Chapter 60 Ugly Truth
Elena's POV
We had barely pulled away from the line of black sedans when it happened.
The cemetery gates were just ahead and I remember staring at them through the windshield.
Jack’s hands remained on the steering wheel and then headlights flashed across the hood of our car; a dark vehicle swerved in front of us and stopped abruptly, blocking the narrow exit road.
I heard Jack curse under his breath. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I furrowed my brows in recognition, I already knew who it was.
Richard's car door slammed shut with deliberate force and then I watched him move quickly around the front of his vehicle with tight jaw and blazing eyes flanked by two bodyguards.
Jack exhaled sharply. “Elena, stay here.”
“I won’t,” I said automatically, already unbuckling my seatbelt.
He glanced at me as something flashed across his face, but he didn’t argue.
We got out of the car as the cold air hit my face.
Richard closed the distance between us because he looked impatient enough to not wait for us to approach. His boots crunched against the gravel.
“What is it, Richard?” I asked first, too exhausted for pantry.
Jack stepped slightly in front of me in a protective manner. “Move your car, Richard. We’re leaving.”
Richard didn’t even look at him at first. His angry eyes were only locked on mine.
“You really have no idea, do you?” he said incredulously.
Jack’s jaw tightened. “Just say what you need to say and get out of our way.”
Richard’s gaze snapped to him, and his scowl deepened. “You,” he growled. “You don’t get to talk.”
Jack took a step forward. “Then don’t address us.”
I felt the tension crackle between them like static, I felt a headache.
“Enough,” I snapped. “This is not the time.”
Richard finally looked back at me. His eyes flicked briefly to my black coat and then to my face. “Do you even know who exactly you’re standing beside?” he asked quietly.
My stomach twisted.
“What does that even mean?” I shot back.
“Do you know Jack’s true nature?” Richard pressed. “Do you know what he’s capable of?”
Jack scoffed once. “Careful.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Richard said to him through clenched teeth.
I felt exhaustion creeping in. “I don’t need this,” I said, biting down on my lower lip to steady myself. “At least not today.”
“I think you need it more than ever,” Richard insisted. “Because you’re walking around blind, Elena.”
“Blind?” Jack echoed, stepping forward again. “You’re the one blocking a funeral procession.”
Richard ignored him and focused on me. “Do you know why he came into your life?” Richard asked me directly. “Do you know what he agreed to before marrying you?”
Richard's words hit like a slap.
How do I tell the world that I'm in no mood for drama?
“Leave me alone,” I said, my voice colder now. “Just leave me alone, Richard.”
He shook his head slowly. “I can’t leave you alone, Elena. Not until I get this over with."
“Yes, you can,” Jack snapped. “Move your damn car.”
Richard’s bodyguards shifted slightly, sensing the escalation.
I felt the weight of everything pressing down on me without invitation—the funeral, the grave, the unresolved questions, the files waiting in my inbox...
“Layla’s funeral just ended,” I said, the words coming out sharper than I intended. “I just buried someone I loved.”
Richard’s expression narrowed slightly.
“And you choose now,” I continued, “now of all times, to ambush me in a cemetery parking lot?”
“I’m trying to protect you,” he insisted.
I let out a soft bitter laugh. “Protect me?” I repeated. “From who? Jack?”
“Yes.” Richard said as if he was trying so hard not to pinch his nose bridge.
I felt Jack stiffen beside me.
“You don’t know anything,” Jack said quietly.
Richard’s eyes never left mine. “Elena, he’s not who you think he is.”
“And you are?” I shot back immediately.
“You think I don’t know what you wanted?” I continued, “You think I forgot the pressure? The contracts? The arrangement?”
“That was business,” Richard said and looked away for a moment.
“And what is this?” I demanded gesturing between us.
“Layla is dead,” I said, my voice cracked despite my efforts. “Her body was burned beyond recognition. Do you understand that?”
Richard clenched his jaw.
“And you think,” I continued, my tone turning almost sarcastic now because if I didn’t lean into it I might collapse, “that what I need right now is a character assessment of Jack?”
“Elena—”
“No,” I cut him off. “You don’t get to do this.”
Jack’s eyes settled on me.
“I get it, you’re emotional,” Richard said.
“Of course I’m emotional, we just buried Layla.” I said.
He hesitated and that hesitation told me he knew he’d misstepped.
“I want to tell you because you deserve the truth,” he insisted. “Jack here is not innocent.”
My heart skipped, but I forced my expression to remain composed like I've always managed to do.
“You’re not exactly a saint either,” I replied.
“That’s different.”
“It always is with you,” I said bitterly.
Jack stepped forward again. “Move the car Richard.”
Richard’s eyes flashed with anger but he tried to control it. “I’m not your enemy,” he said to me quietly, ignoring Jack once more.
I felt exhaustion seep deeper into my bones.
“There's a whole lot going on, so I don’t need enemies right now,” I said softly. “I just need peace.”
“You won’t get that with him,” Richard insisted.
Something inside me snapped.
“Enough!” I shouted, the sound surprising even me.
Richard's bodyguards stiffened.
“I am standing ten meters away from freshly turned soil,” I said, my voice shaking but steady. “The earth hasn’t even settled yet and you think,” I paused before sarcasm cut through my grief, “that I want to hear your warnings? Your suspicions? Your ego?”
