Eleanor couldn't stop staring.
Raven was sitting on the edge of the bed, completely exhausted, her mask lying forgotten beside her.
For the first time, Eleanor could see her entire face.
And something felt strange.
Not wrong.
Familiar.
Eleanor's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Have we met before?"
Raven's expression immediately became guarded.
"I don't think so."
Eleanor looked at her for another moment.
There was something about those eyes.
The shape of her face.
The small expression she made when she was trying not to smile.
Eleanor shook her head.
"No…"
Raven looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Eleanor smiled softly.
"I think I'm just tired."
Raven didn't seem convinced.
Raven was sitting on the edge of the bed, completely exhausted, her mask lying forgotten beside her. Earlier, Raven had told Eleanor to leave so that she could not lose control of her alpha but Eleanor insisted on taking care of her.
But she was too exhausted to question it.
---
Later that evening, Eleanor finally left the penthouse.
She sat inside her car, staring through the windshield.
Something wouldn't leave her mind.
That face.
She had seen it before.
But where?
Eleanor leaned back and closed her eyes.
Then suddenly—
a memory surfaced.
A charity event from years ago.
She had been younger.
Her mother had taken her to one of Chicago's biggest social gatherings.
There had been photographers everywhere.
Powerful families.
Business owners.
Socialites.
And one family had received more attention than almost everyone else.
The Hales.
Eleanor remembered Raven's mother.
A beautiful, influential woman who seemed to know everyone in the room.
And beside her…
A young girl.
Dark hair.
Quiet expression.
Those eyes.
Eleanor's eyes suddenly opened.
"Raven…"
She reached for her phone.
She searched through an old digital archive.
She typed one name.
Raven Hale.
Several articles appeared.
Eleanor's heart began beating faster.
There she was.
A photograph.
A younger Raven standing beside her mother.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
Then she looked at the picture again.
The resemblance was undeniable.
"Oh my God."
---
Eleanor continued reading.
The articles were old.
Eight years old.
One headline immediately caught her attention.
HALE FAMILY HEIRESS DISAPPEARS AFTER FAMILY TRAGEDY
Eleanor's fingers froze.
She read the article.
Raven Hale's mother had died.
There had been rumors surrounding the death.
Then Raven's marriage had suddenly ended.
Her wife , Bella Jones, and her step brother, Jeffery Hale,had become subjects of gossip throughout Chicago's elite circles.
Then Raven disappeared.
No interviews.
No public appearances.
No photographs.
Nothing.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
The pieces were slowly coming together.
Raven's obsession with privacy.
The mask.
Her mother's properties.
Jeff.
The strange coldness whenever her past was mentioned.
And now—
that face.
Eleanor whispered,
"It really is you."
---
The next morning, Eleanor arrived at Vance Capital earlier than usual.
Sebastian immediately noticed something was different.
"You look like you didn't sleep."
"I didn't."
"Why?"
Eleanor placed her bag down.
"Can you find something for me?"
Sebastian looked curious.
"What?"
"I need information about the Hale family."
His expression changed slightly.
"The Hale family?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"Just business."
Sebastian clearly didn't believe her.
But he nodded.
"I'll look into it."
---
Across the city, Raven finally woke.
The worst of the rut had begun to ease.
She sat quietly for several minutes.
Her phone was filled with missed calls.
Most of them were from Eleanor.
Raven stared at the screen.
Then she noticed something else.
A message from Andrea.
We need to talk.
Raven immediately called her.
"What happened?"
Andrea's voice was serious.
"The files from your mother contain more than we expected."
Raven sat up.
"Explain."
"There are records of several meetings between your mother and people connected to Blackwood Heights."
Raven frowned.
"Why would my mother be involved with them?"
"We don't know yet."
Andrea paused.
"But there's another name in the records."
Raven's expression hardened.
"Who?"
"Jeffrey Hale."
Silence.
Raven's jaw tightened.
"Send me everything."
"I will."
Raven ended the call.
She looked toward the mask sitting on the table.
Then toward the photograph of her mother.
Something about her mother's past was connected to everything happening now.
And Raven was determined to uncover it.
---
At Vance Capital, Eleanor sat alone in her office.
Sebastian had already sent her the information.
She opened the file.
Photographs.
Newspaper articles.
Old social-event records.
And one photograph caught her attention.
Raven.
Young.
Unmasked.
Standing beside her mother.
Eleanor stared at it for a long time.
Then she opened the photograph she had secretly taken from the archive.
The two faces matched.
There was no doubt anymore.
The woman she had been falling for wasn't simply Raven.
She was Raven Hale.
The missing heiress.
The woman whose family scandal had once been the talk of Chicago.
Eleanor leaned back slowly.
She should have felt betrayed.
Instead, she felt worried.
Because if Raven had hidden her identity this carefully for five years…
there had to be a reason.
Eleanor closed the file.
She wasn't going to confront Raven.
Not yet.
She needed to understand what had happened first.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Raven.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
Her heart skipped.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Raven's voice came through.
"I wanted to hear your voice."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
For a moment, she forgot everything she had just discovered.
Then she smiled.
"I'm glad you called."
Neither woman knew that Eleanor now held the biggest secret Raven had spent two years protecting.
And Eleanor had no intention of exposing her.
Not until she knew the truth.
To be continued…