bChapter /bb48 /b

Nivera couldn’t keep her eyes off her phone.

Notifications rolled in, one after another, somepratting her, some apologizing, others expressing shock ne

It was all surreal. Just months ago, she had feltered, gasit by the entire world. Now, those same people were singing a different ture

Her heart thudded with disbelief and a growing sense of triumph.

She was free.

Finally, after months of exile, mockery, shame, and the lonely weight of being the only one who knew the truth, it was out in the open

Nathaniel ckwell had confessed before killing himmelt

He’d admitted everything. In a lengthy voice recording posted on his social media ount

He’d stated that she bwas /bin

innocent, that she had tried to defend herself, and that he had indeed been the baggressor /bthat night,

A surge of emotion overwhelmed her. Her throat tightened, and her vision blurred with tears.

Her bhands /btrembled as she scrolled through thements–some from brands that had cklisted her, others from fans who had turned on her overnight.

Now they were apologizing. Public figures were retracting their worth, News outlets were issuing corrections.

She brought ba /bhand to her lips as she tried to suppress the tears.

This bwas /bbreal/b.

This was happening

Behind her wave of emotions, she felt Alejandro’s gaze settle on her

“What happened?” he inquired, his voice calm but weighted with something she couldn’t quite ce.

She tried to speak, but the first words that came out were a shaky breath. Swallowing hard, she turned the phone screen to him.

“He confessed,” she said softly. “Nathaniel. He admitted everything. That night, what he did to me. He bsaid /bit all… band /bnow everyone knows.”

She paused before continuing. “His body was found. Dead. They say it’s suicide, but investigations are still ongoing.”

Her tone,held no remorse. Not even a whisper bof /bguilt.

Nathaniel wasn’t someone who deserved her pity. In fact, she hoped he had suffered while he took his life, just the way he had made her suffer.

Alejandro leaned back slightly, raising bhis /beyebrows. Damn,” he murmured, perfectly feigning shock, while inwardly he wondered why it took that long.

“That’s… unexpected. But… Congrattions.”

The reaction bwas /bjust perfect. She didn’t need to know that he was the reason Nathaniel confessed or that his death wasn’t a suicide.

There was a chance she would start to think he had some good in him, and he didn’t want that. He needed her to be wary of him, as that was what

thrilled him.

As they reached the parking lot, Alejandro stopped beside his car and turned to her.

“Can you drive?” he inquired, already digging into his pocket for the keys: “I’m tired of being your chauffeur.”

bNivera /bblinked at him in surprise. She wasn’t, however, dumbs not to know that it wasn’t because of what he said but because of the panic attack

And frankly, she wasn’tining, as thest thing she needed was them getting into an ident because of it.

“You’re letting me drive your car?” She decided to y along.

He tossed her the keys with a sharp fick of his wrist

“If you get so much bas /ba scratch on her, I’ll kill you.”

A real, unrestrainedugh bubbled out of her. It felt foreign but wee, like the first ray of sun after a long, grey winter.

She caught the keys with both hands and stared down at them, her chest swelling with childlike excitement.

It had been ages since she had been behind the wheel of a car,

She hadn’t driven since the days before she left her father’s house. Back when her life still had a sliver of control.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, she adjusted the mirrors and the seat while bAlejandro /bclimbed into bthe /bpassenger side.

He buckled up without a word and then immediately leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Just like that. No hesitation. He trusted herb? /b

The car purred to life beneath her fingers. She shifted gears and pulled smoothly out of the parking lot, her fingers gripping the wheel bjust /ba little tighter than necessary.

Her eyes flicked to Alejandro every now and then. His beyes /bbremained /bclosed, face pale and still. But the steady rhythm of his breathing reassured her.

He was alive.

The fact that he had handed her the keys and was sleeping so peacefully was bappalling/b.

Wasn’t he scared she could do something? Not that she would. And maybe he had the same assurance, which was why the didn’t care.

She nced back at the road, lips parting slightly as she thought back to her name being cleared.

This moment–it was hers. Her name was being cleared

The burden she’d carried so long was lifting off her shoulders with each turn of the tyres. She bwasn’t /bnaive. She knew the stigma wouldn’t vanish

overnight.

There would always be whispers and the asional lingering doubt. But at bleast /bthe truth was out there now. Nathaniel had said it. Admitted it, and that was something.

As she manoeuvred through a quiet intersection, her fingers drummed lightly against the steering wheel

Grabbing her AirPods, she shoved them in her ears and began ying the clip, making sure to listen to every moment of it without skipping a beat.

And as she bdid/b, she realized something; it didn’t make sense

bNathaniel /bbhad /bbeen arrogant to the core. He’d always prided himself on control, on bhis /bability to twist perception in his bfavour /b

He had told her with a smug grin that no one would believe her. That even if bshe /bscreamed the truth, the world would still side with him.

bSo /bwhy confess? Especially when the matter was one that bwas /bforgotten?

Her fingers stilled.

It wasn’t like him. Not at all. For

like Nathaniel to record a confession, piest it, and then… kill himself?

Something didn’t add up The thought whispered at the edge of her mind as her eyes slid toward Alejandro

His eyes were still closed and his breathing steady.

Could it be…

The idea crept in slowly. A quiet suspicion that didn’t rm her, but instead… softened her

Alejandro had the resources. The power. The connections. Back when he bhad /bsaved her from getting sexually assaulted by Nathaniel, he’d hinted at doing something, hadn’t he?

She looked away quickly, heart thudding–not with fear, but something else.

Gratitude.

Of bcourse/b, it made sense.

But if he was the one behind it, why didn’t he tell her he bwas/b? He had simply acted like he had no idea.

Was she wrong? No! Some part of her chose to believe otherwise.

Some part of her wanted it to be him: the devil who threatened her one minute and handed her his keys the next.

The one who told her he’d kill her if she scratched his car but closed his eyes and didn’t flinch once as she drove.

A smile crept onto her lips, tender and unsure, as bher /bfingers rxed on the steering wheel

ore bthan /bsure Alejandro was behind Nathaniel confessing, and her smile increased.

She was more

He wasn’t perfect–far from it. Dangerous, even. But today, with everything that had happened, the lines between who he was and who he let himself out started to blut,

She looked over at him again. His jaw was still tense, lips parted slightly in

sleep or maybe exhaustion,

But something about the sight of him there, vulnerable and silent beside her, filled her with something bshe /bcouldn’t exin.

?