The weight of the truth pressed down on Elina's chest as she sat in the cold, dimly lit room. Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts, but none of them seemed to make sense. She couldn't shake the image of her mother, the woman she had trusted, being tangled in the very web of lies that had now ensnared her.
Liam had left hours ago, promising to return with answers, but Elina was too lost in her thoughts to focus on anything else. Her father—her own flesh and blood—had been the mastermind behind the destruction of her family. How could she have been so blind? How could she have loved a man who had killed the person she held most dear?
Her fingers trembled as she clutched the pendant her mother had once worn—her mother, the woman who had left her with nothing but unanswered questions.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening pulled her from her thoughts. Elina's heart skipped a beat as she looked up to see Liam standing in the doorway. His expression was grim, his body language tense, as though he carried a heavy burden.
"Liam?" Elina whispered, her voice hoarse.
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he walked into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. His eyes were filled with concern, but there was something else there—something darker.
"Did you find anything?" Elina asked, her throat tight.
Liam hesitated, then took a seat beside her, his hand resting lightly on hers. "I found more than I bargained for."
Elina's breath hitched in her chest. "What do you mean?"
Liam met her gaze, his eyes hard. "I've been digging into your father's past. And what I've found... it's not good, Elina. Your father didn't just betray your mother. He was involved in a whole lot more than we realized. Your mother... she wasn't just a victim. She was part of the game."
Elina shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No... no, she couldn't have been. My mother loved me. She loved us."
"I know," Liam said softly, squeezing her hand. "But the evidence is clear. She worked with your father. She knew what he was doing. She was a key player in the deal that started this whole mess."
Elina felt as though the ground had been ripped out from beneath her. "But why? Why would she do that? Why would she hide it from me?"
"I don't know," Liam replied, his voice filled with frustration. "But I think she was trying to protect you. She didn't want you to be caught in the middle of it all. She wanted you to have a life away from the mess she was involved in. But she was part of it, Elina. She made choices that... that led to her death."
The words stung. They hit harder than anything Greyson had said. She had been living in a lie for so long, and now the truth was unraveling before her eyes.
"I don't want to believe it," Elina whispered, her voice trembling. "I don't want to believe that my mother was a part of all this. That she—"
Liam gently cupped her face, his thumb brushing away the tear that had escaped her eye. "I know. I don't want to believe it either. But we can't ignore what's right in front of us."
Elina took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "Then what do we do now? How do we stop it? How do we fix this?"
Liam's expression hardened, his jaw clenching. "We need to get to the heart of it all. We need to find out what your father's been hiding. We need to expose the truth."
Elina nodded, but the fear that had taken root in her chest didn't subside. She was afraid. Afraid of what they would find, afraid of what it would cost them. But she had no choice. She couldn't live with the lies anymore.
"You're not alone in this," Liam said, his voice firm. "I'm here, Elina. We're in this together."
Later that night, at Greyson's mansion...
Greyson leaned back in his chair, swirling the contents of his glass as he stared out the large windows. The city below seemed so distant, so far removed from the chaos that swirled inside the walls of this place.
He had been expecting Elina to come to him, to beg for answers, but she hadn't yet. He could feel the tension building between them, the unspoken connection, the pull that seemed to grow with each passing moment.
But he couldn't afford to let his guard down. Not now.
The door to his study creaked open, and Greyson turned to see one of his men standing there, looking uneasy.
"Sir," the man began, his voice hesitant. "We've got a problem."
Greyson raised an eyebrow. "What kind of problem?"
The man stepped closer, lowering his voice. "It's about the girl. Elina. She's digging into her father's past. She's getting closer to the truth."
Greyson's lips curled into a dangerous smile. "Let her. She thinks she can find the answers. But she doesn't know what she's really dealing with."
The man shifted uncomfortably. "But, sir, if she keeps going, she might uncover things we don't want her to."
Greyson's eyes darkened. "Then we'll have to stop her."
Back at the safehouse...
Elina sat at the small desk in the corner of the room, her fingers flying over the keyboard of her laptop as she searched through the files Liam had provided her. The more she dug, the more it became clear—her father had been a part of something far bigger than just money laundering.
Her mother had been right in the middle of it all. The deals, the lies, the betrayals—they were all connected, and Elina had to face the ugly truth.
But as she pieced together the puzzle, she felt the pull of something else—something dark and dangerous. The deeper she went, the more she could sense that Greyson was watching her every move. She had no doubt that he had been following her investigation, trying to control her actions.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She quickly closed her laptop, her heart racing.
"Come in," she called, her voice steady despite the panic rising in her chest.
Liam stepped inside, his face set in a hard expression. "We need to talk."
Elina stood up, her pulse quickening. "What's going on?"
Liam's eyes were filled with determination. "It's Greyson. He's one step ahead of us. He knows what you're doing. He won't let us find the truth."
"Then we'll have to find another way," Elina said, her voice shaking with a mixture of fear and anger. "We can't stop now. We're too close."
Liam nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "We'll finish this. Together."