Chapter 80 Her Confession Video
Matilda stepped out of the clinic room, and her eyes immediately found Wentworth.
That single glance sent waves crashing through her heart, her emotions churning wildly.
Once again, he'd been there to save her when she needed it most.
For a split second, she nearly gave in to the urge to run to him and throw her arms around him.
But when she remembered his marital status and his mother's cold, disapproving attitude, her feet froze in place.
"I'm fine now. Thank you for saving me," she said from the doorway, her tone deliberately flat.
Wentworth's eyes had lit up the moment he saw her emerge, but hearing her distant tone made that brightness quickly fade.
"Are you really okay?" He stepped closer, concern written across his face.
"I'm fine... By the way, what happened to those two bastards?" Matilda clenched her fists as she asked. Just thinking about them made her body tremble with a mixture of rage and lingering fear.
"Turned them over to the County Sheriff's Office," Wentworth answered.
Danny opened his mouth beside them but said nothing.
The truth was, they'd called the sheriff to come collect the men—Wentworth had beaten them half to death, probably broke a few bones too. Wentworth knew exactly how to inflict damage that wouldn't show on the surface but would leave them with lifelong reminders.
Seeing how pale she looked, Wentworth immediately moved to steady her.
But she stepped back, avoiding his touch.
"Wentworth, I need to sleep. You should go back now."
"I'm staying here tonight to watch over you."
"That's not necessary."
"Then I'll keep guard outside," Wentworth insisted.
He and Danny moved to sit in the clinic's waiting area—she'd just survived a terrifying assault, and he needed to stay close. If she wouldn't let him near, he'd keep his distance, but he absolutely wasn't leaving.
Seeing them retreat to the outer area, Matilda finally closed her door. She curled up on the bed, clutching the blanket tight.
Deep down, she wanted him to stay—otherwise she'd spend the whole night paralyzed by fear. Knowing he was just outside gave her the first sense of security she'd felt.
Wentworth and Danny sat on the bench outside the clinic.
This time, Danny finally understood completely—and not just him, Rick and the others could see it too: Wentworth genuinely cared about Matilda.
Danny wanted to remind Wentworth not to make any mistakes, but Wentworth pulled a photo from his wallet and handed it over.
Danny glanced at it and froze. "Captain, isn't this Dr. Spencer?"
Danny had a special talent for faces—photographic memory, especially for people. Often he could look at a photo once and remember all that person's features.
But Wentworth had always said the woman in the photo wasn't Matilda, so he'd never been sure.
"Captain, are you looking out for Dr. Spencer because she resembles your wife? Or... are they twins?"
Wentworth shot him a look and snatched the photo back. "Dr. Spencer is my wife."
"For real? Then why did you guys act like strangers at first?"
"She doesn't like me. Wants a divorce."
"She doesn't like you?" For a moment, Danny couldn't wrap his head around the idea that any woman wouldn't fall for Wentworth.
"If she doesn't like you, why'd she marry you?"
"Impulse decision, I guess," Wentworth said casually.
Danny thought about it—it did seem like the Captain had always been the one making the moves.
"Dr. Spencer really doesn't seem all that into you."
"I know. Don't need you pointing it out." Wentworth leaned back against the bench. "Go grab us a couple beers."
"Sure thing."
The moment Danny stepped outside, he spotted a patrol car pulling up to the clinic. He recognized it from regular patrols.
An officer got out, exchanged greetings with Danny, then handed him a phone. "We found this during evidence collection at the scene. After we charged it up, we saw the victim's photo as the wallpaper, so we figured we'd return it."
"Thanks, I'll make sure she gets it."
The officer added, "Those two suspects got worked over pretty good—still haven't woken up. You guys... really went to town on them."
Danny immediately said, "Can you blame us? Do you know who the victim is?"
"Yeah, one of the support doctors, right?"
"Not just that... never mind, you wouldn't get it. Bottom line, if anyone comes asking questions, just say it was self-defense."
"Got it. Those two are repeat offenders anyway. If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll keep thinking they run this place."
Danny handed Matilda's phone to Wentworth. "Dr. Spencer's phone. Police returned it."
Wentworth took the phone, and the screen lit up showing Matilda's photo.
Danny said, "Think she dropped it there trying to call for help? Or maybe call 911?"
Wentworth had actually gotten the call from the sheriff after the gas station attendant reported suspicious activity, asking if they were patrolling nearby.
Danny continued, "In a situation like that, think she might've tried to record evidence? Or maybe... had something she wanted to say?"
Wentworth said, "Let's find out."
"Phone's locked," Danny reminded him.
"I know the passcode."
They'd lived together for a long time, and Matilda often unlocked her phone right in front of him. He'd memorized it ages ago.
He knew going through someone's phone was wrong, so he'd never touched it before. But this time, he held onto a thread of hope—maybe she'd tried calling him.
After unlocking it, he checked the call history first—she'd dialed 911, but no signal.
That was it.
Wentworth felt a stab of disappointment and was about to put the phone down when a notification popped up: Storage full.
Usually, full storage meant either photos or videos.
He instinctively tapped the most recent video—thirty minutes long, ending only when the battery died.
In the video, she was hiding behind the hillside when those two criminals appeared. Matilda fought back for a few moves before Pockmark knocked her down with that vicious slap.
Watching that moment, Wentworth nearly crushed the phone in his grip.
Danny quickly said, "Captain, maybe delete that video or turn it over to police. Don't let her see it—might traumatize her all over again."
After watching it through, Wentworth extracted the video and sent it to his own phone via her WhatsApp—even though she'd filed for divorce, she hadn't blocked him, just stopped contacting him.
After sending, he deleted the chat history.
Then he noticed there was another video from earlier, also filmed at that hillside location.
He opened it—Matilda's voice.
"...Wentworth, that day you asked if I'd ever had feelings for you? I said never, but I lied..."
After watching, Wentworth sat motionless for a long time, then turned to look at Danny.
Danny stared back at him.
"Did you... understand what she meant?" Wentworth asked.
Danny answered, "Yeah, she thought something terrible was about to happen, so she recorded a confession video for you. That was from the heart."
"You mean... she likes me too?"
"Obviously, Captain. Look—she was crying when she said it. People tell the truth when they think they're about to die. This has to be real."
"Then why is she being so cold to me now that she's awake?"
Danny shrugged. "That... I don't know. Why don't you just ask her?"
Matilda had only slept briefly before nightmares jolted her awake.
She dreamed again of being chased by Scarface and Pockmark, with Pockmark's hands around her throat, unable to breathe...
She shot up, gasping frantically.
But someone was there, gently patting her back.