Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 469

Chapter 469: Secrets unravelling
As the clean, black boots came to a stop in front of the large oak doors, Nicolai raised his hands and pushed open the door of his mother’s office before walking right in.

“Did you call me, mom?” Nicolai asked with a sweet smile as he stared at his mother with a flattering expression. He for one knew why his mother called him.

“I did,” Inez raised her head from the documents that were placed in front of her. She looked at her son, who was smiling at her as if everything was alright and narrowed her eyes. For one, she knew that Nicolai only made such an expression when he was guilty of something.

And this time certainly there was something wrong with him.

However, Inez didn’t question him outright. Instead, she went ahead and said to him, “Do you know, Nico? There is a little case that was brought before me. A woman who disappeared from the surface of the earth as if she never existed. Funny, right? No one knows where she has gone. Did someone hurt her? Murder her? Or kidnapped her? No one has the slightest bit of idea, which is really funny, as I am sure that this is nearly impossible. What do you say?”

Nicolai laughed lightly as he looked anywhere but his mother. He knew that his mother was a sharp woman, but he never thought that she would sniff his scent lingering over the case without even catching his tail.

“So,” Inez asked with a sharp voice. “What’s going on? What’s with this missing woman? Who just happened to be the mother of the woman you are getting close to these days?”

Nicolai tilted his head to one side before clapping his hands. He commented, “Sure enough, mother, there is nothing that I can hide from you. When did you find out about Pallas? Never mind that; how did you dig so deep in this matter?”

“Nico,” Inez called him sternly.

“What?” Seeing that his mother was still looking at him with a stern expression, Nicolai rolled his eyes before saying to her, “I have done nothing wrong. And just because she is Ari’s mother, I will not do anything like vanishing her—or making her disappear from the world.”

Inez remarked, “I hope you are speaking the truth, Nico. I know that you are protective of those whom you are close to, but harming an innocent woman who has nothing to do with the underworld is against the law. The senators of the Phantom Familia will not stay quiet if they were to find out that there was your hand in this case.”

“You know that they are trying to push Henry to the position of the next head.”

Henry was one of the orphans that the second in command of the senate raised. However, for some reason they wanted Henry to become the next head instead of him.

And unfortunately for them, Nicolai knew why. Those old fuckers wanted full reign over the Phantoms and took the old rule of not harming those in power and authority as nothing but a hindrance.

Nicolai calmly said to his mother, “I did nothing. I can assure you that I had no hand in killing that woman.” He was not telling any lies. After all, he indeed did not kill that woman. Worst came to worst; he only helped in hiding the body and nothing else.

“Let us hope that what you are saying is the truth,” Inez said with a sigh.

Nicolai stepped out of the room and heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the doors behind him closed.

“Mister de Luca,”

Nicolai raised his head and looked at Regal, whom he had hired after the man had shown his skills the last time Ari was kidnapped. Though he trusted Zena for some reason, he had a feeling that the woman was hiding a lot of things from him.

As a man who had always kept a backup plan for himself, Nicolai had decided to bring Regal with him.

“What’s the matter?” Nicolai asked Regal.

Regal looked left and right in the corridor to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation before turning to look at Nicolai and saying in a low voice, “I investigated the matter that you asked me to look into, Mister de Luca. And I found out that there were two women pregnant that year.”

“And both of them gave birth on the same day—but one of them had a premature baby while the other one had a full term.”

Nicolai raised his brows slightly as he questioned, “And who was the one who had a premature baby and who had a full-term one?”

“Mrs. Ashford,” replied Regal promptly. “Though the data records were destroyed, I was able to recover most of them. According to the data I have collected that day, there was a big accident where a woman lost her life as a truck was overturned in front of her car.”

It resulted in a full lockdown, and no one was able to drive out of the city. It was during this stay when Mrs. Ashford had a baby.” He paused and then added, “And the second woman who had a child on the same day just an hour ago was Mrs. Harlow.”

“Mrs Harlow?”

So, his guess was right? So the woman who had stolen Ariana’s place was none other than Penelope? And the one who exchanged the baby was most probably Mrs. Harlow.

No wonder the Ashford brothers were clinging onto Ariana; they most probably knew about her identity.

Now the only key that he needed to find was the masked man.

“You have done a great job, Regal,” Nicolai praised the man who smiled at him before lowering his head in a flattering manner.

“I am just doing my job, Mister de Luca.” Regal sounded pleased.

**

“You want to invite me where?” At night, Ari met with Leila and asked with a frown on her face.

“To Ryan’s father’s birthday party,” Leila sighed as she replied. She looked at Ari, who stared back at her ominously and remarked, “I am just as unhappy about this as you, but I have no choice!”