Chapter 231: It was too late.

A sickening knot tightened in Elena’s stomach. Her face drained of color as she stared at Noah.

"You... You killed my father."

"It wasn’t intentional," Noah said nervously. "That night, I had just graduated from high school. I went to a party with some friends. It was raining, and I was tipsy. I didn’t see him."

Elena’s tears spilled down her cheeks. "You didn’t see him...You killed him."

The words rang through the hall. "And you hid this from me all these years."

Her body shook violently as sobs tore from her throat. "I lived with my father’s murderer under the same roof. How could you do this to me?"

Elias panicked.

He had never known Noah was connected to Thomas’s accident. He immediately pulled Elena into his arms, trying to steady her trembling body.

"Calm down, my love," he whispered.

"How can I calm down?" Elena cried hysterically against his chest. "He killed my father. And he kept it secret from me for all these years."

"I’m sorry," Noah said weakly. "Your father insisted that I keep it a secret from you. He said he didn’t blame me for what happened. He only wanted me to take care of you."

Elena buried her face in Elias’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Before he died, your father willingly donated his kidneys to my father," Noah continued. "His only wish was to make sure you were protected."

His eyes became wet. "I was supposed to take care of you for the rest of my life. I was supposed to love you. But I failed you."

Noah looked at Elena. "Tonight, I saved you. I know that means nothing compared to the pain I caused you. But at least..."

He struggled to breathe. "At least it eases some of the guilt I’ve carried in my heart all these years."

Before Elena could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the entrance.

The paramedics rushed into the hall. They quickly placed Noah on a stretcher and began wheeling him away.

Her sobs grew louder.

"Elena, stop crying." Elias’s voice became firm. "Don’t do this to yourself or our babies."

But Elena couldn’t stop. Her grief had overwhelmed everything else.

"I said stop crying." Elias raised his voice. "Your father’s accident has nothing to do with Noah or the Sinclair family."

Elena’s sobbing stopped instantly. She slowly lifted her head.

"What? You also know something about my father’s accident?"

"I recently found out the truth." He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Cedric was behind the accident. He had an argument with your father that night. During the confrontation, he pushed him in front of a moving car. But I didn’t know it was Noah’s car."

The revelation was too much for Elena to process. Her head suddenly spun.

The room blurred around her. Her vision swam, and her body went limp.

"Elena!" Elias caught her before she hit the floor. His face turned pale with fear. "Call the doctor."

~~~~~~~~~~~

When Elena opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in the bedroom. The first thing she saw was Elias sitting beside her.

"Elena, you are awake." Relief flooded his face. He immediately took her hand and kissed the back of it. "You scared me to death."

Elena stared at him coldly. "Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

Her voice was quiet, but the hurt behind it was unmistakable.

"You promised you wouldn’t keep anything from me. Then why did you?"

Elias’s heart sank. "I wanted to tell you the day I found out."

He gripped her hand tighter. "You had already been through so much because of the kidnapping. You were terrified and emotionally exhausted. I didn’t want to put another burden on you. I thought I could tell you later."

His voice became heavier. "But I never knew Noah was the one driving that car."

Elena turned her face away. She was still upset.

Elias felt helpless. He was terrified that she might never forgive him.

"I never meant to hide the truth from you," he said softly. "I only wanted to protect you. I didn’t want to hurt you."

"But you did."

Her quiet words cut deeper than anger ever could.

"I’m sorry. I’ll accept any punishment you want to give me."

Elena turned toward him. Regret, guilt, and fear were written clearly across his face.

She knew he wasn’t lying.

He had been trying to protect her, even if he had made the wrong choice.

She would never punish him. Seeing his regret was already enough.

"I have no punishment for you." Her expression softened. "Just don’t keep secrets from me again, no matter how ugly or painful the truth is."

"I won’t." Elias immediately pulled her into his arms. "I promise. I never will again."

Elena wrapped her arms around him.

Elias let out a long breath of relief and held her tighter. For a moment, they simply stayed like that.

Then something suddenly crossed Elena’s mind. She pulled back.

"I still remember the driver who claimed he hit my father. He was punished for it too. That means the Sinclair family found an innocent man and forced him to take the blame to protect Noah."

Elias nodded. "When I found out about this, I asked the officer to reopen the investigation."

He reached toward the side table and picked up a file. "He finally sent me the report."

He handed it to her.

Elena opened the file. Her eyes moved across the pages.

The driver’s identity, his statement—everything was there.

"That man used to work as a driver for the Sinclair family," Elias explained. "He took the blame and went to prison."

Elena’s fingers tightened around the papers.

"In exchange, his family received five million dollars," Elias continued. "One year later, Richard bailed him out."

Elena slammed the file shut. "So they used their money to bury the truth. They didn’t take me in because they wanted to repay my father’s favor. They were protecting their own son."

She felt betrayed. "I was so foolish. I believed them. I thought they were kind to me. But they never truly loved me."

She clutched the file against her chest. "They kept me with them to make sure I never learned the truth about my father’s death."

Elias gently took the file from her.

"It’s all over now. Cedric received the punishment he deserved. Noah regrets what he did. And tonight, he saved you. If Noah hadn’t taken that knife, I don’t know what would have happened to you."

A shudder ran through him as the memory flashed through his mind. The blade had been dangerously close to Elena. If Noah hadn’t reacted in time, the knife could have pierced her abdomen.

Their babies could have been hurt. The thought alone terrified him.

"I’m grateful he saved you," Elias said quietly. "Don’t hold anything against him."

Elena leaned against his chest. The anger and disappointment that had been weighing heavily on her heart slowly began to fade.

After a moment, she asked softly, "How is Noah? Will he be okay?"

"I’ve arranged the best doctors for him." Elias stroked her hair. "He should be fine."

