Chapter 6

Caleb woke up in the hospital.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Elena sitting beside his bed. She looked utterly exhausted, as though she hadn't slept a wink all night.

"You're finally awake. You were unconscious all night. You scared me half to death! Are you feeling okay? Can you hear me clearly?" Elena's voice was hoarse.

One hand remained tightly clasped around his, and the unmistakable concern in her eyes left Caleb dazed for a moment.

He almost believed her concern was genuine.

He opened his mouth, ready to tell her how badly he'd been wronged and ask her to seek justice for him.

Before he could speak, Elena said, "Jake is being attacked online. We need you to make a statement and clear things up."

The words died in Caleb's throat.

At first, he didn't understand. Then Elena showed him the video on her phone, and everything became clear.

Jake had livestreamed Caleb being mauled by the dog yesterday. Worse, he'd seemed to enjoy watching it and had openly flaunted his cruelty.

The video had gone viral overnight and shot straight to the top of the trending charts.

People were calling Jake cruel and saying he had no business owning a dog. Some had even reported him to the police.

'So... Elena wasn't worried about me at all. She's desperate to help Jake escape the consequences,' Caleb thought bitterly.

Jake had brought all of this on himself, yet she wanted the victim to come forward and clear his name?

It was beyond ridiculous.

"What do you want me to say?" Mockery filled Caleb's eyes, and his already pale face turned even whiter.

Elena didn't notice. She assumed he'd agreed and replied without the slightest hesitation, "Just say you attacked him first, so Knight was only protecting his owner when he bit you.

"Then say you secretly used Jake's account to livestream it and deliberately edited the footage out of context to gain sympathy."

Caleb's heart sank to rock bottom.

No matter how arrogant Jake was or how blatantly he hurt Caleb, Elena could always find a thousand excuses to defend him and let him off the hook. It didn't matter if Caleb was covered in wounds or if disappointment had utterly crushed him.

Caleb calmly pulled his hand away. Under Elena's expectant gaze, he picked up his phone. Instead of logging into his social media account, he called his friend.

"Alex, help me sue Jake Lawson. I want to press charges for assault—"

Before he could finish, Elena snatched the phone from his hand and hung up.

"What are you doing?!" She shot to her feet, and every trace of concern vanished from her eyes. "Jake can be a little reckless, but can't you be more forgiving as his elder?"

Caleb smiled mockingly. "What kind of elder am I? Am I the puppet husband you used to fight for power and clear the way for him? Or the pathetic uncle-in-law who knew you two had something going on but was supposed to pretend he knew nothing?"

Elena's face darkened with fury. "You're talking complete nonsense! After everything that's happened, you're still jealous and picking a fight over nothing.

"You weren't like this before. Now I barely recognize you. Just tell me what it'll take for you to help Jake clear his name."

To Caleb, her anger only looked like guilt.

He let out a cold laugh. Not the slightest trace of hesitation remained in his heart.

"Absolutely not!"

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

They remained locked in a stalemate until Jake called Elena. She listened to him for a moment, then hurried out of the hospital room.

…

Over the next few days, Elena didn't visit him even once.

Caleb neither grieved nor grew angry. He simply focused on his recovery while gathering evidence and pursuing legal action.

This time, he was going to get justice.

On the day of his discharge, he went straight to the courthouse.

But when he tried to contact Alex, the lawyer who had been helping him with the case, he couldn't reach him.

Instead, Caleb received a video. In it, Alex hung suspended in midair, his mouth sewn shut with fishing line. He could only whimper as blood continued to seep from the wounds.