Clara's POV "Now, you will pay for all of this!" Amelia yelled, picking up her gun.She turned off the gun's safety before placing her hand on the trigger."Wait!" Scar yelled in panic. "There is someone here. Standing by a car parked outside, I see another car coming. You can't shoot her now. They will hear the gunshot." Scar warned.I was about to scream when Moustache placed his hand over my mouth.She remained hesitant as she pointed the gun at me.She finally accepted defeat as she pulled the gun down. Maybe if I made enough noise, someone could find me, and I'd finally be freed from this."You got lucky this time, and you won't be so lucky next time." She threatened.We heard footsteps and voices entering the building."I want you to tie her up and wait for me until I return. I have to try and get rid of whoever it is." She announced.She then slipped her gun back into her handbag and walked downstairs.I tried to free myself from Moustache's grip. Scar walked over to me and co
Derek's POVAfter I left my grandfather's construction site, my mind became restless. Something was going on. Clara wouldn't just disappear like that. She loved her family. Everything was just far too crazy. As absurd as Katy sounds, maybe she had a point. Which meant I needed to investigate.The thing about solving a case is that everyone is a suspect—especially the crazy ex-boyfriend. I'd met him before; he seemed too eager to get back at Clara so that I wouldn't put any of this past time.After several threats, he confirmed that he had seen her earlier that morning. The creep followed her from her house without noticing and stopped her at a corner. He assured us that he didn't do anything to her. With the frightened look in his eyes, I might have believed him. It took everything in me not to punch him.This was how we got to our next clue. Luke sent some guys to that street to ask if anyone had seen her. There weren't security cameras in the area. That's what led us to our next clu
Derek POV That left one obvious suspect, her mother. I had never trusted her either. People like Madison don't just magically become that cruel; they are made to become it. With an equally cynical mother, I can picture how Madison became that way.Suddenly, it made sense. It explained why she looked so strange and surprised when she saw us yesterday. It would explain the marks on her arm. Someone attacked her. Those bruises didn't seem like something that happened earlier that day. They looked much more recent. Maybe someone else was in that building."You are not thinking that..." Luke paused. His horrified expression matched mine. I could tell he thought the same thing.I jumped off my seat to search for my car key."Do you think she would be capable of that?" Luke asked."It's 2023. Women are capable of anything," I answered."I'm pretty sure that is only supposed to be used when referring to something good." He answered.I spotted my key on the opposite side of the room. I needed
Clara's POV "Exactly, for more than twenty-five years, she has been on your mind. Don't you think she should suffer? I'd kill her slowly if I were you," Kevin suggested.Right now, I would prefer a bullet to get this over and done with.Amelia remained quiet as she stared into space. That meant she was considering it. "You'll be doing me a favour as well. I've tolerated how annoying she is for far too long. I'll owe you one. You'll see your big rival crumple to her knees." Kevin continued. "Besides, if they find her body with a gun wound, they will investigate. They will know that someone did this and track this back to you." He added."So, what are you suggesting?" she asked, turning towards him."Well, I suggest we give her some drugs. Lots of them. She will suffer a lot. In time, we can make it look like she died from an overdose. People will believe it because they know how depressed she is. We can dump her body in some bad neighbourhood and make it look like she died from a bad
Derek POV How was he trying to save her? At the moment, she looked more dead than alive. If she stayed like this for longer, she would die."Luke, call the ambulance," I demanded.Luke fumbled through his pockets for a phone."You can't do that right now," Kevin stopped him. "She can't know that Clara is still alive. You'll put Clara and her family in more danger. We can't do anything until she has been arrested." He rumbled.She? Who was he referring to?I couldn't just leave Clara like that and wait for her to die."She should be awake at any moment. I switched one of the drugs when they weren't looking. It's just a sedative." Kevin continued.Drugs? This was far more serious than I could have imagined.As luck would have it, Clara slowly began to wake up. She coughed lightly as her eyes slowly opened. Her hands moved soon after. I sighed in relief. This was a good sign, at least. I had hope again.“Clara," I whispered, hoping she could keep her eyes open long enough.Soon after, s
Derek’s POVClara settled on the couch. I sat beside her, trying to appear as calm as possible."Before I say anything, I want you to know that I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't know about it until much later." He whined."You should start talking," I demanded. Clara gave him a cold stare; he rubbed the back of his head, letting out a deep sigh."This whole thing began shortly after I last met you, Clara in, at the park that day. I was in a dark place. I was addicted to alcohol, and I couldn't get myself to admit it or even how it was destroying me. I started hanging around dangerous people, and I became hooked on far more dangerous addictions. I didn't see it back then. It only numbed the pain for a little while, and then I'd start all over again. I even did a few bad jobs with them. At that moment, they became my new family." He paused. He sighed again. It Wasn't until I met an old friend from college that I decided to change my life. He helped me through all of my
Derek POV Clara would have been spared from whatever it was that happened next. It was my fault."She decided to speed things up. She didn't want to risk anyone else finding out about Clara. She wanted to get rid of her. I did my best to try and stop her, but she was too determined. When I gave her the idea to inject her instead, I replaced one of the drugs with a sedative so that she would appear dead if anything went wrong. She wanted her buried in some shallow ground almost immediately. That way, her family would find her, lose all hope, and wouldn't search for her." He explained. "I rescued her as soon as I could. I hadn't meant for things to get this far. I only wanted to find Clara's location and then hand in all the evidence of the recordings I had gathered."I couldn't believe this guy's nerves, trying to make himself sound like the hero. He should have told someone. I could have found her a lot sooner before any of this had happened. It was no wonder Clara was traumatised."
Derek POV I was still processing that she had betrayed me, but I hadn't had to throw it away or burn it like I'd said.I swallowed a hard lump as I read the letter. Suddenly, it was clear of all the times she had tried to talk to me. She wasn't who I accused her to be, and it's all because I didn't listen. I wish I could take back all my words, mostly my actions.If I had tried to listen, we could have been spared from so much more. I would ensure I spent the rest of my life making it up to her. I had been such a fool about everything.I shoved the letter back into the drawer at the sound of my phone vibrating. I looked at my phone to see several texts from Katy. She was still worried about Clara. I felt terrible not letting her know that her sister was safe, but for now, this was for the best.I walked into the kitchen to prepare food for Clara. She'd certainly be hungry when she woke up. I wasn't sure how long it had been since she ate. With what I had in the fridge, I salvaged a f