PART 4: The road that led back to the truth
Rain hammered the windshield as the car swerved onto a narrow, potholed road lined with abandoned warehouses.
Elena’s heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears.
She stared at Matthew’s profile — the calm man who had picked her up from the café earlier that evening now looked like someone who had been carrying a war on his shoulders for years.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked, voice shaking. “Why let me think you were just… some stranger my stepmother sent?”
Matthew’s hands stayed steady on the wheel even as the car fishtailed on the wet road.
“Because Isabel had eyes everywhere. If she knew I was in contact with you, she would’ve moved faster. She already tried once — the night your father died. The ‘heart attack’ wasn’t natural. I have the toxicology report in that envelope.”
Elena felt the world tilt.
She looked down at the papers again. There were more pages — bank transfers, fake signatures, even a recorded conversation between Isabel and a man who had “taken care of the problem.”
All of it pointed to one thing.
Isabel had killed her father.
And she had been planning to do the same to Elena.
The pursuing SUV suddenly accelerated and rammed their rear bumper hard. The car jolted forward.
Matthew didn’t panic.
He reached over without looking and gently took Elena’s hand for two seconds — just long enough to steady her.
“Listen to me,” he said, voice low but clear. “Whatever happens tonight, you are not alone anymore. Your father made sure of that. And so did I.”
The driver took a sharp turn between two warehouses.
For a moment, the headlights behind them disappeared.
May you like
Matthew exhaled.
“We’re almost there.”
