Transmigrated: I Became My Nemesis's Woman

"What’s taking her so long?" Benny whispered impatiently.

The four men remained concealed behind a cluster of overgrown bushes several yards away from the abandoned property, careful not to reveal their presence.

The moment they had seen Ivy quietly slip out of the Emerson residence through the hidden side gate, Benny had alerted the others. Now they found themselves crouching in the weeds, secretly observing her every move.

Percy brushed a mosquito away from his neck and shot Benny an annoyed look.

"If she catches us, the boss is going to kill us."

"He won’t," Benny replied confidently.

"He absolutely will," Nico muttered. "He specifically told us to protect Mrs. Emerson, not spy on her."

"We’re not spying," Benny argued in a hushed voice. "We’re... conducting protective surveillance."

Percy rolled his eyes.

"That’s literally spying."

Before Benny could defend himself, Teddy spoke without taking his eyes off the old house.

"But what is she doing here?"

His tone immediately drew everyone’s attention.

"This property burned down years ago."

"Burned?" Benny repeated.

Nico frowned as he studied the charred remains beyond the rusted gates.

For several seconds, he searched his memory before his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait... I remember this place."

The others turned toward him.

"This house belonged to Frederick Wilson."

"The police officer?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded.

"Yeah. He was one of the most respected officers in the country. I remember reading about it years ago. The reports said his house caught fire in the middle of the night."

His expression darkened.

"They claimed his entire family died in the blaze."

Benny slowly nodded.

"Now that you mention it... I remember seeing the news too."

"I wasn’t working for Phantom back then," he continued, "but it was on every news channel for days."

Percy folded his arms.

"Frederick Wilson..." he murmured thoughtfully.

"I’ve heard the veterans talk about him."

"They always said he was fearless. Honest to the core."

He glanced toward the burned house.

"It’s a shame everything ended like that."

Teddy finally looked away from the property.

His expression had grown noticeably grim.

"It didn’t."

The other three frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Teddy took a slow breath.

"The fire wasn’t an accident."

Silence.

Benny stared at him.

"What?"

"It was staged."

The words landed like a hammer.

Nico blinked several times.

"You’re saying someone deliberately set the fire?"

Teddy nodded.

"The official report listed it as an accidental gas explosion."

"But Phantom investigated the case privately."

"Evidence suggested someone had carefully planned the entire incident."

Percy’s jaw tightened.

"So... someone murdered an entire family."

"They did."

The atmosphere instantly became heavier.

Nico looked back toward the ruined house, disgust evident on his face.

"That’s beyond cruel."

"There were children living here."

"What kind of monster could do something like that?"

Teddy remained silent for a moment before answering.

"The same kind of monster who makes every murder look like an accident."

His words sent chills through the group.

Benny lowered his voice.

"Does the boss know?"

"He does."

Teddy’s gaze hardened.

"That’s one of the reasons he’s been searching for the truth behind his parents’ deaths."

The three men exchanged confused glances.

"What does Frederick Wilson have to do with Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Susan?" Percy asked.

Teddy looked toward the abandoned house once more.

"Boss believes the two cases are connected."

"The people responsible for murdering his parents..."

He paused.

"...may be the very same people who orchestrated the deaths of Frederick Wilson and his family."

The revelation left the group speechless.

Nico slowly pieced everything together.

"Which means Frederick wasn’t killed randomly."

"No."

"He must have discovered something."

Teddy nodded.

"That’s our theory."

"Frederick was investigating someone powerful."

"Powerful enough to erase evidence..."

"...silence witnesses..."

"...and eliminate an entire family to keep their secrets buried."

A long silence followed.

The old house suddenly looked even more sinister than before.

Benny swallowed hard.

"So Mrs. Emerson came here because she’s investigating the same case."

"I believe so," Teddy replied.

"She may not realize it yet..."

"...but she’s walking straight into the center of the same conspiracy our boss has been chasing for years."

The realization struck all four men at once.

Neither Xander nor Ivy was pursuing separate investigations.

Without realizing it, they had been following different paths toward the exact same truth.

And if that truth was as dangerous as Teddy believed...

Then whoever had buried the Wilson family all those years ago would never allow the past to remain undisturbed for long.

