Chapter 79 Kellan

Chapter 79 Kellan
KELLAN’S POV

I knitted my fists tighter into the steering wheel as my knuckles turned white. It just wouldn't budge, despite my inner speech rationalizing the facts any number of times inside my brain. Amanda- or Olivia, I should better say, was still living with him, locked inside that bloody castle. Carl was making sure nobody even had a chance to reach her side. This was holding a lady hostage by any definition of the word, and I just could not take it anymore.

"Darn," I muttered softly, slamming my open hand on the steering wheel.

I wasn't about to do nothing, not while Olivia was getting manipulated and lied to. I reached for my cell phone and dialed Thomas's number. He had been tailing Carl for a couple of days now, doing research on whatever he could find on him.

He answered on the second ring. "Kellan," Thomas said-all smooth and professional, like always-"I was just about to call you.”

"I don't have time for formalities, Thomas. Did you find anything? Why is Carl keeping her there? What the hell does he want with her?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and my gut twisted. I knew that hesitation; it meant bad news-or worse, something I wasn't ready to hear.

"I found something," Thomas finally said, tone cautious. "But it's. unusual."

What do you mean, 'unusual'? I snapped, my patience wearing thin.

"It's about Carl's ex-fiancée, Eleanor," Thomas explained. "She died six years ago in what was officially ruled an accident. But-

"But what?" I interrupted, leaning forward in my seat as though that would somehow speed up his response.

"Eleanor looked just about like Amanda's twin sister. Same build, same facial features. It's uncanny, Kellan. The resemblance is disturbing.”

I said nothing, but mentally my thoughts surely did whir for that fraction of a moment. It suddenly made an inch of maddened sense from Carl this far-hypnotic stare in Amanda's direction.

"He is using her as a surrogate or something," I finally growled between bared teeth.

“That’s what it looks like,” Thomas confirmed. “Eleanor’s death left a mark on him. I’ve spoken to a few people who used to be close to him, and they all say the same thing—Carl never got over her. He became more controlling, more obsessive. And now, with Amanda. it’s like he’s trying to recreate what he lost.”

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as anger swirled through me. "So he's keeping Olivia trapped because she reminds him of some dead woman?”

"It's more than that," Thomas said. "Carl's possessiveness isn't about grieving; it's about control. He sees her as his property, something he can mold into what he wants. That's why he's lying to her, manipulating her. He doesn't want her to remember who she really is because then he'd lose his grip on her."

Mutton dressed as lamb-the very thought boiled my blood. I could have sworn I saw, clear as the eye in mine head, some Carl towering over Olivia, feeding her lies and tearing her out of herself.

"This one," I growled, "is sick. Olivia deserved so much better."

"She did," said Thomas, "and there's so much more to it all."

"More?" I didn't want to hear anything else.

"I dug into Eleanor's death," Thomas said. "Let's just say the official story doesn't add up. It wasn't an accident, Kellan. There was foul play involved."

"What are you saying?" I asked, the phone suddenly tight in my grip.

"I'm saying there is a good chance Carl was somehow involved in it," Thomas said. "And if this is so, then Olivia could be really in danger."

Those words replayed in my mind as my heart ran with the implication: If Carl killed Eleanor, what was to stop him from doing that to Olivia?

"I need proof," I said, trying to sound strong. "I need something concrete I can use to get her away from him."

“Trying,” Thomas assured. “But it won't be easy. Carl covered his tracks well. Whatever happened to Eleanor, he made sure to bury deep.”

“Then dig deeper,” I insisted. “I don't care what it takes. Find out the truth, Thomas. Find something I can use before it's too late.”

Thomas sighed. "I'll do my best. But Kellan. you need to be careful. If Carl realizes we're onto him, he might escalate things."

"I don't care," I said, my voice hard. "I'm not letting him hurt her. Not again.”

I hung up and flung my phone onto the passenger seat, looking out at the cityscape outside my window. Anger, fear, frustration-tumbled in my head. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be free, to remember who she really was, to be able to live life the way she wanted.

And I'd make damn sure she got to try.

I started the car, driving aimlessly around the city while my mind was racing. Still, no matter where I drove to, the image of Olivia's face haunted me: her thoughts that would never leave my head, the way she used to smile, how her eyes sparkled when she laughed. She was my everything, and now she is stuck in some living nightmare I am unable to wake her up from.

She was the center of my world, and I had just let her slip between my fingers.

"I won't let this be the end," I whispered to myself. "I'll get you back, Olivia. I promise."

My phone buzzed, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was a text from Thomas.

"I found something. Meet me at the office.

I wasted no more time. Starting the car, I drove to his office. The drive seemed a lifetime as every second reverberated with my imagination of what he could have found.

Thomas, while greeting me at my entry with all his habitual composure, nonetheless announced volumes through his eyes.

"What is it?" I asked entering his office.

Thomas handed me a folder. "That's what I found about Elleanor's death, it's worse than what I thought, apparently."

I opened it and started reading inside; the more I read in each line, my stomach plummeted.

There's evidence that Eleanor was trying to leave Carl before she died," Thomas said. "She was going to go to the police, to expose some of the illegal activities he was involved in. But before she could, she had a 'car accident'."

I looked up at him, my jaw clenched. "You think Carl had her killed to keep her quiet.”

Thomas nodded. “And if Olivia finds out the truth, she could be next.”

The room spun around me as the weight of his words sank in. Carl wasn’t just a manipulative bastard—he was a murderer. And Olivia was in more danger than I’d realized.