Chapter 1 📖 Prologue

A cold wind swept over the shoreline, the salty air stinging as it whipped against the rocks and the darkened sky. The ocean's waves crashed violently onto the beach, drowning out everything but the sound of its fury. Beneath the inky blackness of the heavens, the body of a woman lay crumpled on the jagged rocks, her clothes torn and her skin bruised, as though the sea had spit her back out after toying with her.

Elena King's breath had long stopped.

At least, that's what the authorities had claimed when they found her lifeless form, washed up on the shores of a remote beach. No identification. No memories. Just a body.

A casket was prepared, a funeral was held, and Alexander King, the billionaire CEO who once stood tall and unshakable, was left in shambles, the world he had worked so tirelessly to build slipping from his fingers.

But Alexander knew better.

There were whispers in the dark, shadows of doubt that clung to him despite the well-intentioned condolences. His wife, Elena, the love of his life, couldn't be gone. She couldn't have just vanished, leaving him with nothing but a cold grave and unanswered questions. He would not let it be true. The empty casket, the lack of evidence - it all felt like a lie. He was certain of one thing: Elena was out there, somewhere.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, but no matter how hard he searched, there were no answers. Elena had simply vanished.

But Alexander was never one to give up. He poured over every detail, investigated every lead. Until one fateful night, when a call came through to his phone - a single, cryptic message that turned his world upside down: "I found her."