Chapter 3
Elena pressed herself into the corner of the seat, trying to make her body smaller beneath Matthew’s coat.
Matthew noticed.
He moved back half an inch.
Not far.
Just enough.
That tiny adjustment made her eyes sting.
People who meant to own you never made space.
The cabin glowed with low dashboard light and brief white flashes from headlights behind them. Rainwater crawled across the windows, distorting the trees into black shapes. The driver kept both hands steady on the wheel, eyes moving between road and mirror.
Matthew’s phone lit his face.
No lock screen.
No visible text.
Only his thumb moving once, twice, sending commands Elena could not read.
She watched the phone like it might decide her life.
Matthew noticed that too.
“I’m not calling them.”
“The police?”
He paused.
“No.”
That answer should have frightened her.
It did.
But the SUV behind them frightened her more.
She looked back again.
“They’ll tell everyone I’m unstable.”
Matthew’s jaw tightened.
“Will they?”
“My stepmother already did. She said I was grieving. Ungrateful. Dependent. She said no one would believe me if I made a scene.”
Matthew’s eyes moved to the bruise on her cheek.
“She hit you?”
Elena’s fingers tightened in the coat.
“Not tonight.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
Matthew heard the difference.
Not tonight.
His face hardened another degree.
The pursuing SUV edged closer, then drifted right as one of Matthew’s convoy vehicles matched it. No impact. No violence. Just control.
The driver spoke again.
“Rear car attempting to pass.”
Matthew looked forward.
“Deny the lane. No contact.”
“No contact,” the driver repeated.
Elena stared at him.
“You can just say that?”
Matthew’s eyes stayed on the road behind them.
“I can say many things.”
“And people do them?”
“Usually.”
A laugh tried to leave her throat, but it broke into a shudder.
Matthew turned toward her.
“Breathe.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
He did not touch her.
He only breathed slowly enough for her to follow.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The monitor? No monitor here. Only engine and rain.
Her lungs opened slightly.
The dark SUV behind them tried again to accelerate.
This time, the road ahead lit with more headlights.
Not two vehicles.
Four.
Elena’s fear shifted into something sharper.
“How many cars do you have?”
Matthew did not look away from the rear window.
May you like
“Enough for tonight.”
Read Chapter 4 👉 Because Matthew’s men did not strike back, but they controlled every inch of wet road around Elena.
