I Deleted You Traitor Even My Blade Forgot Your Name novel Chapter 24

There was still no trace of Elara. It was like she’d vanished from the face of the earth.

Grayson’s people combed through New York and the surrounding areas over and over–like running a fine tooth comb through every inch. Nothing Not a single lead on “Elara Carter.”

he was just… gone.

he realization was like a needle, stabbing into Grayson’s heart day and night.

ust when the hopeless search and inner torment were about to push him over the edge, an unexpected breakthrough came-

he police called. The last two fugitives from the kidnapping case had been caught in another state.

he second he heard, Grayson shot up from his desk. Meetings, contracts–everything was forgotten. He raced to the poliest

n the interrogation room, the two criminals tried to play tough at first. Tried to pin everything on their dead accomplice. Insi hey’d specifically targeted Serena.

ut under the weight of new evidence and the pressure Grayson applied, one of them–the weaker one–finally cracked.

at money. That

It was… it was that Reed woman… She came to us first!”

he man was breathing hard, eyes full of fear. “She said… she said you cared about her a lot. That if we kidnapped her, you’d pay a huge ransom… And she also inted… hinted that we could take care of… take care of your wife while we were at it…”

rayson stood behind the one–way glass, listening to the confession. His blood felt like it had frozen solid.

・フェ

..She said if we created a situation where both she and Elara Carter were in danger, you’d definitely save her first… Then, as long as we dealt with Elara Carter he’d pay us extra. And she promised to use your connections to help us get away after…”

he kidnapper’s broken confession was like a dull, rusty blade–slicing through Grayson’s nerves one cut at a time.

ll those details he’d ignored or deliberately glossed over now came into sharp focus:

erena’s “impulsive” disappearance–was it really just because of a slap?

r had she staged it to escalate the conflict? To make him hate Elara even more?

When the kidnapping happened, she cried so pitifully. But she always managed to show just the right amount of fear toward Elars, Guiding him to direct all bus nger at her.

When he suggested trading Elara for Serena–was that flash in Serena’s eyes… satisfaction?

and when he arrived at the scene, she threw herself into his arms, trembling, repeating over and over, “Grayson, I was so scaredshed successfully pulled is attention away. He didn’t even think to send someone to save Flara right away…

He’d had doubts. But Serena’s ‘fragile innocence” had taken root first so he chose to believe her.

Or maybe, deep down, he wanted to believe her. To justify his own betrayal

“We didn’t plan to kill her on the spot Just wanted to grab her and deal with her like Miss Reed said But she tought back hard cut one of our guns to the boss lost it and stabbed her… There was so much blood, we thought she was done for so we Fab…

The kidnapper’s voice kept going, but Grayson couldn’t hear anymore.

His ears were ringing. His vision went dark.

A metallic taste rose in his throat. He forced it back down.