CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER-69. (SOME NAMELESS STRANGER).

My stomach dropped so fast I thought I had been sick at the sudden realization.

The truth clung to me like ice water running down my spine, every word from Nicole replaying in my head until it hurt to breathe.

He was not lying for sure. I could see it in the way his brows stayed furrowed, the crease deepening between them like the weight of his own words was too much to carry.

He tried to make his voice steady, but his eyes... his eyes gave him away. They were not cold anymore, not sharp enough like they usually were, but exhausted. More like haunted.

I shifted slightly, glancing at Dave. Nicole had a worried expression mixed with anger and anxiety.

On the other hand, Dave’s face was void of any emotion. Not even a flicker of anger or something else to define what was going on in his mind.

His posture got steadier than before. From outside, he seemed to be calm and composed as if the situation was in his control, but I could see through his tough exterior.

It felt too calm...too relaxed, which meant only one thing. He was anything but calm and composed.

I sat there stuck between them, my hands trembling in my lap.

My throat was dry, words clawing at me but refusing to come out.

I wanted to scream, cry, demand answers, but it felt as if my body had locked up.

All I could do was breathe shallowly and try not to collapse under the truth that had just torn through the room.

And then Nicole’s voice returned, low and hollow, finishing what he had started.

"And the next morning when I opened my eyes, she was gone."

Nicole’s voice was a flat whisper, but the words cut through me like glass. My breath hitched.

"The woman. The stranger. Not a note, not a trace, not even a name left behind, just the suffocating weight of not knowing what had been done to me."

His hands curled into fists on his knees, knuckles pale.

"When I turned, the bed was already empty. Sheets cold. Whoever she was, she had left long before I opened my eyes."

I pressed my lips together so hard they stung.

A part of me wanted to scream that I already knew who that woman was, that she wasn’t just some nameless stranger.

But another part of me told me to wait. To stay back and wait for the right moment before I dropped the bomb. If Nicole was finally talking, I needed to let him spill everything.

Dave, who did not move an inch beside me, but I could feel his presence like a shadow pressing down on me.

His face was unreadable, his jaw set in stone, eyes trained on Nicole with a sharpness that made the hair on my arms stand.

It wasn’t just silence; it seemed more like he was doing calculations in his mind.

He was storing every word, every flicker of expression of Nicole.

Nicole dragged in a shaky breath, his shoulders sinking as if the memory itself was crushing him.

"And the next thing I knew..." His voice hardened. "Photos started arriving. My phone. My email. Even a damn envelope slipped under my office door." He laughed bitterly.

"All the same, I was in bed, half-conscious and that unknown woman beside me. Every angle captured, every piece of evidence twisted to make me look guilty."

My nails dug into my palms. I hated him, hated his arrogance, his cruelty, but right now, I hated whoever did this more.

Nicole’s gaze lifted, piercing mine for the first time. "And then I saw her face. Clear this time. Not blurred, not hidden.

The same woman I had tried to save that night. The one who had been stumbling, barely able to hold her own against that bastard who wouldn’t leave her alone."

His eyes narrowed, rage flickering there. "She wasn’t just some drunk stranger. She was the trap."

My chest tightened, my heart hammering so loud I thought it would betray me.

Caroline.

He was talking about Caroline. He knew who she was. Maybe. I was not sure, but looking at his face, I felt a dreadful feeling that he knew about her.

The room seemed to spin, and I had to grip the edge of my seat to stay grounded. Nicole didn’t know at first, but now...now he had dug enough, found enough. He knew.

"I did my research," he continued, his tone clipped, detached, like he was forcing himself not to choke on the words.

"Turns out the woman was no stranger at all. Her name is Caroline. And she’s..." He paused, letting the weight fall heavy between us as his gaze stared straight into mine with those raw emotions reflecting from his eyes. "...your friend, Elena."

The sound of my name from his lips made me flinch. My throat burned, my lungs locked.

For a moment, silence smothered the air.

Dave finally moved, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees. His expression was still unreadable, but the stillness around him was gone. It was the calm before a storm. His voice, when it came, was razor-sharp.

"You’re saying someone drugged you both. Used her as bait. Then framed you with the photos."

Nicole’s eyes shot up to him as he scoffed, "Who knows? Someone wanted me destroyed. And they knew the perfect way to do it."

Nicole’s eyes flickered toward me, just after a heartbeat, his gaze again met with Dave’s.

I knew what he was trying to imply. Caroline wasn’t just my friend, she was practically my sister.

She was related to me, and I was related to Dave, so it was natural for him to join the wrong dots and make this false assumption that we were behind such a heinous act.

I felt my insides twisting, a storm building that I couldn’t contain. He still was not convinced that we were innocent.

The truth was not just ugly...it was lethal.

The only way to resolve his misunderstanding, but I did not want to use it as it would straight lead us to her.

Caroline.

Yet... did we really have a choice?

I swallowed hard, forcing words past the lump in my throat. "I know, you think it’s us, but if we were behind this, then why in the world would we be blackmailing Caroline, whom you accused of being our accomplice?"