Chapter 13
1117 Words
The boutique was spotless again.
Too spotless.
As if the chaos Matilda had caused had been carefully erased—not just from the floors and glass displays, but from reality itself. Cleaners moved with quiet efficiency, their mops gliding over polished tiles, their eyes deliberately avoiding Elora. No one spoke about what had happened.
But the silence didn’t feel like peace.
It felt like suppression.
Like something dangerous had been pushed under the surface… waiting.
The police station smelled of paper, dust, and quiet authority. Fluorescent lights flickered faintly overhead, casting harsh shadows that made every expression look sharper, colder.
Elora sat beside Windsor, her posture straight, her face composed.
But her hands—
They were tightly clasped together in her lap.
Windsor leaned forward slightly, his voice calm but edged with frustration. “Officer,” he began, “I’m a wealthy man. My wife is also wealthy. We have no reason to lie against someone—especially not someone from her own family.”
The officer behind the desk barely reacted. He flipped through a file slowly, deliberately, as though time worked for him.
“Matilda herself admitted involvement in the kidnapping,” Windsor added, his tone firmer now.
The officer looked up.
Expression neutral.
“Sorry, Mr. Windsor,” he said evenly. “We cannot take action without concrete evidence.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Unyielding.
Elora leaned forward slightly. “We would have provided evidence,” she said, her voice controlled. “But there’s no CCTV camera in my office.”
The officer gave a small nod.
“Then there is nothing we can do.”
The words landed like a verdict.
Cold.
Final.
Windsor’s jaw tightened.
Elora’s chest rose slowly, then fell.
So that’s it?
She walks free?
The officer had barely finished speaking when the station doors burst open.
“Where is my daughter?!”
The voice echoed sharply, cutting through the quiet like a blade.
Heads turned.
And then—
He walked in.
Mr Matthew
His presence filled the room instantly—authority, anger, and something dangerously close to desperation. His eyes scanned the station, wild, searching—
Until they landed on Elora.
Everything changed.
“Elora,” he said, his voice dropping into something colder. “How dare you.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“How dare you hand over my daughter—your sister—to the police?”
The word sister hung in the air like a challenge.
Elora stood slowly.
Her gaze didn’t waver.
“Dad,” she said, her voice calm—but there was steel beneath it. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to say.”
A pause.
A breath.
Then—
“You need to teach your daughter how to be content.”
The words struck harder than shouting ever could.
Mr Matthew’s expression darkened.
“She rejected Windsor because she thought he was mean,” Elora continued, her tone steady. “And yet—you gave me to him. Despite hearing the same thing.”
Her eyes sharpened slightly.
“And now that Windsor loves me… she wants him.”
A ripple of tension moved through the room.
Windsor’s gaze flicked briefly toward Elora.
Then back to Mr Matthew.
But Elora wasn’t done.
“Well,” she said, almost dismissively, “let’s forget that.”
Her next words came slower.
More deliberate.
“You heard I was kidnapped during my honeymoon, right?”
Mr Matthew stiffened.
“Well,” Elora continued, her voice lowering, “your daughter was the one who arranged it.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
“She confessed it to me herself.”
The officer shifted slightly.
Windsor’s eyes narrowed.
And Mr Matthew—
For the first time—
Looked uncertain.
“Because I don’t have evidence,” Elora added, “she won’t be punished.”
A bitter edge slipped into her voice.
“So go ahead. Bail her out for vandalizing my boutique.”
Her gaze locked onto his.
“And then train your daughter again.”
The words were final.
Unapologetic.
Mr Matthew said nothing for a long moment.
Then—
He exhaled slowly.
Turned.
And walked toward the officer’s desk.
The paperwork didn’t take long.
Money had a way of speeding things up.
Minutes later—
The cell door opened.
And Matilda stepped out.
Matilda
Calm.
Composed.
Untouched by fear.
If anything—
She looked… entertained.
Her eyes immediately found Elora.
And that smile—
That same, knowing smile—
Returned.
Mr Matthew stood before her, his expression heavy.
“Daughter,” he said quietly, “I am disappointed in you.”
Matilda didn’t react.
“You arranged a kidnapping,” he continued.
Still—
Nothing.
Just that faint smile.
“But right now,” he added, his tone shifting slightly, “you are leaving for Africa.”
That got a reaction.
A flicker.
Small.
But real.
“You will be safe there,” he said. “That is all I can do. I don’t want you to become… something worse.”
A murderer.
He didn’t say it.
But everyone heard it.
“Dad,” Matilda said slowly, tilting her head. “You want me to relocate to Africa?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then—
“Okay.”
The answer came too easily.
Too smoothly.
“You know I’ve never gone against your will,” she added softly. “I love you, Dad.”
Mr Matthew nodded, relieved.
But Elora—
Elora felt something twist inside her.
Because that wasn’t obedience.
That was strategy.
Matilda’s gaze shifted.
Locked onto Elora.
And in that moment—
Everything else disappeared.
The police station.
The people.
The noise.
Gone.
Just the two of them.
And the war between them.
Matilda took a slow step forward.
Then another.
Until she stood just close enough.
“You really think you’ve won,” she murmured, her voice low enough that only Elora could hear.
Elora didn’t respond.
“You managed to win my father's heart,” Matilda continued, her smile widening”.
You want him to see you as a good daughter.
Elora’s pulse spiked.
Matilda leaned in slightly.
“You should be careful,” she whispered. “Because the deeper you go…”
A pause.
“…the harder it is to survive the fall.”
Elora’s breath hitched.
Windsor stepped closer. “What is she saying?”
Neither of them answered.
Matilda straightened.
Then—
She turned.
Walking away beside her father.
Just like that.
As if nothing had happened.
As if she hadn’t just set fire to everything.
Outside the station, the sun felt harsher.
Brighter.
Almost blinding.
Windsor turned to Elora immediately.
“What was she saying to you?”.
Nothing really,Just threatening me
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