Chapter 393

Police car lights gradually faded as Sherwood and Daren were escorted into the vehicles, metal doors clanging shut behind them.

A quick glance at his watch prompted lsaac to pull out his phone. "I need to inform Verena," he told Luis.

Shadows swallowed him as he stepped away, cold phone light carving sharp angles across his face.

Taillights disappeared around the corner while Luis watched,and then footsteps approached from behind.

Bloodshot eyes filled with gratitude as the commanding officer removed his cap. "Mr. Sampson,we couldn't have managed this without your cooperation."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he reached out to shake Luis' hand, "Daren is incredibly skilled at evading surveillance. Three years we've been chasing him without a single breakthrough..."

Paper scraps scattered in the night wind as the officer lowered his voice. "As for Sherwood,he was clearly working with that drug lord in secret, trying to pin everything on you. Without the solid evidence you provided beforehand, this case could have dragged on indefinitely."

Phone tucked away, Isaac returned just then.

Back went the officer's cap before he saluted. "We'll handle everything from here. You two can head back now."

Cold phone light illuminated Verena's face as she read Isaac's message repeatedly. "Sherwood has been arrested." Her fingertips unconsciously traced the device's edge.

Molly's presence beside her made Verena quickly darken the screen and slip the phone back into her bag.

Unmistakable awkwardness twisted Molly's expression after Verena finished recounting everything about Miranda.

"Fine, I'll admit it. She really is impressive." Begrudging admiration leaked through her voice as she straightened her posture, refocusing her energy. "But even so, I still burn with envy that she captured Luis 'heart." Rose perfume invaded the space as she suddenly leaned in close, her words directed past Verena as if Miranda herself were listening. "Don't think sharing all this with me wilI soften my stance toward her one bit.Peace between us is impossible; she'll remain my rival until the end."

Her declaration hung in the air while Molly registered Verena's distant stare, lost somewhere beyond the car window where twilight deepened.

Irritation sparked as she snapped her fingers directly before Verena's glazed eyes. "Earth to Verena! What's got you so spaced out? Are you even listening to me?"

The sharp sound yanked Verena back to the present,their contrasting faces staring back from the window's reflection.

"Night's falling," she murmured gently. "You should get home."

Shock crossed Molly's features as she checked her phone,realizing how much time had slipped away.

Panic drove her movements as she snatched her bag and burst through the car door. "Dear God! Dad will absolutely punish me if he discovers I'm out this late!"

Those words slammed into Verena's chest like a sledgehammer.

Pure instinct made Verena lunge forward, fingers catching Molly's coat tail. "Hold on."

Confusion painted Molly's face as she spun around from outside the vehicle. "What's wrong?"

Molly's piercing stare made guilt claw at Verena's insides, her head dropping under the weight of shame.Several heartbeats passed before she clenched her fists and forced herself to look up again.

Words barely escaped her lips as she whispered to Molly,"I'm sorry."

Dense as Molly could be, even she couldn't ignore the twisted anguish written across Verena's face or her tortured hesitation.

Suspicion darkened Molly's features as she yanked her coat free from Verena's grip, stepping back warily."Verena, what are you talking about? Stop being cryptic and tell me straight."

Molly's demanding gaze made Verena's throat constrict, overwhelming guilt making it impossible to maintain eye contact.

Downcast eyes hid behind lashes that cast delicate shadows across her cheekbones.

Time stretched endlessly before Verena drew a shuddering breath, pushed open the half-closed car door, and stepped into the night. Sharp clicks echoed through the stillness as her flat shoes struck the asphalt with each measured step.

Streetlights wove their shadows into an intricate web as she approached Molly with deliberate slowness.

Dry leaves skittered around their feet in the faint breeze, powerless to cut through the suffocating tension.

"Sherwood was arrested tonight on drug trafficking charges."

Ice seemed to coat the wind as it carried Verena's words like razor-sharp fragments.

Molly's lashes fluttered as her eyes went wide with shock.

All color bled from Molly's face as she stumbled backward,her body hitting the car with a hollow thud."What did you just say?"

Her voice cracked and splintered, as though torn from the very depths of her being.

"I'm sorry," Verena's hand pressed against her stomach as she bent forward slightly, the apology pouring out of her. "I asked you out today because l was using you. Our plan was to make Sherwood believe you'd been kidnapped, baiting him into bringing ransom money to his scheduled meeting with the drug lord... That way, the police could capture both him and the dealer in one coordinated strike."

Molly's knees gave way as she collapsed against the car, her fingers clawing desperately at the metal surface with a harsh screech. "You're lying! Dad's too smart to get caught so easily! This has to be some sick joke. I'm calling him right now to prove you wrong!"

Desperation fueled her frantic search through her handbag.

Coral-painted nails trembled across the phone screen after she found it, fumbling the password three times before finally unlocking the device.

Sherwood's number rang through to nothing but a cold,mechanical busy tone.

