. Every piece fit together like a puzzle I had been too blind to solve.

Then a thought hit me so suddenly my chest tightened. Braelyn. She was close to Lucien. My head snapped up. Does she know?. The question made my stomach twist. Had Lynn known all along?

My mind raced. I thought about everything that had happened recently. The stolen company secrets, the internal audits. How she watched me fall apart trying to hold everything together. My grip tightened around the file.

I have been searching for a mole. Someone was feeding them information. It was weird how New Horizon just knew somethings and I had never once suspected Lucien. He did not have access. He was not in a position to.

Or so I thought. We had a parasite among us

“How sure are you of this?” I asked again, my voice sharper now.

“A hundred percent,” Ronan replied without hesitation. “Think about it carefully. Your wife disappears. Lucien leaves the company to ’search’ for her. At the same time, New Horizon goes silent.”

My heart started to pound harder..”And now?” he continued. “They are moving again.”

I felt it then. The pattern I had been ignoring was finally locking into place. My voice came out quieter. “That means he found her.”

Ronan leaned back slightly, studying me. “It would seem so.”

The room felt colder all of a sudden.. I stared down at the file again, but my focus had already shifted. It was not the reports anymore or the evidence but the woman I had failed to protect.

Where was she? Who was she with?

“Then Braelyn…” I started, but the words refused to form properly.

Ronan let out a quiet sigh, almost like he had been waiting for me to reach this point. “You made a mistake,” he said bluntly. “And now you are paying for it.”

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