***

Meanwhile, Ivy searched every corner of the burned house, hoping to find something—anything—that could explain what had happened all those years ago.

But after nearly two decades, time had erased almost every trace.

The walls were blackened by soot, their surfaces cracked from the intense heat. The ceiling had long since collapsed, leaving scattered beams and shattered bricks strewn across the floor. Every piece of furniture had been reduced to twisted fragments of charcoal.

There was nothing left.

Nothing except silence...

...and memories.

Ivy slowly ran her fingers along one of the charred walls. The rough surface left a trail of black ash on her fingertips.

She closed her eyes.

For a brief moment, laughter echoed in her ears again.

Her mother humming in the kitchen.

Her father reading the newspaper while pretending not to listen to the children arguing.

Her little sister chasing butterflies through the backyard.

The memories were vivid enough to make her chest tighten.

When she opened her eyes again, the voices were gone.

Only the empty shell of the house remained.

Taking a slow breath, Ivy continued deeper inside.

She crossed what had once been the living room before making her way toward the back door.

The wooden frame had long since rotted away, leaving only a warped opening leading into the backyard.

Nature had reclaimed most of the garden.

Tall grass reached her knees, weeds covered the old stone pathway, and the flower beds her mother had once cared for were now nothing more than patches of wild shrubs.

Ivy scanned the surroundings carefully.

Every instinct she had developed as Raven told her to observe everything.

Nothing was too insignificant.

Nothing should be overlooked.

As she walked farther into the yard, fragmented images flashed through her mind.

She saw her younger self running across the grass.

Her father kneeling beside her, teaching her how to plant flowers.

Her mother calling everyone inside for dinner.

The images came and went so quickly that she couldn’t tell whether they were memories or merely her imagination filling the empty spaces.

She frowned.

"There has to be something..."

She took another step.

Crunch.

Her foot landed awkwardly on a loose stone hidden beneath the overgrown grass.

Before she could regain her balance, her ankle twisted.

"Damn it!"

She stumbled forward and fell onto one knee.

Pain shot through her leg.

For a second, she remained crouched there, brushing the dirt from her jeans.

"Great..."

She let out an annoyed sigh.

Just as she was about to stand, something caught her attention.

Her eyes narrowed.

The stone she had stepped on didn’t look natural.

Unlike the surrounding rocks, this one was perfectly flat.

Almost...

Deliberately placed.

Curiosity replaced her irritation.

Without wasting another second, Ivy knelt back down.

Using both hands, she began sweeping away the loose dirt, dead leaves, and tangled roots surrounding the stone.

Layer by layer, more of it became visible.

It wasn’t a stone at all.

It was metal.

Her heartbeat quickened.

"No way..."

She brushed away the remaining soil until a rusted iron ring emerged from the center.

It was attached to a square metal hatch almost completely concealed beneath years of earth and vegetation.

Ivy stared at it in disbelief.

Someone had intentionally buried it.

She gripped the rusted ring and gave it an experimental tug.

It didn’t move.

Locked.

Or perhaps simply rusted shut after years underground.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead before trying again with more force.

The metal groaned.

A dull scraping sound echoed beneath her feet.

Creeeak...

The hatch shifted only slightly.

Enough to release a rush of stale, damp air from below.

Ivy instinctively took a step back.

Cold air drifted out of the narrow opening, carrying with it the smell of mold, rust, and something long forgotten.

She stared into the darkness beneath the hatch.

An underground chamber.

Her pulse quickened.

"If this place survived the fire..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"...then maybe the truth survived too."

Taking out the flashlight from her backpack, Ivy switched it on and directed the beam into the opening.

A narrow flight of concrete stairs disappeared into the darkness below.

The underground room had remained hidden beneath the ashes all these years.

And judging by the untouched layer of dirt covering the entrance...

No one had discovered it since the night the Wilson family died.

***

Meanwhile, inside the abandoned house...

The four Phantom operatives quietly slipped through the broken front entrance one after another.

The charred floorboards creaked beneath their boots, and the stale smell of burnt wood filled the air.

Benny glanced around uneasily before lowering his voice.

"Tell me again why we’re inside the creepy haunted house instead of waiting outside like normal people?"