"That's impossible..." Suddenly, she shoved the phone toward Verena. "Look! It's not connecting because the line is busy. You're making this whole thing up!"

Verena reached out and locked Molly's phone screen."You won't reach him," she said quietly.

A subtle gesture directed Molly's attention toward the car's interior, making her lean forward to follow Verena's indication. Blue light pulsed ominously from a black device tucked beneath the leather seat where she'd been sitting. "Signal jamming equipment has been running in this car. Every communication to your phone was blocked the moment you stepped inside."

Ashen pallor crept across Molly's face as Verena continued with deliberate slowness, "So during our entire conversation, you received no texts or calls.And right now, Sherwood can't receive any of your messages or calls."

Crimson fury blazed in Molly's eyes the instant Verena finished speaking, her glare turning murderous.

Movement from the driver caught Verena's peripheral vision,but she raised her hand to wave him off.

Sharp nails bit deep into Verena's collar as Molly grabbed her. Scalding tears carved tracks down her cheeks while ragged breaths tore from her throat. "So you targeted me deliberately, used me as bait,all to destroy my father!"

Smeared makeup transformed her face into a canvas of destruction, hatred burning in her eyes like wildfire."Why? What did my dad ever do to you? Why are you trying to destroy him like this?"

Verena stood firm, letting Molly shake her without resistance.

Guilt over this entire situation had made her stop the driver from intervening earlier. Still, she wouldn't shoulder all the blame.

Verena's steady gaze met Molly's bloodshot eyes as bone-deep resolve froze Verena's guilt solid. "Molly,I'll admit | used you, but claiming | destroyed Sherwood..."

Iron strength gripped Molly's wrist, forcing her to release her hold with a sharp wince. "That's completely false," Verena added.

Night wind caught Verena's hair, whipping it across her face as her voice turned glacial. "There are truths you've been sheltered from your entire life. Twenty-five years ago, your father orchestrated my separation from my family."

Each step brought her closer, her arctic stare reflecting in Molly's dilated pupils. "He shattered my mother's mind and broke my father's health. My brother had to sacrifice his youth to save Sampson Group and hold our family together, nearly falling into the trap of marrying you... the daughter of our destroyer!"

Bitter laughter erupted from Verena's throat, saturated with years of buried rage. "Did you imagine that evidence materialized from nothing? Do you have any clue how many atrocities your father has committed in the shadows?" Molly's hands froze mid-air, her mouth working soundlessly like a fish gasping for breath. Questions turned to ice shards lodged in her throat, too sharp and frozen to escape. Streetlight halos blurred through her tears as each of Verena's words struck like hammer blows, splintering her image of her devoted, principled father into fragments.

"That's impossible..." Desperation made Molly shake her head violently, rejecting every syllable. "My dad,he...there's no way he could..."

Her voice withered to a whisper, trembling with disbelief she couldn't even convince herself to feel.Ambition was the worst she'd ever attributed to her father, never imagining he could sink to such unthinkable depths.

Fresh tears carved new paths down her ravaged cheeks at this realization.

Complex emotions churned through Verena's chest as she watched Molly collapse into muffled sobs behind her hands. Molly's trembling silhouette stirred memories of her mother's hollow stare, her father's withered frame-harsh reminders that Sherwood had planted these seeds of destruction himself.

"Molly,twenty-five years ago your father made a wrong choice, and now, he repeated it." Ice coated Verena's words despite the slight tremor in her voice. "Every action breeds consequences.Children understand this fundamental truth. Surely he did too.Yet he still chose to shatter the law, and what followed was justice's inevitable verdict. As for you..."

A gilded business card emerged from Verena's purse,catching streetlight in cold flashes.

"Police will soon dissect every shadowy corner of the Kirk empire." The card slipped into Molly's shaking palm, contact with those frozen fingertips making Verena's heart stutter unexpectedly. "An overseas friend needs a design director. Your talent could build something new, maybe even better than what you're leaving behind."

A soft exhale escaped Verena's lips as she turned away, sliding into the car and sealing the door with finality.

Streetlight stretched Molly's hunched shadow into something grotesque and endless as tears carved fresh channels down her face.

Sharp card edges bit into her palm while gilded letters swam through her blurred vision.

Sand particles stung her cheeks in the night breeze as Verena's words echoed: "Every action breeds consequences."

Molly's nails carved crescents into her skin-her cherished father had been systematically destroying other families in darkness.

An uncontrollable sob tore from her throat at the revelation.

Hatred burned for her father's criminal choices, but self-loathing consumed her more for endangering her father over a man who didn't love her. Though perhaps, if her father had chosen differently from the start, Luis would never have struck back so ruthlessly.

Engine noise hummed in the distance as Verena's taillights faded around the corner.

Molly lifted her gaze to track the disappearing vehicle,the card's metallic edges slicing into her white-knuckled grip. Liking Verena remained impossible, yet blaming or resenting her felt equally futile. Just as Verena had declared, they were simply returning fire now.