Chapter 158

Chapter 158
Clara’s POV

The door opened again.

I looked up, expecting another doctor, another nurse, another update that would somehow change everything.

Instead, Mia and George walked in.

Mia’s face immediately softened when she saw me. She didn’t need to ask how I was. She could see it. The exhaustion, the fear, the fact that I had been sitting in the same chair for hours holding myself together by nothing but determination.

George looked past me, toward Ayleen’s room.

“How is she?” he asked quietly.

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because every answer felt impossible.

“She’s stable,” I finally said. “But she’s still unconscious.”

Mia closed her eyes briefly, letting out a breath.

Then she looked at me.

“I think Ayleen’s life is still in danger.”

The words changed the atmosphere instantly.

George stepped closer. “What?”

I looked toward the ICU room before lowering my voice.

“She didn’t just lose control of the car.”

Mia’s expression tightened.

“What do you mean?”

I explained everything.

The footage.

The second car.

The way it moved beside Ayleen before accelerating and blocking her path.

The way Ayleen had tried to avoid hurting anyone else.

“She knew something was wrong,” I said quietly. “She knew the brakes weren’t working. She was trying to control the car.”

George’s jaw tightened.

“And the other driver?”

“Someone forced her into that crash.”

Silence.

Mia looked toward Ayleen’s room.

“You think she saw them.”

“I do.”

My voice lowered.

“And if she saw them, then she knows who did it.”

Mia swallowed.

“Marcus.”

I nodded.

“I believe it was him.”

George ran a hand over his face. “If she saw him, then…”

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t have to.

The same thought had been haunting me since Sofia showed me the footage.

If Ayleen was a witness, then she was still a threat to them.

Mia looked at me suddenly.

“Then we need to move her.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“To your house,” she said. “You have security. More privacy. We can prepare a room for her there. She’ll be safer with you.”

For a moment, I understood exactly why she suggested it.

If someone had reached Ayleen once, why would we trust that the hospital was enough?

But I shook my head.

“She’s too unstable to move.”

Mia opened her mouth to argue, but I continued.

“The doctors are monitoring her constantly. Moving her now could put her at serious risk.”

She looked away, frustrated but understanding.

“We can’t just leave her here.”

“We’re not.”

I looked between them.

“We stay with her.”

My voice softened.

“I’ll send my doctor. Someone I trust. Someone who can follow her case and make sure nothing is missed.”

George nodded slowly.

“You already thought about this.”

“I have been thinking about everything.”

That was the problem.

My mind wouldn’t stop.

Every possibility.

Every risk.

Every way this could get worse.

I turned toward Sofia.

“Sofia.”

She looked up immediately.

“I need you to stay here with them.”

Her eyebrows pulled together.

“Clara.”

“Stay with Mia and George. Stay with Ayleen.”

She stared at me.

“Where are you going?”

I grabbed my coat from the chair.

“To see Katherine.”

Mia immediately looked alarmed.

“Clara, no.”

“I will beg her if I have to.”

“You need to stay here.”

“I need this over.”

Sofia stepped closer.

“Clara, going to her directly might be exactly what she wants.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

Because I needed to see her face.

Because I needed to know if she could look at me while Ayleen was fighting for her life.

Because I was tired of waiting for people to move against me.

“I’m not going there to fight,” I said. “I’m going there to ask her to end this war.”

Before anyone could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Not rushed.

Not casual.

Purposeful.

I turned.

Two officers stood at the entrance.

My stomach dropped.

One of them looked directly at me.

“Clara Alcaraz?”

Every person in the room went silent.

“Yes?”

The officer stepped forward.

“We need you to come with us.”

I already knew.

I didn’t need him to say the words.

“Am I under arrest?”

A pause.

Then:

“Yes.”

Mia immediately stepped forward.

“No.”

The officer raised a hand.

“Ms. Alcaraz, please.”

I barely heard them.

My eyes went to Sofia.

She was frozen.

They had moved exactly when they needed to.

I gave her a small, bitter smile.

“We are too late.”

Her face changed.

“Clara…”

I shook my head slightly.

Accepting what was happening. Then I stepped closer to her. “Remember what I told you.”

She knew exactly what I meant.

Her eyes flicked toward Ayleen’s room.

“Don’t let anyone get close to her without you knowing.”

Sofia nodded slowly.

“I won’t.”

I looked at Mia and George.

“Stay with her.”

Mia’s eyes filled with tears.

“Clara…”

“I’ll be back. This won't hold up in court.”

I didn’t know if that was a promise or a hope.

The officers waited.

I took one last look through the ICU glass.

Ayleen was still there.

Still fighting.

And I was being taken away.

Exactly what they wanted.