CHAPTER 242: FIND HER

Mariam stood frozen, her breath lodged in her throat as the officer’s words replayed over and over inside her mind like a nightmare refusing to fade.

Kira’s fingerprints matched with the culprit who attacked Mrs. Bennett at the party.

The room suddenly felt too bright... too loud... too small.

Her knees wobbled. The station floor seemed to tilt under her feet, and her vision blurred.

"Mariam!"

Anna rushed forward just in time, wrapping an arm around the older woman and catching her before she could collapse.

Mariam clung to her sleeve, trembling violently. Her thoughts were spiraling—frantic, broken—trying to make sense of what Kira had done. Trying to make sense of how the girl she raised... had gone this far.

"Officer, give them a minute," Kathrine stepped in, signaling the officer back when he moved toward them. He nodded respectfully and stepped away, giving them space.

Anna guided Mariam carefully to one of the benches along the wall. She eased her down slowly until Mariam could sit, her breaths shallow and ragged.

***

"Here... drink this."

Anna knelt in front of her, opening a water bottle and holding it out gently.

Mariam blinked, snapped out of her haze just enough to take the bottle with trembling hands. She took a sip, then another, the cool water grounding her.

The revelation had been too sudden. Too brutal.

Even Anna—who rarely lost her composure—had felt her chest tighten with panic.

Mariam had received the station’s call at the same time Kathrine called Anna. She had arrived right when the officer revealed the name of the culprit—and hearing Kira had shattered her. In one blow, all the doubts she had been ignoring... all the fears she had tried to bury... came rushing back with a vengeance.

Anna had promised to help her before, but finding out Mariam had already filed a missing person report had surprised her. The way pieces began falling into place now made Anna realize why Mariam hesitated earlier—why the old woman seemed terrified of what they would discover.

Now there was no space for denial.

No space for hope.

Only truth.

Mariam wiped her eyes with the corner of her shawl, her voice shaky but determined as she finally spoke.

"I know a sorry won’t fix anything after what Kira has done to your mother," she whispered, eyes darting up to Anna’s.

Anna said nothing. Her expression softened—not with sympathy, but with understanding. She knew this wasn’t Mariam’s fault. She could see the pain etched in every line of the older woman’s face. The regret. The heartbreak of someone who had loved too fiercely... and been betrayed for it.

Mariam looked down, her voice thickening.

"I should have handed her to the police the first time she betrayed her first family," she confessed, guilt breaking through her tone. "I thought sparing her... giving her another chance... would make her change."

Her breath shook.

Her fingers tightened around the water bottle.

"But mercy only taught her she could run. That she could hide behind my forgiveness."

Anna’s heart clenched slightly. She hadn’t expected such honesty. Nor such sorrow.

Mariam looked up again—this time with a steadiness that hadn’t been there before. A resolve that surprised even Anna.

"But now... now that I know the truth—"

Her spine straightened, her trembling stopped, and her eyes hardened with a determination forged from pain.

"I want you to find Kira," she said clearly, voice unwavering.

"And punish her rightly."

Anna froze.

Shocked.

She had expected denial. Defensiveness. Maybe even pleading for leniency.

But Mariam’s words held no hesitation. No softness.

Only the crushing acceptance that someone she loved had crossed an unforgivable line.

Anna slowly stood, her gaze locked with the older woman’s.

"Mariam..." she began.

But the older woman shook her head.

"No excuses. No more chances," she whispered. "For everyone’s sake... for mine... and for yours... she must pay for what she’s done."

The determination in her voice echoed through the quiet station.

Mariam was greiving anymore but like always stood for the right.

Anna nodded slowly, her expression firm yet unexpectedly gentle.

"Then I need you to tell them the truth, Mariam," she said quietly. "Everything. About the man she met... and anything else you’ve been holding back."

Mariam’s eyes flew wide, shock rippling through them.

Anna’s words hit too close. Too precise.

For a moment, Mariam forgot how to breathe.

