The Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 367: [ Volume 1] Chaper - Esme is back?

Ray’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, his brows furrowing in concentration as he stared at the locked file. His gaze flicked back to the photo of Esme and the others on the picnic, her radiant smile frozen in time. He reached out instinctively, his thumb brushing over her face on the screen as though he could feel the warmth of that day through the cold glass.

"What are you hiding, Esme?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. The question echoed in the silence of the room, unanswered but lingering, heavy.

Shaking his head, he tried to redirect his thoughts, forcing himself to focus. He clicked through the other files on the laptop, hoping to find something—anything—that might provide a clue. But as each file opened, his confusion deepened. Every single one of them was empty.

His irritation flared. "Damn it, Esme! Why would you have all these files if they’re just... nothing?" he muttered, leaning back in his chair. The only file with any substance was the one locked behind a password.

The throbbing in his head intensified as he considered his options. If this were any ordinary laptop, he’d have tried every password he could think of—birthdays, names, special dates. And if that didn’t work, he’d hack into it without hesitation. But this wasn’t an ordinary laptop. Esme’s security measures were ironclad. The woman had always been a step ahead, and she’d clearly intended to protect whatever was hidden inside.

His eyes returned to the photo on the screen, lingering on Esme’s knowing smile. The warmth in her expression felt almost deliberate, as though she were silently challenging him. There was something about that picture. It felt too... intentional.

"Could it be..." His voice trailed off as he leaned closer, studying every detail of the image. He remembered that day vividly—the picnic Jay had insisted on, the way Kai and Esme had reluctantly put their work aside to make it happen. The laughter, the teasing, the way Esme had seemed almost carefree for once.

But what about the photo was important? The date? The setting? His mind raced through possibilities, trying to piece together the puzzle she’d left behind.

Ray’s hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles pressing against his temple. "It can’t be that simple," he murmured, his thoughts a chaotic swirl. But then again, Esme wasn’t one to leave random breadcrumbs. If she’d left this here, it was for a reason.

Ray stared hard at the photo, his eyes narrowing as something clicked in his memory. Esme’s smile—so soft, so deliberate—triggered a recollection he hadn’t thought of in long time.

"The ring," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

His heart began to race as the details of that day came flooding back. Jay had been whining endlessly about some experiment he wanted to conduct, something about understanding divine beasts and their connection to their owners. At the time, it had been more amusing than anything else. Ray could still hear Jay pestering him to let him examine his pendant, a request Ray had flatly refused.

"No way. Not happening, Jay," Ray had said, pulling the pendant out of reach.

But Jay, being Jay, didn’t give up. Ray remembered watching him pivot to Esme, asking to touch her ring instead. To his shock, Esme had agreed. She raised her hand and handed it to Jay without hesitation, something that was almost unheard of among divine beast owners.

It had struck him as odd even back then. Divine beast artifacts were deeply personal, a sacred connection between the owner and the beast. Letting someone else touch it was practically taboo.

Ray had asked her about it later, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Why’d you let him touch your ring?" he’d asked, half-expecting some cryptic answer.

He could still see her expression in his mind’s eye—the way she had raised her hand, her ring catching the sunlight, and the faintly mischievous smile that played on her lips. "You can touch it too, if you want," she’d said, her tone light but layered with meaning he couldn’t quite grasp.

That smile... it was the same one captured in the photo on the laptop screen, as if she were silently saying, You’re getting warmer.

Ray stared at the photo on the laptop, his brows knitted in confusion. Something wasn’t right. Leaning closer, he studied the image with a sharp eye. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he grabbed his phone. His fingers swiped frantically through his gallery, scrolling past hundreds of photos until—there. He found it. The same picture.

But as he held the two side by side, a chill crept down his spine.

The angles didn’t match.

It was subtle—so subtle that anyone else might have missed it. But Ray’s sharp eyes picked up on the difference. The laptop photo seemed to be taken from a slightly higher angle. Frowning, he replayed the events of that day in his mind.

Esme’s phone had been broken at the time, so she couldn’t have taken it. Rayan didn’t even carry his phone, and Jay... well, Jay’s phone had long been sacrificed to one of his bizarre experiments. Ray distinctly remembered taking the selfie with his own phone. He was certain no one else had taken another photo.

So where had this come from?

His jaw tightened as unease settled over him. He zoomed in on the laptop picture, examining every detail. The tree. The light. The shadowed angle. It came from behind a tree—a spot none of them had been near.

Someone else had been there.

Ray’s heart pounded as the realization hit him. Whoever it was had been close enough to capture this moment, yet he hadn’t sensed a thing. Him—a beast owner with senses sharper than any human. How could this be possible?

He looked closer, zooming in on the faces. His focus sharpened as he studied Esme. And then he froze.

Her eyes.

The faintest glow of gold reflected in Esme’s black irises. A telltale sign. She had seen something. She knew.