When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

"Have you seen him before?"

I was a bit puzzled. Eliana had only been to the hospital with me once. What were the odds?

"Oh, it was that day when I was taking Aunt Carol to the Nephrology department. This guy was right in front of us in line."

"He even got down on his knees in front of the doctor, saying he's got his elderly parents and young kids to feed, just a big rig to his name. If something happened to him, his whole family would starve."

"I just thought it was too much of a coincidence, so I took a good look at him. He had this red mark on his left cheek, just like the guy in the news!"

I scrolled through the news on my phone, and sure enough, the truck driver had a red mark on his face.

Thinking back to Marilyn's shocked face when she saw me, and recalling Eliana's investigation report, I took a deep breath.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

"Eliana, you need to head back. Pull back the people you've got investigating this and just send me what they find."

"No way! I can't just give up halfway. You still need my help!"

"You have to go back! I have a favor to ask of you."

I knew Eliana was loyal, but this wasn't the time to be proud. If she got into trouble over this, I wouldn't be able to rest.

Hearing my plea, Eliana finally asked, "What do you need?"

After thinking for a moment, I said, "Jade Scott has also been helping me look into my dad's case, but she's just an ordinary person. I want to get the details of what happened back then."

"Head back. I'm officially Talbot's niece; he won't do anything to me. You go back and speed up our investigation."

Eliana double-checked with me a few more times, making sure I really wanted to proceed with the investigation. After my repeated confirmations, she finally agreed.

"Fine, I'll head back tomorrow. I'll leave the Chandler family's manager to you. If you need anything, just contact him."

"Alright, Eliana, thank you."

There was a moment's pause after I thanked her, and then she mumbled something before hanging up.

I turned to Clyde, who was looking seriously at his phone.

I pulled up the information Eliana had gathered earlier.

"Clyde, what do you think our chances are if we go to the police?"

"No chance." Clyde flatly rejected my suggestion.

"There are plenty of traffic deaths every year; it doesn't prove anything. The police have already

investigated. Overturning the case is gonna be super tough, especially since you're not related to the victims. You have no standing.

I understood what he was saying, but I still wanted to try.

With my own capabilities, solving this was next to impossible.

He sighed, "Looks like Talbot and Garfield have smoothed things over. Looks like the project can go ahead without redesigning." The very next day proved Clyde right.

Talbot invited us to go fishing, saying he had a distinguished guest he wanted us to meet.

Arriving at the reservoir, I saw Garfield dressed casually, complete with a sun hat, looking every bit the relaxed elder statesman.

"Is this your niece and her husband? They make a really good-looking pair!"

He looked at us with a smile, while Talbot nodded in agreement beside him.

"Not just that, old Garfield, they're

also partners

that Clyde here is a bit hesitant, a little worried."

esthers on this project. It's just

Garfield sized up Clyde and then settled himself on a small stool by the water's edge.

"Mr. Patterson is young and promising; it's good to be cautious."

"But here in T city, Leon Crawford

།

and I call the shots. You can trust us

with your project. We'll define

support private enterprises participating in the development."

With that, he cast his fishing line out, the float bobbing gently in the water.

I couldn't help but notice he hadn't baited his hook. Was he expecting the fish to jump on willingly?