The door closed, and I felt reborn.
I called an old friend, Tyler Grant.
Ten minutes later, he pulled up, whisking me away.

"Victoria's ruthless," he said."These three years, I kept asking her where you were. She said you were abroad, no return date. I saw her cozy with Ryan, figured you were clearing your head overseas. Never thought she'd break the law!"
I lowered my gaze."Tyler, can you do me a favor?"
"Name it!"
"Draft a divorce agreement. And find where my parents are buried"
He nodded, then hesitated."You're just letting Victoria and Ryan walk?"
I darkened.

Those three years of torment left me barely human.
I wouldn't let it go.
"Tyler, I don't have proof yet."
"But soon, someone's gonna hand it to me."

…
Tyler worked fast.
By morning, Victoria was calling. I ignored her.
A week later, no word on my parents'burial.
Tyler got me a top medical team, but their faces said it all:" It's late, but we can try."
I clung to hope, determined to fight.
Nightmares haunted me, waking me in sweat-soaked clothes.
Then Tyler handed me a file, his face grim."Ethan, you were right. Ryan's tied to your parents."
I opened it, seeing photos of their crash—gruesome, heart-wrenching.
As I suspected, Ryan's return wasn't random.
My parents were prosecutors in River City. That year, they cracked a major case—Mitchell Enterprises, Ryan's family, colluding with officials, seizing land, and killing a worker at a site, covering it up.
No wonder Ryan fled abroad back then.
That night, an anonymous email arrived with a video.
The figure was blurred, but I watched, trembling.
At the end, I was pinned to the floor, my hand raised, pinky bent backward.
"Admit you were wrong!"
"A dog's a dog, Ethan. How do you compare to Ryan?"
In the video, I convulsed in pain while my tormentor reveled.
The figure's build—it was Ryan.
He must've used a voice changer, mimicking Victoria.
That explained why she seemed clueless about my basement suffering.
But so what?
She loved Ryan.
This video—his gloating insult—wouldn't exist if he hadn't sent it.
If Victoria knew, she'd help him bury it.
I saved the file.