Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law-Chapter 200: Caught

Elias Krane looked at the so-called witness testimony in front of him, then shifted his gaze to the information he had received from Melanie, and finally to the surveillance footage his private investigator had compiled. He sat there in the sterile waiting room, surrounded by cold white walls and buzzing fluorescent lights, but his mind was far from still.

Melanie had been taken into custody, and while he was fully capable of getting her released through court orders, he knew better. As much as he hated it, it was safer for her to remain in detention for now.

At least in there, she was protected—guarded. If someone made another attempt on Adam Collins’ life, and he was fairly certain they would, then Melanie would be untouched by the fallout. No one could point the finger at her, not with her behind locked doors.

And so, Elias found himself here- waiting, in this room, for a man he didn’t even know personally.

He barely looked up when the doctor entered, flanked by the two officers stationed outside the room who followed him into the room. Instead, he returned his focus to the file in his lap.

According to what the hotel staff had told him, and from Melanie’s account of that night, Adam’s young son should have been present at the scene. But when the police arrived, there had been no sign of the child. The boy had already vanished. That could only mean one thing someone had taken him before the authorities got there.

Elias didn’t show it to Melanie, but he already knew this. He’d known it before the police even suspected it. The issue was that he had been asked not to reveal that detail by his client. It was classified. But if he couldn’t speak of it, how was he supposed to prove that a third party had orchestrated the attempted murder? That someone else had been there- a hired killer with the means, and skill for it?

His gaze dropped to the photograph again. The woman—Saira. She lay motionless in the still frame, the knife wound clean and deliberate. According to his source, she had been killed with two swift strokes across the neck. A professional job. Then, the killer had placed the weapon in Adam’s hand-while he was unconscious. He had been provided with the suspects and the victim. The problem in this entire thing was that he had no way how to connect the two.

Now, the first question was, how had the narrative shifted? Even as he was pondering this, his gaze kept looking through the picture.

That was when something about the picture struck him.

Saira had been slashed across the neck- deep enough to sever the jugular. A wound like that would spray blood, and a lot of it. The force, the pressure—it should have left the room soaked. Blood should have pooled across the carpet, stained the furniture, splattered the walls. But it didn’t.

There was only a small, suspiciously neat stain on the carpet—right where she had supposedly collapsed.

How was that possible?

Elias leaned in, narrowing his eyes. Either the murder didn’t happen there... or someone had gone to great lengths to clean up the scene and make it look like it had.

And if that was true, then everything in the report-the testimony, the evidence, even the assumption of guilt-was suddenly in question. Should he call his client and ask whether he had not seen things properly in the dark?

But before he could, the door to the ICU opened again and the officers walked out, followed by the doctor who looked pale.

He stood up. It had already been a day and by now the swelling in Adam’s brain should have gone down a little so the doctor should have some idea.

Without a word, he moved to approach the man but he seemed to be in a hurry as he walked away, so Elias had no choice but to call out a bit loudly, "Doctor Reed? How’s Adam? Has the swelling reduced enough to run a full neurological assessment?"

The doctor jumped literally jumped as he turned back startled, and took an involuntary step back as if Elias had lunged at him. His clipboard slipped slightly from under his arm, and he clutched it quickly with both hands, knuckles white.

Elias froze, confused. "Are you alright?"

The doctor nodded quickly, and then breathed deeply, "Yes yes, I’m fine. Just startled. I didn’t see you standing there and then following me..."

Elias didn’t buy it. No one should be that scared of someone calling his name. "Are you sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

But the doctor chuckled nervously and shook his head, adjusting his glasses. "No, nothing like that. It’s just been a long shift. Tired, that’s all."

Elias tilted his head slightly, watching him. But then shrugged and questioned,"You just checked on Adam, didn’t you. How is he doing?"

"I—yes, I was," the doctor replied, eyes shifting toward the now-closed ICU doors behind him. "But it’s still early. Adam’s condition remains critical. The swelling hasn’t reduced as much as we hoped. We’ll need more time."

"More time?" Elias narrowed his eyes. "But didn’t you say just yesterday that it was going down and he would recover soon?"

The doctor’s lips parted as if to answer, but no words came. Instead, his jaw clenched, and he looked down, adjusting the folder in his hands again, as if remembering something and said, " Medical science is not exact..."

Before he could say more, a nurse came sprinting down the corridor, her voice urgent and high-pitched.

"Doctor! He’s coding!"

She didn’t need to say the name. All three of them knew.

The doctor dropped his file, and ran towards the ICU with Elias following closely behind! freewebnσvel.cѳm

Inside the ICU, chaos reigned. The rhythmic beep of machines had devolved into sharp, panicked tones. Nurses rushed around the bed, calling out instructions and stats. A crash cart was wheeled in, and the defibrillator pads were already being placed on Adam’s chest.

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