After Elara thoroughly explained the threat to the precinct, the police immediately dispatched a patrol car to pick her up.
Before she left, Mira slipped a debit card into her hand. "There's about fifteen thousand dollars on this. Take it."
"Don't worry about finals. It's not the college entrance exam; missing it won't kill your future. Call me if anything escalates."
"I can't take this, Mira. I still have a few hundred saved up, you know that. I'll call you if I need more."
Mira knew Elara's fierce independence wouldn't allow her to accept what she viewed as charity.
"Just take it as a backup," Mira insisted, pressing the card into Elara's palm. "You need liquidity in a crisis. If you don't spend it, just give it back."
Later that evening, Mira received an update from Elara.
Her father's bad leg had been completely crushed by the vehicle.
Fortunately, a passing driver had boxed the hit-and-run vehicle in and called the cops before the suspect could flee.
As it turned out, her father hadn't gone back to their country home at all. He had driven to the county where Elara's mother lived, desperate to uncover the real reason they were hunting his daughter.
His investigation had struck gold. Elara's mother and her new husband had a daughter suffering from acute kidney failure. They were hunting Elara solely to use her as an involuntary organ donor for the transplant match.
Mira felt a chill run down her spine. The darkest, most twisted scenario she had thrown out to scare Elara into being careful had turned out to be the exact truth. They really were after her kidneys.
The sheer depravity of some people was staggering.
Elara's father had barely uncovered the plot and was walking along the shoulder of the road to head home when a car suddenly swerved and violently mowed him down...
He had managed to throw himself partially out of the way, saving his life but sacrificing his leg in the process.
The driver was currently in police custody, and his family was being forced to front the massive medical bills.
After hearing Elara's testimony, the police immediately launched a criminal investigation into her mother and step-father, highly suspecting the "accident" was a premeditated hit.
With detectives breathing down their necks, the psychotic couple wouldn't dare make a move. Elara was finally safe.
"Hell hath no fury like a vicious woman,"
The Iron Wolves muttered in disgust after Mira relayed the story.
"Don't generalize. Most people, men and women, are decent. The monsters are the exception,"
Rachel corrected them firmly.
"Women as vile as Elara's mother are extremely rare."
"Rare or not, they do enough damage for a lifetime,"



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