Chapter 2
Elise started to shake uncontrollably in her seat,
and she looked at her husband Graham for help.
Graham looked back at her with wide eyes,
and his face was full of pure absolute horror.
He asked her if the accusations were true,
and she could not find the words to answer him.
She just stared at the photograph on the table,
and the heavy silence in the room was deafening.
The woman at the door finally stepped forward,
and her voice was incredibly calm and steady.
She said she owned the local auto repair shop,
and she said she fixed the green Range Rover.
She said my father paid her in thick stacks of cash,
and he told her to keep quiet about the damage.
He told her it was a tragic hunting accident,
and he said the car hit a large deer on the road.
She said she believed his story at first,
and she did the repair work very quickly.
But she saw the local news reports days later,
and she saw the exact location of the crash.
She saw the description of the green paint on the news,
and she knew she had been terribly lied to.
She felt immense guilt about keeping the dark secret,
and she finally decided to come forward with the truth.
She said she contacted my husband Rowan yesterday,
and she gave him the original repair invoice.
She said she took photos of the damage before fixing it,
and she kept them hidden safely in a locked drawer.
The invoice had my father's unique cursive signature,
and it had the exact date of the tragic accident.
The physical evidence was completely undeniable now,
and the trap was finally sprung on my family.
My father looked at the brave woman by the door,
and his face turned a deep and angry shade of red.
He told her she was a terrible and greedy liar,
and he threatened to sue her for everything she owned.
The woman did not back down from his loud threats,
and she calmly told him to save it for the strict judge.
The room felt like it was spinning in circles,
and I could barely draw breath into my lungs.
My own parents had covered up a terrible crime,
and they had watched me suffer for three long years.
They had forced me to thank Elise for her help,
and they had made me feel like a heavy burden.
My mother finally looked up from her shaking hands,
and she stared at Elise with tears in her eyes.
She asked Elise why she drove away that night,
and Elise started to sob loudly into her napkins.
Elise said she was terrified of going to jail,
and she said she did not want to lose her career.
She said she thought I was already dead on the road,
and she panicked when the rain started falling harder.
I listened to her pathetic and selfish excuses,
and I felt nothing but pure disgust in my heart.
She had valued her job over my own human life,
and she had played the hero while hiding the weapon.
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Rowan put his arm around my shaking shoulders,
and he glared at the family that had betrayed me.
