Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

68 Chapter 68

68 Chapter 68

Damien’s POV 1

The silence in the car stretched between us like a taut wire, heavy with implications I wasn’t ready to fully acknowledge. My hands clenched and unclenched on my knees as I struggled to process what Caleb had just told me. Anna hadn’t been my mystery woman- she’d been a desperate hotel cleaning lady trying to sell stolen goods.

“Tell me more about what she looked like that morning,” I said, my voice hoarse with barely controlled emotion. “Her hair color, her build

-anything you can remember.”

Caleb’s brow furrowed in concentration as he stared out at the passing streetlights. “Her hair… it was definitely blonde, just like it is now.

That awful brassy blonde that screams ‘cheap dye job. As for her build…” He shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I honestly can’t say

for certain. That cleaning uniform was so baggy and shapeless, and she was hunched over, clutching that pendant like her life depended

on it.”

My heart sank even as a terrible hope began to bloom in my chest. Blonde hair. Anna had always been blonde, even five years ago. But

the woman from that night…

Caleb was staring at me with undisguised confusion, his brow furrowed as he tried to piece together what he’d witnessed tonight.

“Damien, I have to ask,” he said carefully, “why would you hire someone like Anna as your assistant? I mean, from what I saw tonight, she

doesn’t exactly seem… qualified for a position in a major corporation.”

I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling the weight of my mistakes pressing down on me. “You’re right. Under normal

circumstances, I wouldn’t let Anna within a hundred feet of my company, let alone give her access to sensitive corporate information.”

Then why did you?”

The question hung in the air between us, and I found myself staring out at the passing city lights as I struggled to find the words to

explain five years of desperate searching and mounting frustration.

“Because she had something that belonged to me,” I said finally. “That pendant.”

I leaned back against the seat, the familiar ache of longing settling into my chest. “A few weeks ago, Anna showed up at my office lobby,

screaming about being my lover and waving my pendant around like some kind of trophy. She claimed she was the woman from that

looking for me all this

“And you believed her?”

wince. “I wanted to believe her. God help me, I was so desperate

made you

memories. And her scent…” I shuddered slightly. “Anna smells like cheap perfume and desperation. The woman from that night smelled like

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quietly, more to myself than to

between my fingers.”

definitely wasn’t your mystery woman,” Caleb said with certainty. “Trust me, there’s no way someone could mistake

for

Anna definitely wasn’t your mystery woman,” Caleb said with certainty. “Trust me, there’s no way someone could mistake

blonde for

I’d believed Anna was the woman from that magical night,

phone was in my hand before I’d even consciously decided to call Lucas. The beta answered on the second

sleep.

you have any idea

you to do something for me,” I said without preamble, my voice carrying the alpha

the security footage from the Moonlight Grand Hotel from five years ago.

fifteenth, specifically.”

he came fully awake. “Damien, that’s from five years ago. You have checked

and even if they do, the quality

difficulties,” I interrupted, my grip tightening on the phone. “Use whatever resources you need to use,

favors we have. I need that footage, Lucas. All of it—lobby, hallways,

about the pendant again, isn’t it?”

word came out raw, stripped of any pretense. “I think I’ve been chasing the wrong

Damien… even if we find something, after

intact and useful are-”

I said

Beside me, Caleb was watching me with a mixture of

woman you’ve been looking for,” Caleb said carefully, “what was she actually like? What did she look

to that night for what felt like the thousandth time. But now, instead of the bitter disappointment that usually accompanied

ever seen. She had these incredible emerald green eyes-not

dim

opened my eyes to find Caleb watching me

was petite,” I continued, warming to the subject despite the ache in my chest. “Delicate, but

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