PART 2 — THE MAN WHO KNEW HER ENEMY
Elena did not move.
For one second, fear completely paralyzed her.
The rain still hammered against the windows. The tires of the SUV behind them screamed as it gained speed. The darkness outside felt endless, like the entire world had turned against her.
Matthew Carranza looked at her through the mirror.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
“Did you hear me?” he said quietly.
“Get down.”
This time, Elena listened.
She lowered herself onto the floor behind the passenger seat, clutching the coat he had given her around her shoulders. Her entire body was shaking, but she tried not to make a sound.
She hated feeling weak.
She hated needing someone.
Because every time she trusted someone, they found a way to hurt her.
The driver turned sharply onto a narrow road surrounded by trees.
The luxury SUV moved smoothly over the wet ground, leaving the main road behind.
Elena looked up.
“Where are you taking me?”
Matthew didn’t answer immediately.
He was watching the mirror.
The black SUV followed.
Closer.
Closer.
Then he spoke.
“Somewhere they won’t look.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the coat.
“Who are you?”
The question hung in the air.
The driver glanced at Matthew.
Matthew noticed.
“Answer her,” he said.
The driver swallowed.
“Mr. Carranza is—”
“I asked him.”
The driver immediately stopped speaking.
Matthew looked back at Elena.
“My name is Matthew Carranza.”
The name meant something.
Not personally.
But she had heard it.
Everyone in business circles had.
Carranza International.
A company worth billions.
A family known for influence, power, and ruthless negotiations.
Elena stared at him.
“You’re him.”
Matthew raised an eyebrow.
“Disappointed?”
“No.”
She looked away.
“Confused.”
A faint expression crossed his face.
Almost amusement.
“Why?”
“Because men like you don’t stop for people like me.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried years of pain.
Matthew studied her.
“People like you?”
Elena laughed softly.
Not happily.
“People who have nothing.”
The answer bothered him.
More than he expected.
Because he knew something about people with nothing.
He had grown up watching powerful families destroy anyone who stood beneath them.
Money did not make people better.
It only gave them more room to hide who they really were.
“What exactly did your stepmother try to do?” he asked.
Elena looked at the floor.
The memory returned instantly.
The locked door.
The man waiting.
Isabel’s voice.
Her stomach turned.
“She wanted me to marry a man.”
Matthew’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not illegal.”
Elena looked up.
“She didn’t want me to marry him.”
Silence.
“She wanted me to become his payment.”
The atmosphere inside the car changed.
Even the driver looked uncomfortable.
Matthew’s hands slowly tightened.
“What was his name?”
Elena hesitated.
“Robert Harrison.”
The second she said it, Matthew’s expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
“You know him.”
It wasn’t a question.
Matthew looked away.
“I know of him.”
Elena watched him carefully.
“You said Isabel called you.”
Matthew did not respond.
That was answer enough.
A cold feeling moved through her.
“You were working with her?”
“No.”
“Then why was she calling you?”
Matthew remained silent.
Elena’s voice cracked.
“Stop pretending you’re saving me.”
She pushed herself up slightly.
“Everyone wants something.”
The car went quiet.
Matthew looked at her.
And for the first time that night, his perfect control disappeared.
Only for a second.
But Elena saw it.
Pain.
Not anger.
Pain.
“You’re right,” he said.
Everyone wants something.
“But tonight, what I want is the truth.”
Before Elena could respond, the driver suddenly slowed.
“There’s a problem.”
Matthew looked forward.
“What?”
The driver pointed.
A fallen tree blocked the road.
Behind them, headlights appeared through the rain.
The black SUV had found them.
Matthew’s expression became unreadable.
“How many?”
“Two vehicles.”
Elena’s breathing stopped.
“They followed us.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“You knew this might happen.”
Matthew didn’t deny it.
That scared her more.
“You knew.”
He reached into the side compartment and pulled out a phone.
Not his personal one.
A different device.
He pressed one button.
“Activate the safe route.”
A voice answered immediately.
“Confirmed.”
Elena stared.
Safe route?
Who was this man?
The SUV behind them stopped.
Doors opened.
Figures stepped out.
Even through the rain, Elena could recognize one person.
Her blood froze.
“Isabel…”
Matthew followed her gaze.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t go out there.”
Matthew looked down at her hand holding him.
Something about that small gesture surprised him.
She was terrified.
But she was still trying to protect him.
“You should be afraid for yourself,” he said.
Elena shook her head.
“I already spent years doing that.”
The sentence hit harder than she intended.
Matthew looked at her differently.
Then he opened the door.
Rain rushed inside.
“Elena.”
She looked up.
“If they reach you…”
His voice became cold.
“They will never touch you again.”
Then he stepped outside.
The storm swallowed him.
Elena watched through the window as Matthew walked toward the people who had hunted her.
And for the first time in her life…
Someone was standing between her and danger.
Not because they owned her.
Not because they wanted something from her.
But because they chose to.
Outside, Isabel stepped forward under an umbrella.
Even in the middle of the storm, she looked perfectly composed.
“Matthew,” she called.
Elena’s heart stopped.
Isabel smiled.
“I knew you would interfere.”
Matthew stood in the rain.
“You made a mistake.”
Isabel laughed softly.
“A mistake?”
She looked toward the car.
Toward Elena.
“No, Matthew.”
Her smile disappeared.
“She is the mistake.”
And then she said the words that changed everything:
“You still haven’t told her who her real father is.”
Matthew went completely still.
May you like
Inside the car, Elena felt the world stop.
Because Isabel had just revealed a secret Elena had never heard before.
