CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN – INVESTIGATION INTO THE PAST

As the days bled into weeks, their investigation grew more intense, more desperate. Every lead, every whispered rumor was pursued with a single-minded determination, the truth their only salvation. "I've uncovered something about Adrian's past," Gordon announced one evening, his voice laced with a grim triumph. "It seems he had a brief dalliance with an up-and-coming artist years ago. A woman who bore a striking resemblance to you." Jasmine's heart skipped a beat, her mind whirling with the implications. "You think he's projecting his obsession onto me?" Gordon's jaw tightened, his eyes blazing with righteous fury. "It goes deeper than that, Jasmine. The woman – she disappeared, without a trace. And Adrian was the last person to see her alive." The revelation hung in the air, heavy and foreboding. Jasmine's breath caught in her throat as the pieces began to fall into place, a horrifying tapestry of manipulation and depravity unfolding before her eyes. "We have to stop him," she wh