Chapter 3 – Echoes of a Dead Wife

**LuTech Headquarters – Private Intelligence Division**

Julian stood before a digital wall of images. Serena’s face stared back at him from ten different angles—arrival at Rainport International, courtroom footage, hotel surveillance, street cam stills. The software’s verdict blinked in bold red letters:

**Facial Match: 92.7%**

**Probability: HIGH**

**Anomaly: Conflicting global travel records**

Peter cleared his throat behind him. “We triangulated her movements. ‘Serena Shi’ spent the past five years in Zurich, Hong Kong, and Dubai. But—”

Julian cut in. “Serena Lang died in Rainport five years ago.”

“That’s the official story. But there’s no biometric confirmation. Autopsy records were sealed, per request of Vivian Lu. The coffin was closed due to... contamination.”

Julian turned. “She claimed infection risk. No one questioned it.”

Peter hesitated. “Except the funeral home. Their logs show Vivian paid in full but never viewed the body.”

Julian stared at the images again. “Pull hospital records from the day of the car crash. All of them.”

Peter nodded and stepped out.

**Rainport—Downtown Apartment**

Serena double-locked the front door and slid the deadbolt. A small red light on the wall camera blinked.

“Still on loop,” she muttered.

“Is the floor secure?” Willow asked from the hallway, hugging her stuffed dolphin.

“For now,” Serena replied. “But we’re updating everything. Come here.”

She led Willow to the kitchen table, where a laminated emergency sheet sat.

“Four codes,” Serena said. “One for fire, one for strangers, one if Mommy doesn’t come back in time—”

Willow interrupted, “You’ll always come back.”

Serena hesitated, then smiled faintly. “Yes, but we prepare anyway.”

She opened the violin case resting beside the counter. Instead of an instrument, a portable hard drive and multiple IDs sat nestled inside.

Willow tilted her head. “Why is your violin glowing?”

“It’s protecting truth,” Serena said.

A knock on the door made them both freeze.

“Room service,” a voice called from the hallway.

Serena’s eyes narrowed. “We didn’t order anything.”

She picked up her phone, opened the building’s security app—and cursed.

The hallway feed was ten minutes behind. Someone had hacked the system.

**Lu Estate – Private Study**

Julian’s mother, in pearls and navy silk, appeared on the hologram call. “Julian, detectives were here today asking questions about Serena’s grave. What’s going on?”

“I’m reviewing something,” he said.

“Did Vivian send them?”

Julian avoided the question. “Tell me something. Why didn’t we ever see Serena’s body?”

His mother’s expression shifted. “Vivian said it was traumatic. Better to remember Serena as she was.”

“But you accepted it. Without proof. Without even... confirming.”

His mother’s voice dropped. “Julian. Are you saying she’s alive?”

“I don’t know what I’m saying,” he murmured. “But I’m starting to think I should’ve looked inside that coffin.”

He ended the call and sat down, opening a drawer.

Inside lay a velvet box. He clicked it open for the first time in five years.

The engagement ring glinted under the light—untouched, sea-worn, but unbroken.

**Rainport Apartment – Later That Night**

Serena pressed her back to the wall beside the window, phone in one hand, USB stick in the other.

The system footage looped again. No door tampering. No security breach. Just... delay.

“Someone knows I’m here,” she whispered.

Willow, now asleep, clutched the music box like a shield.

Serena tucked the flash drive into her coat pocket and stared at her reflection in the window.

“Five years,” she whispered to herself. “You’ve come back sharper, stronger. You know how they play this game.”

But the image staring back at her didn’t look victorious. It looked haunted.

Because no matter how tightly she locked the present, the past had started to knock.