When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

On a stormy night, filled with claps of thunder and heavy rain, Lisa bombarded Clyde with several calls and flirty texts. Finally, I picked up the phone and gave her a piece of my mind, which got her to finally hang up.

I could almost picture Talbot sitting beside her, his face red with anger.

The thought of him pushing his own daughter to do such things made my skin crawl. How could a father be like that?

Considering Lisa's wish to see him behind bars, or worse, didn't seem all that unfathomable anymore.

There's an old saying, "Like father, like son," but if the father's heart is cold, the children's will be too.

The next day, Clyde went solo to negotiate a deal with the Crawford family's company, while I sought out Eliana for some assistance.

I had asked her the previous night to dig into whether Ironvale had seen a similar pattern of terminally ill patients involved in fatal accidents, and, shockingly, there was.

"Melanie, you don't think there's some sort of organization like in those TV dramas, do you? Life imitating art...it can't be real, right?"

"Is it like, paying people to commit murder because they're dying anyway, planning to leave their families some money before they pass?"

Eliana looked at me, eyes wide with fear, which only mirrored my own as I sifted through the data in my hands.

Over the past three to four years, Ironvale indeed had four or five such incidents.

Not just involving big rigs, but personal vehicles too.

And almost all the drivers were terminally ill patients with just a few months left to live, suffering from various diseases beyond just kidney failure. Eliana pulled out more reports.

"Melanie, look at this, these three patients were all treated at the same hospital, and Marilyn is the director there!"

Holding those documents, my hands trembled slightly.

Eliana's fears aligned closely with mine.

If people were being roped into committing murder in return for a sum of money for their families, they'd probably see it as a fair deal.

That's why the driver who killed my dad was so determined, having divorced early on.

This way, his family wouldn't have to pay compensation or worry about repercussions on the children.

And since he and my dad likely never crossed paths in decades, even a police investigation would probably turn up nothing.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

Especially since my family's case was inter-state.

Clutching the documents, a shiver ran down my spine as I felt closer to the truth.

"Eliana, can you check if these victims had any beef with the Crawford family?"

"Or with Garfield." Eliana looked at me steadily.

We were on the same wavelength.

Traffic system investigations were easily accessible, and within an hour, Eliana's contact provided us with the information. Indeed, the deceased had either competed with the Crawford family on projects or had disputes over collaborations.

"Eliana, drop this now. Buy a ticket and go back. Don't meddle further and don't come back, got it?"

Now that the situation was clear, and it undoubtedly involved Talbot and Garfield, I couldn't let Eliana get tangled in this. They were bold enough to do this; her investigation might get discovered.

I grabbed the documents, ready to leave.

She caught my sleeve, "Turning your back on me now? Done with seeking help?"

I wanted to explain, but she wouldn't hear it.

"If you're thinking of explaining, save it, Ms. Chandler doesn't give up halfway through."

"I remember an auntie at our diner

who might have kidney issues. I'm planning to accompany her to the hospital tomorrow. Join me, will you?"

Her grip on my sleeve was firm, the other hand already dialing on her phone.

"Lady, it's me. The company's

hosting a

tomorrow, 70% of treatment costs covered. I'll accompany you to the hospital, okay?"

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