~~~~~~~~~

Noah opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Elena sitting beside his bed.

"Elena..." A faint smile touched his lips as he reached toward her. "You came to see me."

Hope flickered in his eyes. "Did you forgive me?"

Elena looked at him quietly. "I don’t hate you anymore. And I’m grateful that you saved my life. But I can’t forgive you for what you did."

The hope in Noah’s eyes vanished. His hand slowly fell back onto the bed.

"Are you blaming me for the accident?" he asked desperately. "I didn’t mean to hurt him. I swear I didn’t. I really didn’t see him. He suddenly appeared in front of my car. I was terrified."

Elena closed her eyes for a moment. "That accident wasn’t your fault."

Noah froze. "What?"

"It wasn’t your fault," she repeated. "Cedric pushed him into the road deliberately. Your car happened to cross the road at the time and hit him."

Noah’s face went blank. "He... killed your father?"

"Yes. Cedric was the one who killed my father."

This was the first time Noah had heard the truth. Shock left him speechless.

Elena looked at him for a long moment. "But what you did afterward was still a crime." There was no warmth in her voice. "Instead of investigating the accident properly, you let an innocent man take the blame."

Noah lowered his gaze.

"With the Sinclair family’s influence, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find out what really happened. But you chose to cover up the truth."

"No..." Noah’s breathing became uneven. "I was young. I was scared. I didn’t want to go to prison and ruin my life."

His voice broke. "So my father..."

"If the Sinclair family had investigated the accident properly, my father’s murder could have been brought to light years ago," Elena interrupted him. "But you hid everything from me. You hid the truth from everyone."

Shame weighed heavily on his face. "We thought we could take care of you and repay the debt we owed your father. So we took you in..."

Tears welled up in Elena’s eyes. "But you broke the promise. You hurt me. You left me when I needed you the most. And you killed our child."

Noah’s face crumpled. "I’m sorry." He began to sob. "I’m so sorry, Elena. Please forgive me."

Elena looked at him. No anger, no resentment, no sympathy.

Nothing.

She simply felt numb.

His tears, his apology, his regret—they no longer had the power to move her.

She slowly stood from the chair. "If you truly regret what you did, stop appearing in front of me."

Noah’s sobs stopped. He looked up at her.

"From now on, we are strangers." Elena turned and walked toward the door.

Noah stretched out his hand as if he wanted to stop her. But no sound came from his throat. His hand remained suspended in the air. Then slowly, it fell.

He cried silently.

The faint hope that she might one day give him another chance because he had saved her life disappeared completely. He finally understood.

It was too late.

"I lost you. I really lost you forever."