"What's wrong? It's still early evening. Are you ready to head home already?"
"Home. Get up and get dressed. We're going to the police station."
Olivia's face was etched with worry, but her words were so jumbled that Mia's eyes remained hazy with confusion.
"Police station? Why would we go there? Olivia, you didn't drink as much as I did. I'm pretty sober now. Are you the one who's drunk?"
"I'm not drunk. It's Emma. She couldn't explain clearly on the phone. But her voice sounded terrible. I don't know the details, but somehow she's locked up in the police station."
Olivia's anxious explanation finally cut through the fog. Mia snapped to attention.
"What? Emma is at the police station?"
Without another moment's delay, the two women threw on their clothes and sped off to the station.
"Captain, you should go home and rest. Besides, she's going to be held here overnight anyway."
Alexander refused to call Emma his captain's wife. In his mind, she was a dangerous woman, tangled in an ambiguous relationship with Elijah. Even after months of surveillance, they had nothing concrete, which only made him think she was more cunning.
But he hadn't expected her to collapse like that. Then, from the observation room, Liam had suddenly walked into the interrogation room and made her a promise.
In Alexander's eyes, there were plenty of better women out there. The colonel didn't need to feel guilty about her.
But now wasn't the time to say that. He'd wait until she was behind bars, then slowly talk some sense into him.
"I'm not going back. But make sure Captain Reed arranges a comfortable room for her. She gets cold easily. One heater isn't enough. Put two in there."
Liam gave the order, his voice cold. Alexander sighed inwardly. This was a police station, not a five-star hotel. But seeing Liam's face, as hard and heavy as stone, he decided not to argue. He'd do as he was told, for now.
"Understood. I'll take care of it right away."
Alexander left the room. Through the surveillance glass, Liam watched Emma sitting alone in the interrogation room. Her once bright eyes were now clouded over, as if they would never shine again. He couldn't tell if it was the shock of the arrest, or something else entirely.
Soon, Alexander returned.
"Captain, two of Emma's close friends are here. They want to see her."
Alexander was still flustered and used her first name.
"Let them in. And remember, Alexander. Emma Johnson is my wife."
Liam's warning was ice-cold. Alexander froze, realizing his mistake. He nodded and went to inform Captain Reed.
Mia and Olivia were on edge during the short wait. When Captain Reed finally gave them permission, they rushed into the interrogation room where Emma was being held.
"Emma! How did this happen? What's going on? Why are you locked up in a police station?"
Olivia saw a woman slumped in a chair, her hands in shackles, her hair a mess. A chill ran down her spine. Was this really her best friend? How could everything change so fast?
"Where's your husband? Don't these cops know you're Liam Williams' wife? This is ridiculous!"
Mia's voice was hot with anger. But Emma just gave them a bitter, broken smile.
"It was Liam who had me arrested."
"What?"
Both Mia and Olivia were stunned. They exchanged a look of pure shock, unable to believe what they'd just heard.
"Olivia, pinch me. I'm still not sober. I must be dreaming, right?"
Mia grabbed Olivia's hand, wanting her to pinch her cheek. How could the plot twist like this? A husband arresting his own wife? It was impossible.
"You're not drunk. Emma, tell us what happened!"
Olivia pulled Mia down into a chair, her eyes fixed on Emma with growing dread.
"Honestly, I don't even know how it came to this."
Emma tried to smile at her friends, but the effort was painful. It only made her look more heartbroken. She started from the text message Elijah had sent her that afternoon. She told them everything, exactly as it had happened.
As she spoke, Mia covered her mouth, unable to stop the tears that began to fall like a broken string of pearls.
"How can this be? I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Elijah is a doctor who saves lives. How could he be a criminal? It's impossible." Mia's voice was choked with sobs, her eyes red. Olivia was too shocked to even comfort her.
Emma's smile was unbearably bitter.
"Mia, if I could, I wouldn't want to believe that Elijah had another identity. I grew up with him. He played with me when we were kids. His family was never around, so I was afraid he'd be lonely. I'd often have him over for dinner. He was like a brother to me. My parents loved him like a son. He was such a good, quiet child. How could he become such a terrible sinner? Do you know, when I saw the fierce look in his eyes, I even doubted if he was the same Elijah I once knew?"
Two streams of clear tears slid slowly down Emma's cheeks, but her voice was eerily calm. Maybe when the blow was this severe, it was impossible to get excited anymore.
But the sadness was still there. The boy next door she had grown up with, the one she trusted, had turned out to be the kind of person she hated most. And now, she didn't even know if he was alive or dead. She never even got the chance to hear his explanation.
"It was all so good. How did it fall apart in the blink of an eye?"
Olivia's eyes were also red. She never imagined that, besides being a doctor, Elijah had such deep ties to an international criminal organization.
He was always so gentle and elegant. Who would have thought there was such a fierce, violent side hidden in his bones? No wonder Emma and Mia were so devastated.
"But you have nothing to do with his crimes. Why are you being arrested? Just because you grew up with him and were friends? What are these cops thinking?"