The Wife You Buried Is Back from Hell novel Chapter 769

She had just turned to head back to her study when her phone suddenly rang. The name flashing on the screen—“Mr. Hawthorne”—immediately set her nerves on edge.

“Danielle, are you still planning to leave Northridge?”

Mr. Hawthorne’s voice on the other end was firm, edged with formality.

“The transfer’s been moved up. You’ll be leaving in a week.”

Danielle walked over to the window, gazing down at the dull amber glow of the streetlights. She was quiet for a moment. Her uncle’s surgery had gone well; his condition was stable now, and he had a nurse looking after him. Truthfully, there wasn’t much tying her to Northridge anymore.

She drew a deep breath and answered softly, “Understood, Mr. Hawthorne. I’ll be ready to go on time.”

After she hung up, Danielle returned to her study, but her mind was far from her sketches.

She stared out into the night, her heart a tangled mess of emotions. Maybe leaving Northridge would be a fresh start—for both her and Niki.

The next few days blurred past in a flurry of tasks. Danielle spent her mornings refining test blueprints and her afternoons helping Niki sort out the paperwork for her school transfer.

Details about the upcoming signing ceremony trickled in from Gian’s office; Danielle jotted down every point in her notebook, determined not to overlook a single thing.

Niki, for her part, seemed brighter than she’d been in a long while. She’d chatter to Danielle about all sorts of curiosities, her laughter filling the apartment.

Every now and then, she’d venture a question: “Mom, do you think Dad would like hearing about this too?”

Danielle would always smile and gently ruffle her daughter’s hair. “You can always ask him.”

Niki would nod, lips pursed in thought. “But Dad hasn’t been around lately.”

Danielle inhaled slowly.

Back when she and Alexander had talked, she told him: if they couldn’t figure things out, maybe it was best not to keep talking at all. Maybe this was how things would be from now on.

She tousled Niki’s hair again, her voice soft. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to ask him someday.”

“Look at those two. They make such a great couple—maybe they’re dating?”

“I think so! Did you see the way Mr. Chapman looks at Chief Engineer Crawford? There’s definitely something there.”

“No wonder he’s been so keen on collaborating with her. I guess now we know why...”

Though the gossip was quiet, it reached the ears of Alexander, just as he stepped into the ballroom.

Dressed in a sharp black suit with his coat draped over one arm, he stopped mid-stride, the urgency in his step suddenly gone.

Following the others’ gaze, he saw Danielle beside Harold, her profile softened by the lights, the two of them deep in conversation—like a scene from a painting he didn’t want to look at.

Alexander’s grip on his coat tightened until his knuckles went white.

He’d always known Danielle was extraordinary, that there was never a shortage of people drawn to her. Still, seeing her standing beside someone else, listening to others call them a perfect match, left a heaviness in his chest he couldn’t shake.