This time, Laney Wilson caught Naya red-handed right there in the hotel.

Laney shot Naya a glare that could burn. "I knew it was you in that video. How could you stab your own sister in the back? Do you even have a conscience?"

"My brother and your sister have always been good to you. How do you even justify this to them?"

Kayden Sanchez arrived after getting the call, and hearing Laney’s accusations, he drew a deep breath and pulled Naya into his arms.

"Eliana, I've already forgiven you. Why can't you just stay away from Moises? You seriously don't want to be with me anymore?"

Moises Garcia, who stood nearby, quickly cleared his throat. "Mr. Sanchez, please don't get the wrong idea. I met with Miss Gardner just to clear the air. I know she still has feelings for me, but I have no intention of coming between you two."

Laney looked baffled. "But she's clearly Naya. I gave her that bracelet."

With a resigned sigh, Kayden explained, "Eliana took that bracelet from Naya."

"Haven't I given you enough bracelets, Eliana? Why'd you have to take Naya's?" Kayden demanded.

"I messed up. I lost control for a moment, but I'm really here to sort things out with Moises. I promise I'll make it up to you, Kayden. I won't disappoint you again," Naya said, her voice dripping with fake sincerity.

She was so convincing she almost had me doubting my own eyes.

Then Naya looked earnestly at Laney. "What happened with Naya is my fault. I hope you won't mention this to her. I don't want to cause any misunderstandings with my sister."

Laney was convinced the person standing in front of her was me. Once Laney was gone, Kayden’s frown deepened.

"Why do you keep meeting up with him?" Kayden pressed.

Naya stayed perfectly calm under his scrutiny.

Moises let out a chuckle. "Because of love, obviously. Naya’s not exactly fond of Beckham, let alone you. You’re Eliana’s brother-in-law, yet you can’t stop thinking about your sister-in-law. Isn’t that just pathetic?"

Kayden stayed silent, while Naya acted like everything was completely normal.

"Alright, brother-in-law, let’s get going. If Beckham shows up, it’ll be hard to explain," Naya said casually, then turned to leave.

Kayden stood there, heartbroken.

But he didn’t waste a second. He fired off a slew of insulting texts to me, which, once again, seemed to vanish into thin air.

Frustrated, Kayden called his assistant. "Find out where Eliana is. I need to know where she’s run off to."

After hanging up, he started drowning his sorrows in whiskey. A few drinks in, he called Naya.

Unfortunately, she didn’t pick up.

Then I overheard Kayden pouring his heart out to her.

"Naya, why didn’t I meet you first? You and Eliana look so alike, but it’s you I’m drawn to. Why? Do you have any idea how much I care about you?"

My stomach churned. I felt utterly disgusted.

I listened as Kayden spent the entire night whispering sweet nothings.

The next morning, once he’d sobered up, Kayden slipped back into his usual routine. Over the following days, he kept finding excuses to drop by my parents’ place to check on Naya.

I’d heard she and Beckham had a falling out, so she’d been crashing at my parents’ lately.

When he saw how torn up she was, Kayden confronted Beckham. "How could you treat Naya like that? What kind of man are you?"

Beckham Washington reeled from Kayden Sanchez's punch, momentarily seeing stars. As he steadied himself, his eyes narrowed on Kayden. Their gazes locked, and a flicker of regret crossed Kayden's face—he knew he'd gone too far. "Eliana's been a mess because of your constant fighting with Naya," Kayden rushed out. "I'm here for her."

"That so?" Beckham's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Brother-in-law, I've been wondering—why hasn't Naya's sister shown her face lately?" He pinned Kayden with a hard stare, and for a split second, panic flashed in Kayden's eyes. He swallowed, then stammered, "She's... she's under the weather. That's all."

"My birthday's the day after tomorrow," Beckham pressed, suspicion coiling in his gut. "Make sure she's there."

Backed into a corner, Kayden agreed. The moment he got home, he barked at his assistant, "Still nothing?"

The assistant let out a tired sigh. "Mr. Sanchez, the last trace I found was on an abandoned hill on the city's south side. Since then... it's like she vanished into thin air."

Kayden's heart lurched. "She never left that hill?"

"No, sir."

The realization hit him like a freight train. He nearly lost his footing. Without a second thought, he grabbed his phone and dialed my parents. "Has Eliana come home?"

"No," my father Leon answered, his voice already tight. "Isn't she supposed to be with you?"

Kayden's throat closed up. "No. She hasn't been back since that day."

A heavy silence hung on the line. Then, clear as day, I heard Naya's dismissive voice cut through. "She's probably hiding—ducking responsibility like she always does. Of course she'd run. You're all falling for her act."

Her words cast a spell on my parents and Kayden, unraveling the knot of worry. "You're right," Kayden murmured. "I'll turn up the heat. If she doesn't show at Beckham's birthday... it'll look ten times worse."

"Do whatever you have to," Leon replied.

The next few days, Kayden turned desperate, pulling out every stop. He even texted me a cold threat: "Fine, you won't show your face? Then Ariana Boyd takes the fall for you."

Just like that, Ariana lost her job.

That afternoon, she stormed up to Kayden, fire in her eyes. "You're going to pay for this."

Kayden didn't even blink. "Once Eliana crawls out of hiding, this all gets sorted. For both of us."

"Eliana is dead." Ariana's voice cracked, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Kayden let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, really? Should I send flowers?"

Speechless, Ariana thrust her phone in front of his face. On the screen was a missing person post. "If you have a single shred of decency left, go identify the body."

The day before, police had uncovered a badly decomposed body. They couldn't ID it, so they'd released details—clothing, belongings—hoping someone would come forward.

Her voice broke into a sob. "I saw it on my way here. If there's any humanity left in you, go. Just... confirm if it's her."

She left him there, shaking his head. "This is insane. Eliana's too damn stubborn to die that easy."

The next day was Beckham's birthday, and I was still a ghost. Kayden's anxiety spiraled until he finally called the police.

As the party kicked off and my absence hung in the air, Beckham shot Kayden a look. "What's the deal? Eliana thinks she's too good for her brother-in-law's birthday? Couldn't even bother to show?"

Kayden opened his mouth, but the words never came. The doors swung open, and in walked two police officers. They made a beeline for Kayden. "Are you Mr. Sanchez?"

"I am," he managed, his voice barely a whisper.

"We need your assistance with an investigation," one officer said, his tone grave.

A collective gasp swept through the room. Ice crawled down Kayden's spine, his face draining of color. "Who... who's the deceased?" he stammered.

"We have confirmed the deceased is your wife, Eliana Gardner."

"No. That can't be. She... she can't be dead."