Chapter 597

Chapter 597

Lorelei was hiding in a secluded villa, trapped like a caged animal.

Her assets had been frozen, her company seized, and her partners were cutting ties with her one by one.

She had nothing left.

Her only hope was Gareth and Dominic.

They were her allies — her safety net.

For so many years, the three of them had done so much together.

She had believed they would help her.

But when disaster struck, everyone scattered.

She picked up her phone and dialed Gareth's number.

"Gareth, it's me."

Her voice was tight with urgency. "How are things on your end? Can you arrange a boat for me? I need to get out of Silverlight City."

Silence stretched across the line.

"I'm sorry."

Gareth sounded exhausted. "I can barely keep my own head above water. The Getty family has suspended all my positions, and the police are investigating me. I can't help you."

"What?"

The color drained from Lorelei's face. "Gareth, you can't just abandon me! We're allies!"

"Allies?"

A bitter laugh. "Lorelei, at this point, what does that even mean? We're all finished. You're on your own."

He hung up.

Lorelei stood there, phone in hand, frozen.

Gareth had actually left her to fend for herself.

She refused to accept it. She dialed Dominic's number.

No one answered.

She called again and again. Still nothing.

Then came the cold, automated recording — "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable."

Lorelei's hand began to shake.

Dominic's phone was off.

They had both abandoned her.

She was like an abandoned animal — alone and trapped inside this villa.

"No... I can't go down like this..."

She muttered to herself, her eyes wild. "I still have leverage... I still have secrets... They can't just throw me away like this..."

But deep down, she already knew. It was over.

Gareth and Dominic were fighting for their own survival.

They wouldn't — couldn't — help her anymore.

---

Meanwhile, Sadie and Noah were closing in on the truth behind an old case.

Louisa's parents' death had been a splinter lodged in her heart for years.

She had to find the truth.

"Noah, I found it."

Sadie placed a thick stack of documents on the table, her expression grave. "The car accident that killed Louisa's parents — it wasn't an accident."

"How so?"

Noah leaned in and scanned the files.

"The crash happened on an isolated mountain road. The official ruling was brake failure — the car went off the cliff."

Sadie tapped one of the photos. "But I found evidence that someone tampered with the brakes before the crash. And the mechanic who worked on that car disappeared shortly afterward."

"Disappeared?"

"Yeah."

Sadie nodded. "I tracked him down. He's been living overseas under a false identity."

"Is he willing to testify?"

"I've already reached him."

Sadie's tone was heavy. "He said someone paid him to tamper with the brakes. That person was Lorelei. She also threatened him — if he ever talked, she'd have his entire family killed. That's why he ran."

"Will he come back to testify?"

"Yes."

Sadie nodded. "He said he's been carrying the guilt for years. He knows Louisa's parents were good people. He's willing to come back and testify against Lorelei — cooperate with the investigation in exchange for leniency."

Noah's expression darkened.

"What else?"

"The fire at Louisa's parents' company — that wasn't an accident either."

Sadie pulled out another file. "Someone poured accelerant inside the building before the fire started. And a witness saw a woman leaving the premises in a hurry just before it broke out."

"Lorelei?"

"The description fits."

Sadie nodded. "And after the fire, a large sum appeared in Lorelei's account. Insurance money from Louisa's parents' company. Twenty million dollars."

Noah's fist tightened.

"That woman is absolutely ruthless."

"There's more."

Sadie continued, "The reason Louisa's parents took that mountain road — someone had sent them a text saying there was something urgent and asked to meet them up in the mountains."

"Who sent it?"

"The number's been canceled. But I traced it — that phone had been in frequent contact with Lorelei's number. And it was registered to one of her distant relatives. After the crash, that relative disappeared too."

Noah drew a slow, deep breath.

The chain of evidence was airtight.

Lorelei had killed Louisa's parents.

"Sadie, get all of this organized."

Noah's voice was low and controlled. "We're going to make Lorelei answer for every last thing she's done."

"Understood."

Sadie nodded.

---

That night, Louisa received the evidence.

She sat alone in the study, going through each document one by one.

Her hands were shaking.

Tears slid silently down her face.

After all these years.

She finally had the truth.

The one who had killed her parents was Lorelei.

That woman who wore a mask of warmth and grace — with a heart of stone underneath.

"Mom... Dad..."

Louisa's voice broke. Tears fell onto the documents in her hands. "Your daughter finally found the truth... You can rest now..."

Julian walked in and found her in tears. An ache settled deep in his chest.

He crossed the room and held her close.

"Louisa, it's over."

He murmured softly against her ear. "Lorelei will pay for everything she's done."

Louisa leaned into him. Her sobs slowly faded.

She knew.

This fight — she had won it.

Lorelei's last line of defense had crumbled.

What came next was the final reckoning.