His eyes darkened. “You don’t know what he’s done,” he said quietly.
“And you don’t get to decide what I can handle,” I shot back.
Silence settled between us again as I bit my lip, tasting that faint metallic tang. “Leave me alone, Richard,” I said finally. “Just… leave me alone.”
“Stay the hell away from her,” Jack said to Richard, his voice was sharp like a warning that doesn’t need to be repeated.
I didn’t look at Jack nor at Richard before I turned to get back into the car.
I took a few steps...
“Elena.” Richard’s voice cracked through the air.
But I kept walking.
“Jack was contracted by your father to kill you in the first place!” Richard blurted.
My foot froze mid-step, but I didn’t turn around immediately—I couldn’t.
The words didn’t make sense, they floated in my head like fragments that refused to align. Behind me, I heard Jack curse under his breath like a violent rustle of fabric and then a sharp grunt.
When I finally turned, Jack had Richard by the collar, his fist was twisted in his coat as his eyes blazed with something I had never seen before. It was fury.
“Don’t say another word,” Jack snarled.
But Richard shoved him back roughly. “You don’t get to hide this anymore.”
The bodyguards stepped forward instinctively, but neither of them intervened yet.
It felt like my brain couldn't fully process what I'd heard and there's the fact that my heartbeat was so loud I could hear it in my ears.
“You think meeting him was fate?” Richard continued, stepping toward me now. “You think it was coincidence?”
Jack moved again, but I held up a hand without looking at him. I don’t know why I did that maybe because some part of me had already been bracing and preparing for something like this.
Richard’s eyes locked onto mine. “He wanted to kill you,” he said, each word deliberate. “That was the entire plan.”
I felt the air leave my lungs as I looked at Jack.
His chest was rising and falling too fast and his jaw was clenched so tightly I thought it might crack.
Then Richard let out a humorless laugh. “You can’t even deny it, can you?”
“Richard—” Jack started.
“No,” Richard cut in. “She deserves to know.”
My stomach twisted violently, I even tried to speak but no words came out. Then images from the first time I met Jack at the bar flickered in my mind.
The way he seemed to appear exactly when things were collapsing and then the speed at which everything moved—from the proposal down to the contract.
They've all been pretending like they weren't in cohorts with each other. Then, there's my father’s cold nod at the funeral.
But I shook my head in denial, no, that can't be.
“You’re lying,” I said finally, but my voice didn’t sound convinced.
Richard shook his head slowly. “Ask him then.”
I turned fully toward Jack. “Jack, is he lying?” I felt my hands tremble.
Jack’s eyes softened for half a second. “Elena—”
“I asked a question, Jack. Is Richard lying?" I repeated.
Jack's silence was louder than anything Richard could have said.
“You think he fell into your life by accident?” Richard pressed on as if I wasn't already hurt enough. “Your father knew you’d refuse our marriage arrangement. He knew you’d rebel against him, so he hired someone who could get close enough.”
I instantly felt sick to my stomach as my skin turned cold despite the damp air.
“That’s not how it—” Jack started, but Richard overrode him.
“He was supposed to eliminate you.”
I stared at Jack, as the memories of us kept colliding with this new possibility.
The way he always seemed to know things before I said them, the way he navigated threats, and the way he moved through danger like it was a familiar territory.
“How much did he pay you?” Richard asked sharply.
Jack lunged at him again, grabbing his coat. “I swear to God—”
“Stop!” I shouted.
They froze.
I looked at Jack again. So everything we shared was a lie?
“You—you were hired to kill me?” I whispered.
Why didn't you? What changed? I wanted to ask but I decided against it.
Jack ran a hand through his hair, frustration flashing across his face. “It wasn't that simple.”
What?
Fury began to bubble at the pit of my stomach. “So it’s true,” I said, and my voice felt like it was coming from somewhere far away.
“Elena, listen to me—”
“Was it true?” I demanded.
He hesitated and that hesitation told me everything.
Richard’s voice came softly. “You see?”
But I didn’t look at Richard, my eyes were solely fixated on Jack.
The same man I let into my bed, the same man that made love to me like I was a part of his soul—that same man had been hired to eliminate me by my own father?
“Say something,” I breathed.
“I never hurt you,” Jack said quickly. “I never would.”
But that wasn’t the question. “Were you hired to kill me?” I asked again.
His jaw tightened. “Yes,” he said finally, barely audible. “But—”
I didn’t need to hear the rest.
It felt like the ground beneath the cemetery had opened under my feet, like I was falling through layers of realization I didn’t want.
My father wanted me dead, and the man I'd married out of rebellion had agreed to it.
How did everything go wrong?
My vision blurred from the shock of it as I wrapped my arms around myself instinctively, like I could hold the pieces together.
“You married me,” I said hollowly.
“I did that to protect you,” he shot back desperately. “But it changed—”
“It was supposed to be my execution,” I interrupted.
“No!” His voice cracked.
Richard stepped closer again. “You think he genuinely cared about you? It was all strategy.”
“Shut up!” Jack roared.
But the damage was done.
The grief I’d been carrying all week cracked open and spilled into something uglier.