Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee by KIKI

Chapter 839: Tracey, Is It Really You? Outside the courthouse, Ruud climbed straight into the car.

Gabe, watching him, grew anxious and quickly stepped forward. "Ruud, you're leaving already?" Ruud waved dismissively. "Yes, I'm leaving. You all head back." Gabe was baffled and frustrated. "But if you leave like this, how are we supposed to explain it to the higher-ups? We chere with a task today!" "What's there to explain? I've been single for nearly fifty years, working tirelessly for the government. The higher-ups owea wife and child. Don't they need to compensate me?" Ruud declared confidently.

Gabe was speechless. "You're not wrong, but we still haven't found the one you've been looking for, have we? And you just handed Luke Gill and Victor over to Tina for no apparent reason. Those two are key figures in the operation-this will definitely raise questions..." Before Gabe could finish, Ruud interrupted him coldly. "Nothing is more important than finding my wife and daughter! Tell the higher-ups I'm done. I quit. I'm going to find my wife!" "What?" Both Gabe and Armel, who had just walked over, were utterly stunned.

Could this really happen? He's quitting-just like that? No resignation letter? No formalities? Just a single sentence? Recovering from his shock, Gabe hurriedly tried to reason with Ruud. "Ruud, of course we all support you in finding your wife, but this doesn't have to conflict with your work!" Gabe hadn't overheard Ruud and Tina's conversation earlier during the trial and didn't understand what had transpired.

"It doesn't conflict, my ass! I've already offended my daughter to the core! If I don't hand over two people to her immediately, do you expectto have anyone to take care ofin my old age?" Ruud snapped angrily. "What?" Gabe and Armel were even more confused.

"Daughter? Ruud, when did you have a daughter? Why didn't we know about this?" Ruud's feelings for someone weren't exactly a secret, and Gabe and Armel had been aware of it. Ever since returning to the country, they'd been helping Ruud search for her.

But they had never once heard about him having a daughter.

"Just now!" Ruud replied bluntly.

"What?" Gabe was dumbfounded.

Armel, however, quickly pieced things together and asked cautiously, "Are you saying Tina? She's your daughter? But isn't she Natalie's daughter?" "Natalie might just be Tracey!" Ruud explained.

He wasn't stupid. Tina's face was practically identical to Tracey's. Although he had never met Natalie, the brief exchange he had with Tina earlier was enough for him to make the connection. The Tracey he'd been searching for all along was likely Natalie.

Armel hesitated. "But Natalie is Jasper Reed's girlfriend. No one knows who her daughter's father is." While Jasper Reed had once publicly acknowledged Tina as his daughter, after the Reed family fell into turmoil, investigations revealed that Tina wasn't actually his biological child. Tina's true parentage remained a mystery.

Even if Natalie was the Tracey Ruud had been searching for, they hadn't seen each other in decades. Who could say whether Natalie had fallen for someone else during that time? "Bullshit!" Ruud glared at Armel. "Tina is my daughter! Tracey gave birth to her!" Tina didn't resemble him much, but Ruud was certain-Tina was his daughter.

The timeline matched perfectly.

Even if Tracey had fallen in love with someone else during the past twenty years, it would've been after leaving Jasper Reed. Any child born afterward would have to be under eighteen. Tina, at twenty-one years old, could only be his daughter.

Ruud wasn't the type to waste tinvestigating when he already had a strong hunch. He believed that one look at Natalie would confirm whether she was Tracey, and a simple DNA test would prove Tina's identity as his daughter. Why make things more complicated than they needed to be? "Still..." Gabe and Armel tried to protest, but Ruud waved them off impatiently.

"Enough! I've wasted enough ttalking to you two. If my wife runs off again, will you compensate me? I'm warning you-don't cause any trouble for Tina. Whatever she wants, give it to her." Gabe: "..." Armel: 11 Wasn't it you who had been causing trouble for Tina all along? Ruud: What nonsense are you thinking? I would never dislike my own daughter! Gabe, Armel: "..." Without giving them another chance to speak, Ruud ordered the driver to leave and headed straight to Tina's research facility.

The laboratory was sparsely populated, with fewer than ten people present, including Wraith.

When Ruud arrived, a researcher approached him. "Are you General Praevion?" Ruud was momentarily surprised but then nodded. "Yes." He hadn't expected anyone here to recognize him.

"Miss Reed informed us about you. Please, follow me," the researcher said, leading Ruud inside.

Natalie was under Wraith's supervision, and he had arranged several private labs within the facility. These spaces were off-limits to others.

At that moment, Wraith was examining Simone Farrell's condition.

The transparent walls of the lab om allowed Ruud to see everything as O soon as he entered. He froze for a moment when he spotted Simone Farrell but then smiled. He was impressed-his daughter had played this gbeautifully, even managing to fool him! "General Praevion, please wait here. I'll inform Lockie," the researcher said.

Everyone in the lab knew Wraith's true identity, but they still addressed him as Lockie out of habit.

The researcher stepped into the lab and spoke briefly with Wraith. The man glanced up at Ruud, smirked, and waved dismissively.

Moments later, the researcher returned and guided Ruud to another room.

Natalie lay quietly on the bed. Though her eyes remained closed, all her vital signs were normal.

The moment Ruud entered and saw her face, he strode forward, dropping to his knees beside her bed. His voice, uncharacteristically soft, trembled with emotion.

"Tracey, it really is you!" The unconscious Natalie didn't respond.

Ruud clasped her hand with one of his, while the other gently caressed her face. His eyes overflowed with tenderness. "I'm sorry I ctoo late. I made you suffer, raising our child all on your own!" Seeing Natalie confirmed everything for him-Tina was undoubtedly his daughter. He didn't need proof. His instincts as a father told him so.

Natalie remained unresponsive.

Ruud's gaze darkened as he brushed her cheek. His voice turned icy. "Don't evenim worry. Whoever hurt you, even if they're dead, I'll dig them up and make them pay! And if they're alive, I'll make them wish they were dead!" As he finished speaking, the door to the room creaked open. Wraith leaned casually against the doorframe, his expression smug. "General Praevion, Tina askedto conduct a paternity test for you two."