“What exactly are you implying?”

Frustration edged his tone as he said, “Please, spare us the fragments. Speak plainly.”

“Got it.” Ellis nodded, then cast a fleeting look at Hadley before saying, “The vehicle was returned to the doctor’s home address. We searched the housing complex, but there was no trace of anyone connected.”

A heavy shadow crossed Ernest’s expression. His voice dropped low.

“So what you’re telling me is Eric has simply disappeared without a trace.”

Ellis quietly corrected him.

“More accurately, he was moved elsewhere.”

At those words, Hadley turned aside, her eyes clamped shut against the ache rising in her chest.

“Hadley…”

“Mr. Flynn, Miss Pearson, think of it this way. If they went to the trouble of moving him, it means Mr. Scott was still alive when they did,” Ellis said, trying to steady the moment with measured urgency.

Was he?

A red haze burned in Hadley’s eyes as her trembling hand clutched tightly onto Ernest’s sleeve.

Ellis leaned forward, his tone sharp.

“Whoever set this in motion didn’t just act on impulse. Every step was carefully thought out.”

He listed it coldly—tampering with the elevator, stealing a getaway vehicle.

“No, this wasn’t chance. They’ve been planning this for months at least,” he added.

Hadley turned to Ernest, and the silent dread between them said everything.

Their worst fear had been confirmed—Gifford’s hand was in this. For half a year, while slipping through every net meant to trap him, Gifford had been weaving his vengeance around Eric.

The enemy hid under the cover of darkness, while they stood in plain sight.

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A visible arrow could be avoided, but a hidden blade always struck true.

“Ernest…” Hadley’s fingers dug into his arm until her knuckles drained of color. She opened her mouth to speak, yet nothing but raw terror escaped.

What could Gifford possibly be after?

The grim truth remained—if he dared to show himself, the law would take him down. Even his own father, Ferris, had already cast him aside.

A man with no escape grew more dangerous by the second, and Eric was the one standing directly in his path.

Like a wounded predator with nothing left, Gifford had no limits now—what cruelty wouldn’t he unleash?

“Ernest… I can’t stop shaking…” Hadley murmured.

Her thoughts spun into gruesome pictures until the world before her blurred scarlet.

She squeezed her eyes shut and carved half-moons into Ernest’s sleeve with her nails.

Still, Ernest stayed motionless.

The same fear gnawed at him—

Was it possible Eric had already fallen?

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