Nathaniel sat rigidly, his sharp features drawn tight as he asked, "What did you find?"
"From Roberto’s phone details, I got sothing shocking," Kelvin said. "He had been in touch with an inforr—a man who often provided information about cris in the locality to the cops."
Nathaniel’s gaze sharpened, a flicker of confirmation crossing his expression. He had suspected as much. He recalled instructing Roberto to keep an eye on Riya to check if Zachary had been threatening her to do sothing. Now, hearing this, the unease in his chest coiled into cold certainty.
"I knew it," he muttered. "Sothing is fishy about his accident. I’m sure Zachary had a hand in it." He looked at Kelvin, his tone demanding. "Did you find the inforr?"
Kelvin shook his head with a mix of frustration and suspicion. "No. The inforr has been missing since the day of the accident. His last call was to Roberto. That can’t be a coincidence. Roberto died, the inforr vanished—both on the sa day. It’s staged."
The silence between them grew taut, broken only by the hum of the engine. Nathaniel’s brows furrowed, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel.
After a mont of pause, Kelvin continued, "I checked on the inforr. His phone’s location placed him near the Grand Hotel the night before he disappeared—the sa place Riya stayed that night. Maybe he had been tracking her movent."
Nathaniel grew pensive as he listened to Kelvin intently.
"He made a call to Roberto early in the morning," Kelvin recalled. "At the ti, he was still around the hotel. But his phone’s last signal was at the accident site."
The implications of Kelvin’s words set like lead in Nathaniel’s mind.
"I am just wondering if he was also in that car," Kelvin said, his voice dropping into a suspicious murmur, "or he went there to check on Roberto."
Nathaniel’s frown deepened. "If he had been in the car, the cops would have found two bodies. But there was only one—and they already confird it was Roberto."
A quiet ache stirred inside him; part of him still clung to the hope that Roberto wasn’t truly gone.
Kelvin inclined his head. "That’s what the police report says. What troubles is where the inforr disappeared to."
What he didn’t voice was the suspicion gnawing at him, that Roberto might have staged his death, hiding in the shadows until the right mont to resurface. But until he had proof, that thought had to remain locked within him.
The car fell silent yet again. Neither spoke for a long while.
It was Nathaniel who finally broke the stillness. "Do you have anything concrete against Zachary?"
Kelvin exhaled slowly. "Not yet. He is cunning, calculating... digging up evidence on him is close to impossible. But I’ve been watching him. He spends a lot of ti with Riya lately. Too much ti."
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed, a trace of confusion flickering there. "What are you suggesting?"
Kelvin’s lips curved into sothing unreadable. "You are wise enough to understand," he said, his tone deliberately cryptic.
A dreadful thought crossed Nathaniel’s mind. He could understand what Kelvin was trying to say, but he refused to accept it. He shook his head, pushing the disturbing thoughts out of his mind.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Riya calls him uncle. She is the Grant family’s daughter. How could she possibly be involved with Zachary in that way?"
Kelvin’s tone was firm, unyielding. "Whether you like it or not, facts don’t change. I saw them with my own eyes, going into a hotel room together, staying the night. A grown man and woman behind closed doors... what else do you think was happening?"
Nathaniel’s hands clamped down on the steering wheel, veins bulging, knuckles white. His heart thundered with rage. He didn’t want to believe it, but the mory of Riya stealing confidential files from his laptop and passing them to Zachary struck him like a blade.
It turned out that Riya had a secret affair with Zachary.
"I’ll kill her," he snarled through clenched teeth. "How could she sink this low? Sleeping with her uncle? Bringing sha to our family?"
His face burned crimson. "If Zachary forced her, she should’ve co to us. Why would she give in to him?"
The fire inside him only raged hotter with each thought. "We have been planning her marriage to the Lawsons. And she—she is sleeping with Zachary instead. We treated her like a princess, showered her with love, and this is how she repays us..."
His lips curled in disgust. "She chose the enemy’s side. She leaked the company’s secrets to him. Enough. I won’t stand by any longer. She has to be stopped."
"Don’t act rashly," Kelvin cautioned. "We don’t know the truth yet. Maybe Riya is with him out of love... or maybe for reasons we can’t see." He hesitated before adding, "It’s also possible she has no choice—that she is acting under Zachary’s command."
Nathaniel’s expression shifted, his anger cooling into unease. He shot Kelvin a questioning look.
"Zachary is dangerous," Kelvin pressed on. "He has no limits. He can twist people, bend them, make them do his bidding."
"You are saying Riya has beco his puppet?" Nathaniel asked, intrigue and disbelief colliding in his voice.
"Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t say for certain. But one thing is clear—you must be careful. You can’t let her realize you are suspicious of her. Zachary has eyes on her. The mont he senses that you or your family doubt her, he won’t think twice about silencing her."
A cold shiver crawled down Nathaniel’s spine, his mind rushing back to the past. Riya’s father had sacrificed his life to save Vincent. He couldn’t allow Zachary to snuff out her life, too.
But he couldn’t just sit quietly and watch Zachary use her as a weapon against them. "Then what do you want to do? I can’t just sit here while he pulls her strings. That man is using her to strike at us."
"I understand your anger," Kelvin said evenly, "but you need to stay composed. Sotis the only way to win is by stepping back—watching, waiting. Let Zachary think he is ahead. The more confident he grows, the more careless he’ll beco, and then his real motives will surface. But if he suspects we are onto him, we are both finished."
Nathaniel stayed silent, though his eyes hardened like steel.
Kelvin’s voice softened, tinged with weariness. "I’ve got no one left to mourn . My life doesn’t matter. But if I die before ending this, that will be my only regret. You, on the other hand, have a family who loves you, depends on you. What happens to them if you are gone? Think about Zara. Think about Zane."
A shiver ran through him as images of his wife and son flashed through his mind. The very idea of Zachary laying a hand on them twisted his gut.
Kelvin placed a steady hand on his shoulder, grounding him. "Trust . This fight isn’t yours alone—it’s mine as well. I still owe a debt of blood."
Nathaniel turned his head slightly, his expression darkening with curiosity.
Kelvin’s voice dropped. "Those who murdered my wife... they were part of the sa syndicate Zachary is tied to."
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