Elara stood by the window for a long time, the city’s glow painting her face in shades of blue and gold. The pieces were shifting, the picture reforming into something darker and more intricate than she had first imagined. Angela wasn't simply a jealous sister with an obvious motive. Whatever she was doing, she was moving with precision, using resources that shouldn't have been at her disposal.
And Richard Edwards wasn't acting like a man simply protecting his reputation. He was deploying private security to abduct a woman he’d already destroyed. That spoke of fear, or desperation. Or both.
A soft sound from the hallway pulled her from her thoughts.
Elara turned, expecting to see Alina perhaps coming out for water. Instead, the guest room door remained closed. The sound came again—a faint, muffled sob, quickly stifled.
She hesitated, her hand resting on the edge of the desk. Part of her wanted to leave Alina to her privacy, to let her grieve or tremble or break down in solitude. Another part, the part that had offered her a job and brought her here tonight, knew that silence could be its own kind of cruelty.
Quietly, Elara walked to the guest room door. She didn’t knock, didn’t intrude. She simply stood outside for a moment, listening to the ragged breaths on the other side.
Then she turned and walked to the kitchen, filling a glass with water. She placed it on the console table outside Alina’s door, along with a small bottle of pain relievers from the medicine cabinet. A simple, wordless offering—an acknowledgment that she was heard, and that she wasn’t entirely alone.
Back in her study, Elara opened her laptop. She pulled up the file Victoria had compiled on Angela Williams, her eyes scanning the timeline again. The call to the unlisted number. The security database access. The shell companies linked to Evelyn Edwards.
A new thought occurred to her, cold and clear.
What if Angela wasn’t working with Richard?
What if she was working around him?
The thought crystallized in Elara’s mind with sudden, sharp clarity. Evelyn Edwards wasn’t just Richard’s wife—she was a powerful attorney, a founding partner of one of the most respected law firms in the city. She had resources, connections, and a reputation for discretion. And according to Victoria’s investigation, her financial fingerprints were all over the trail leading back to Angela.
Elara picked up her phone and dialed Victoria’s number.
It rang twice before Victoria answered, her voice alert despite the late hour. “Elara?”
“Arrange a meeting with Evelyn Edwards,” Elara said, her tone calm but decisive. “Tell her I need her advice on a legal matter—something sensitive, corporate in nature. Use my name. She’ll know who I am.”
There was a brief pause on the other end. “You think she’ll agree to meet?”
“She will,” Elara replied, her gaze drifting back to the city lights. “Edwards & Carter handles high-profile corporate clients. Blake Technologies is a major player. She won’t turn down a potential client, especially not one with my influence.”
“And if she asks for specifics?”
“Be vague. Say it involves a confidential internal investigation and potential liability issues. That should be enough to pique her interest without revealing anything about Alina.”
Victoria’s voice was thoughtful. “You’re not just looking for legal advice, are you?”
“No,” Elara admitted quietly. “I’m looking for the connection. Evelyn’s name keeps appearing in Angela’s financial trail. I want to know why. And I want to see her face when I ask.”
“Understood,” Victoria said. “I’ll reach out first thing in the morning and set it up.”
“Thank you, Victoria.”
Elara ended the call and set the phone down, her mind already turning over what she would say, what she would ask, how she would read the woman who might hold the key to understanding why Alina’s life had been systematically dismantled.
She glanced once more toward the guest room door, where the glass of water still sat untouched on the console.
Soon.