“I remember!” Hadley nodded, eyes wide.

“To be sure, I had samples taken from each part and sent for analysis. I compared them with Locke’s DNA.”

In truth, from the very moment the police informed him they had located Elissa, Ernest had been yearning to do exactly that. But fear had stopped him. Fear that the truth would destroy him. Yet once the body was cremated, he would lose the chance to ever know.

So, the day before, he had taken his team to the funeral home.

Hadley held her breath. “And the results?”

“The result…”

Because what the police had recovered was incomplete—fragmented remains gathered piece by piece—the sheer number of samples made the DNA analysis take longer than usual. And in those agonizing days of waiting, Ernest felt as if he were trapped in purgatory.

His face had turned ghostly pale, hands clasped tightly in front of him, trembling ever so slightly. “The remains… they weren’t entirely Elissa’s.”

Upon hearing that, Hadley froze, her breath catching.

Ernest’s eyes lit with a flicker of hope, his voice suddenly more alive. “I believe Elissa is still out there—still alive!”

“But…” Hadley’s voice faltered. The color drained from her face as the reality of his words sank in.

If the DNA analysis confirmed the remains were partly Elissa’s… why would Ernest insist that Elissa was still alive?

She stared at Ernest, bewildered. “How could that even be possible? I mean—”

“I have no idea!” Ernest shut his eyes in pain, his voice cracking.

Even after six long months, just speaking about it made him visibly ill—his hands curled into fists, knuckles white, veins taut with tension.

“But it doesn’t add up,” he said, forcing himself to calm down. His voice steadied, filled with a quiet conviction. “I truly believe Elissa might still be alive.”

Lɑττ cнαρτ?rs n glov?l.o

Hadley didn’t respond. Her thoughts spiraled into chaos.

Could it truly be? Was there even the faintest chance?

“Hadley.” Ernest’s features softened, a mix of guilt and remorse shadowing his voice as he said quietly, “There’s something I need to ask you…”

“What is it?”

“You and Eric…” Ernest hesitated, and then pressed on, “Do you think there’s still a chance for the two of you—if Elissa is truly alive?”

In Ernest’s mind, the unraveling of Eric and Hadley’s relationship stemmed from the tragic loss of Elissa.

At first, he had pinned the blame on Ayla, consumed by the overwhelming sorrow of Elissa’s death, which left him little room to probe deeper into the truth.

But as time passed, clarity emerged like dawn breaking through a stormy night. He came to realize that Gifford and Linda had woven a malevolent plot to shatter their world, targeting Elissa as their victim.

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