Not always showing 404_error custom page

By the way, I forgot to share also the code inside the Pages.php controller (the Content.php controller is very similar): 

PHP Code:

<?php defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');
class Pages extends CI_Controller {
  
  public function view($page = 'home'){
    if(!file_exists(APPPATH.'views/pages/'.$page.'.php')) {
      show_404();
    }
    
    $data['title'] = ucfirst($page);
    
    $this->load->view('templates/header');
    $this->load->view('pages/'.$page, $data);
    $this->load->view('templates/footer');
  }
}