Broken Memories, Intertwined Hearts

Chapter 283

In the footage, Ines' car was closely followed by a red one not too far behind.

Ethan paused and zoomed in on the video, and to his surprise, Emma was in the trailing car. Ines' car did a U-turn, heading straight for Emma's. Suddenly, another car bolted from a side street, drawing their attention. It was Beasley, dressed in civvies, looking flustered. He was driving so fast, it was clear he couldn't stop in time.

Ines saw her car heading towards terrified Emma, fear etching on her own face.

The three cars collided in a brutal crash. Even though there was no sound from the footage, Ines felt a heavy weight in her heart. It was as if she was reliving the accident, the impact still palpable.

The tension gripped her whole body, causing a headache.

Ethan's face was grim. The reality of the situation was much worse than he had imagined. In the video were his beloved brother and his newfound lover.

Ethan held Ines tightly as he noticed her shaking. He comforted her, "It's alright, Izzy. It's all in the past. I won't let anything like this happen to you again."

Reassured by Ethan's words, Ines relaxed. They kept their eyes on the screen, afraid to miss anything.

The crash site was shrouded in smoke, and all was still for a while.

After a while, Beasley crawled out of his car, bloodied and barely able to stand. He steadied himself against the car. All three cars were severely damaged. Beasley inspected the vehicles and after a moment's thought, decided to pull Emma from her car. Emma was unconscious, her legs seemingly trapped by the wreckage.

Then, Beasley went over to Ines' car, trying hard to open the door.

In the end, he had to find a rock nearby and smash the car window to open the door.

Ethan frowned at this, realizing that Beasley was trying to decide who to rescue first. The screen went still for a long while before unconscious Ines was pulled out. Her head was covered in blood, her face stained red, and her clothes were unrecognizable. Her condition looked even worse than Emma's. It was a horrific sight.

Ethan's hand tightened around Ines' waist. He was grateful she made it through.

Ines looked at her bloodied self on the screen and covered her mouth, stuttering, "Ethan, where's Beasley? Why isn't he out yet?"

Hearing this, Ethan furrowed his brows. His heart raced as he stared at the smoke-filled car. It was clear it was about to explode.

"Don't worry, he'll be safe," Ethan tried to reassure Ines, but he was just as nervous and scared.

Suddenly, a man in a military uniform appeared in the frame. He quickly opened the car door and pulled unconscious Beasley from the wreckage. Beasley, like Ines, was out cold.

As they watched in shock, the man pulled out a lighter from his pocket, lit the flame, and tossed it towards the car.

The car quickly caught fire and exploded not long after.

"Ethan, who's that?"

"That's Pete, Grandpa's confidante. He's a former special forces soldier, now a key figure in the military. If all goes well, he's set to be the next military chief."

In the video, Pete hoisted Beasley into the car, then quickly cleaned up the scene. The skid marks left by the faulty brakes were quickly dealt with, making it look like a regular car accident.

He glanced at unconscious Ines and Emma, did nothing else, and drove off.

Soon after, ambulances and police cars arrived at the scene. Both women were taken away.

That was the end of the footage. They both let out a sigh of relief. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

A lot of things started to make sense, like why it was concluded that Ines intentionally crashed into Emma. It was because Pete had concealed the evidence.

"If Pete hadn't called 911, I wouldn't have known there were others at the crash site," Ethan said.

"Ethan, where did Beasley go? If he's alright, why would grandpa tell everyone he's dead? Even his family thought so."

Ethan gave a bitter smile, "He's a soldier. This could mean he's recovered and been assigned a covert mission. These missions require him to erase all traces of his past. If he's presumed dead, all the better."

Ines paused, then asked, "So, he's a mole?" She thought these things only happened in TV shows. She couldn't believe she was involved in such a situation, covering for a mole's whereabouts.

Ethan nodded, "You could say that. There's no other explanation that makes sense."

"What kind of undercover mission takes this long? It's been almost six years."

A glimmer of sadness flashed in Ethan's eyes, "That's the sad reality of being a soldier. Whatever the mission, you have to obey."

Ines had always been wise in crucial moments. Hearing Ethan's explanation, she quickly understood.

The reason Phillip led the family to believe that Beasley was dead was firstly to protect Beasley's identity and secondly to demonstrate the difficulty of the mission. It could be one that didn't allow for a return, which was why he decided to erase all information about Beasley.

"Ethan, Beasley is okay, right?" Ines asked tentatively.

Ethan smiled and replied, "Don't worry, we can at least confirm Beasley's safety. He's definitely safe. If anything happened to him, Grandpa would have handed over the surveillance footage a long time ago. He wouldn't have let me worry."

This was also why Grandpa hadn't told him. He knew Beasley was fine because he knew their working well. Ines thought for a moment and agreed with Ethan's reasoning. Grandpa's persistence till this point was likely for this reason.