Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Nerd and the Hockey King : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

The drive back from the laboratory was painfully quiet.Rain streaked across the car windows, blurring the city outside into shades of gray.Lila sat in the back seat beside Ethan.Their hands rested close together.Not touching.Just close enough that she could feel the warmth coming from him.Her mind replayed the day’s events over and over again.Professor Carter wasn’t her father.She should have felt relieved.She did.But relief hadn’t brought peace.It had only created more questions.Who was Elena Rivers?Who was the mysterious person in the DNA database?Why had Carter reacted the way he did?Nothing made sense.Ethan glanced toward her.“You’ve been quiet.”She gave a tired smile.“My brain won’t stop.”“It doesn’t have to figure everything out today.”“I know.”“But it keeps trying.”He nodded.“I figured.”She looked at him.“How?”“You’ve been twisting the same ring on your finger for the last twenty minutes.”She looked down.He was right.She hadn’t even realized she wa

Lila barely made it through dinner.The image from the security footage kept replaying in her mind.A young woman.A gray evidence box.The same woman from the anonymous photograph.Elena Rivers.If the footage was real, then Elena hadn’t simply disappeared after leaving Lila with her adoptive parents.She had gone back.Back to St. Mary’s.Back for something important.The question was why.After dinner, Lila found her parents sitting quietly in the living room.Her father was reading the same page of a newspaper for what felt like the tenth time.Her mother held a mug of tea she hadn’t touched.They both looked up when she walked in.“Dad.”He immediately folded the newspaper.“I know that look.”She remained standing.“I need the truth.”Neither of them spoke.She took a slow breath.“No more half-truths.”“No more promises that were made for someone else.”Her voice trembled.“This is my life.”Her mother lowered her eyes.Her father nodded slowly.“You’re right.”He motioned for

The morning after visiting Margaret Doyle, neither Lila nor Ethan could stop thinking about what she had said.“Two babies everyone was arguing about.”The words refused to leave Lila’s mind.She sat in the university library, surrounded by old newspaper clippings, hospital directories, and city archives. Every few minutes she sighed and crossed another useless article off her list.“There has to be something,” she muttered.“There is.”Ethan walked over carrying two thick archive books.“You’ve officially turned me into a library person.”Lila laughed.“I don’t believe that.”“It’s true.”He dropped the books onto the table with a dramatic groan.“I know the difference between microfilm and newspaper archives now.”“I’m so proud.”“You should be.”He placed a hand over his heart.“I’ve sacrificed a lot.”She rolled her eyes.“You carried two books.”“They’re heavy books.”She laughed again.The sound made several students glance over before returning to their work.For the first time

Professor Carter stared at the brown envelope for what felt like an eternity.His hands wouldn’t stop shaking.The words written on the back of the photograph echoed through his mind.You buried the wrong little girl.It couldn’t be true.It had to be someone’s cruel idea of revenge.Someone trying to take advantage of a grieving father.He reached deeper into the envelope.There was something else inside.A bundle of folded papers tied together with a faded blue ribbon.His breath caught.He recognized the ribbon immediately.Lily had insisted on tying it around everything she thought was “important.”Slowly, he untied the knot.The pages were small, decorated with childish flowers drawn in pink crayon.Across the first page, written in uneven handwriting, were two words.Lily’s DiaryCarter closed his eyes.He hadn’t seen that handwriting in eighteen years.His fingers trembled as he turned the first page.Dear Diary,Daddy says writing my thoughts down helps when I’m sad.I don’t k

Lila and Ethan arrived at the university archives just after sunset.Vanessa was already waiting.She stood beside an old projector, her laptop open, several dusty folders spread across the table.For once, she wasn’t pacing.She wasn’t talking.She simply stared at the screen.Maya leaned against a filing cabinet with her arms folded.“I’ve never seen her this quiet.”Vanessa looked up as the door opened.“You came.”Lila nodded.“You sounded terrified.”“I think I am.”Ethan closed the door behind them.“What did you find?”Vanessa took a slow breath.“After our call, I kept thinking about the missing page from Lily’s diary.”She clicked a few keys.“If someone hid it eighteen years ago, then someone knew it mattered.”The projector flickered to life.An old police archive filled the wall.Black-and-white photographs.Evidence logs.Search maps.Handwritten notes.“These were taken during the search for Lily.”Lila stepped closer.“I thought we’d already seen all of these.”“So did