and that it was nothing serious.
If only he’d cared enough to look closer, he might have realized that it wasn’t as simple as she had made it
That memory weighed heavily on him, like a stone sinking deeper into his chest. He took another drag, hoping that the nicotine would dull the ache, but even after a few cigarettes, the pain refused to fade.
His phone buzzed, pulling him out of his thoughts. He answered immediately.
“Seth, they’ve confessed. There’s a new lead. You need to come to the station right away,” a voice on the other end said.
Seth crushed the cigarette under his heel and got into his car, driving straight to the police station.
Daniel met him at the entrance, his face grave. “Brace yourself, Seth. This won’t be easy to hear.”
Seth frowned, his voice low. “What is it?”
“Follow me. They’re in the interrogation room. You can watch from the observation room.” Daniel said.
Seth followed him down the hall. Through the glass, he could see the two suspects, handcuffed to their chairs with their heads bowed low. Across from them sat two officers, one asking questions and the other taking notes.
“Do you know the woman from today?” One of the officers asked.
One of the men lifted his head slightly. “Yeah, we’re the ones who cut her right hand four years ago.”
Seth shot to his feet, fury blazing in his eyes.
He growled, pointing through the glass. “They’re the ones who hurt Layla, the ones who made it so she could never paint again.” Daniel, sensing the rage building in Seth, quickly held him back. “Sit down, Seth. There’s more to hear. Let them finish.” Seth’s chest heaved violently as realization struck him. He finally understood why Layla’s voice had trembled with fear. She had recognized them top.
ཇ ན ཝ འ ཨ
Daniel shoved him firmly back into the chair.
Seth’s gaze tumed cold, his eyes locked on the interrogation room with a dark, unyielding intensity.
“Who hired you? How did they contact you?” the officer pressed.
One of the men hesitated before finally answering “We never saw them. They called us and told us to ask the woman where Seth Parker’s project proposal was. She wouldn’t talk, no matter what we did. So, I stabbed her wrist with a knife and stepped on the wound. But she was tough. Even then, she didn’t say a word.”
Seth’s body went rigid, every muscle tense as pain tore through him, sharp and unrelenting. It was as if every nerve in his body was on fire.
In that moment, he finally understood why Layla had kept the truth hidden. She hadn’t wanted him to bear the weight of guilt.
To protect the project’s secrets, she had chosen to endure the pain, even letting her hand be injured
Layla had sacrificed so much to help him climb to the top
And when she was at her lowest, he had asked her for a divorce and taken her beloved son away fro
from her.
