Chapter 50 Glimpse of Hope
Ariella wanted to scream at him. Wanted to hate him for his cowardice, for choosing his family over justice. But she couldn’t. Because he was right, she’d make the same choice.
“The plate number,” Aiden said quietly. “Please. Even if you won’t testify, give us that much.”
David was silent for a long moment. Then he grabbed a pen and paper, wrote something down, handed it to Aiden.
“That’s all I remember. And if anyone asks, I never saw you. I never said anything. I’m just a man who made a mistake six months ago and corrected it.”
“Thank you,” Ariella managed.
“Don’t thank me. I don’t deserve thanks.” David walked them to the door. “But for what it’s worth, I hope you get him. I hope you destroy James Winters and everyone who works for him. I hope my cowardice didn’t cost your brother justice.”
“It did,” Ariella said honestly. “But I understand why.”
They drove away in silence. Aiden handed the paper to the security detail, who immediately called Marcus to run the partial plate.
“Are you okay?” Aiden asked finally.
“No. But I will be.” Ariella stared out the window. “He was murdered. We knew it, but hearing someone describe watching it happen and doing nothing…”
“He had reasons.”
“I know. That’s what makes it worse. I can’t even hate him properly because I’d do the same thing to protect you.”
“So would I. To protect you.”
They drove back to the mansion to wait for Marcus’s call. To see if a partial plate from six months ago could lead anywhere. To keep fighting a battle that seemed impossible to win.
But when Marcus called an hour later, his voice was tight with something Ariella couldn’t identify.
“The plate comes back to a BMW registered to a shell company. Same shell company we’ve traced to Winters for the embezzlement charges.”
“So we have proof,” Aiden said. “Proof that Winters was involved in Ethan’s death.”
“We have a connection. But the car was reported stolen two days before the accident. Recovered three days after, completely clean. No prints, no DNA, nothing.”
“Of course it was clean. Winters is too smart for that.”
“But we have the pattern now. The timeline. The connection to his organization. It’s not enough for murder charges yet, but it’s something.” Marcus paused. “Agent Morrison wants to meet. He thinks we might finally have enough to revoke Winters’ bail.”
Hope fluttered in Ariella’s chest. “Really?”
“Really. If we can show he’s actively threatening witnesses, your mother’s break-in, David Chen’s intimidation combined with this new evidence connecting him to Ethan’s death… The judge might reconsider.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning. Emergency hearing. Be ready.”
After they hung up, Ariella let herself feel it. actual hope. That maybe, finally, they were getting somewhere.
“We might win this,” she whispered.
“We might,” Aiden agreed.
That night, they told Claire everything. About David Chen, about the partial plate, about the possibility of getting Winters back in custody.
“Do you believe it?” Claire asked. “That we’re actually close to justice?”
“I don’t know,” Ariella admitted. “But I believe we have to keep trying. Even when it’s hard. Even when witnesses are too scared to speak. Because if we stop…”
“He wins,” her mother finished. “I know. I’m just tired of fighting.”
“Me too. But we’re almost there.”
“Are we? Or is ‘almost there’ just another way of saying ‘not yet’?”
Ariella didn’t have an answer.
But the next morning, walking into the courthouse for the emergency bail hearing, she let herself hope anyway.
Because hope was all they had left.