She hadn’t told anyone about that man. The stranger Kira had met. The one Mariam had suspected was trouble long before Kira disappeared. The one detail she had convinced herself was not important enough to mention.

But Anna had put the pieces together anyway.

The realization sank painfully into her chest.

She wasn’t just getting help.

Anna was several steps ahead of her—and that made the guilt burn even deeper.

Mariam lowered her gaze, voice trembling. "I... I understand."

She nodded, slowly at first, then with more certainty—accepting her part in this mess and the responsibility she had avoided for far too long.

"You’re right," she whispered. "I’ll tell them everything."

Anna exhaled, relieved but still tense. "Good."

Mariam stood with effort, smoothing her shawl as if bracing herself for the weight of the truths she was about to reveal. She gave Anna a long, grateful look—one that said thank you and I’m sorry all at once—before walking toward Kathrine and the waiting officer.

Kathrine glanced between them in concern, sensing the shift in the atmosphere as Mariam approached.

The officer looked up, ready to listen.

Mariam hesitated only for a breath... then steeled herself and joined them, prepared to finally reveal the secrets she had kept buried.

***

At the Same Time — Unknown Location

A cold drop of water hit her cheek.

Kira flinched awake, her eyes snapping open into pitch-black darkness. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. Her wrists ached. Her throat burned. Her mind felt foggy, heavy—like someone had drugged her.

The rope cutting into her wrists told her everything she needed to know.

She was tied to a chair and the thought made her breath hitched.

Where am I? How long have I been here?

The air smelled damp and metallic, like rusted chains and rotting wood. She shifted slightly, and a chain rattled near her feet.

Panic shot up her spine, when the memories flooded through her mind. She stabbing Roseline and then returning to Collin, however all she remembered last was him stabbing with a syringe on her neck that snatched her conciousness within a few seconds.

Suddenly realization hit her and it was then she realized whatever Mariam was saying was indeed true. She had taken a wrong path and one day it would bring her destruction.

Her breathing shallow as her heart sink with the reality of her life. For some amount of money she ended up shaking hands with a person whom she barely knew. And now that very person had become the bane to her life.

"Kira."

A deep voice echoed from the darkness.

Kira heart sank and her shoulders tremble as she prayed to herself mentally.

No. Not him. Anyone but him.

A dim bulb flickered overhead, throwing sickly yellow light across the room—enough to illuminate the man stepping out from the shadows.

Collin Fort.

His smile was slow. Crooked. Terrifying.

"Good," he said casually. "You’re awake."

Kira’s blood ran cold.

The last thing she remembered was the night she ran, disregarding Mariam’s warning and fulfilling his words, and now she regretted that decision because she didn’t know if she was going to make it after finding out what kind of man Collin was.

"Wh-why... why are you doing this?" Kira whispered, her voice raw.

Collin crouched in front of her, taking her chin in a chillingly gentle grip.

"Because you owe me," he murmured. "And because you’re going to help me bring the Bennett family to their knees."

Kira’s lips parted in absolute disbelief.

Yes—she had known Collin held a grudge against the Bennetts. Yes—she had agreed to help him... but her reasons were small, petty, emotional. She only wanted to hurt Anna, just once, just enough to satisfy the humiliation she had suffered. She thought Collin’s goal aligned with hers.

But now for the first time she understood that

Collin never targetted Anna.His hatred wasn’t for one woman.It was for the entire Bennett bloodline.

And she... she had been nothing but a pawn.

"I–I did what you asked me to," she stammered, voice trembling as her body shook against the ropes. "I stabbed Roseline like you told me to. I did everything you asked. So why—why are you keeping me hostage?"

Her voice cracked, fear clawing at her throat.

"Please... let me go."

Collin stopped.

Very slowly, he turned to face her.

The smile that stretched across his lips made her stomach drop. It wasn’t a smile of satisfaction—it was the smile of a man who didn’t need her anymore. A man who had already moved to the next step of a plan she had never been part of.