A single watch, a paid confession, and a web of lies that stretches deeper than anyone imagined. Just as the world turns its back on David, a terrified witness reveals a truth so dark it shatters the very foundation of trust. Is the man protecting Elina actually the monster who destroyed her?
After everything that had happened, Elina had fallen into a deep, haunting silence. A single thought kept spinning in her mind: If David was the one who did this to me, then who was the man I saw sneaking into the guest room last night? David was with me in my room at that exact moment... so it couldn't have been him. If it wasn't David, then who was it?
She was lost in these dark thoughts when Jack suddenly rushed to her side. "Elina! The police caught the man who snuck into the guest room last night!"
Elina's heart skipped a beat. "Who is he? I need to see him right now!"
"The outside CCTV caught his face when he was jumping over the main gate to escape," Jack explained. "I gave the footage to the police this morning, and they just called—they have him in custody."
Elina prepared to leave for the police station with Jack. David, who had overheard everything, stepped forward. "Wait! I'm coming too."
The three of them arrived at the station. The police were already interrogating the man. "Who are you? Why were you there?"
The man looked terrified. "Ma'am, I didn't do anything wrong! I was just told to go into the guest room of the Smith mansion and retrieve a watch. I was paid 20,000 rupees for the job."
Elina took the watch from the man's hand and inspected it. Her heart sank. "This watch... it looks so familiar." She looked at the man. "Who told you to do this?"
Without hesitation, the man pointed his finger directly at David. "David Sir told me to do it."
David's face turned pale with shock and fury. "Why are you lying? I never spoke to you!" He turned to Elina desperately. "Elina, this watch has been missing for two days. I lost it before all of this happened! This man is lying. Please, believe me... I could never hurt you. Do you really think I am capable of such a disgusting act?"
Elina pushed him away, her voice trembling with rage. "Yes! I believe it was you. I couldn't see your face in the dark that night, but I recognized your perfume. Only you use that scent. And now, there is proof. You paid this man to hide the evidence of your crime! Inspector, please... give him the harshest punishment possible."
Overwhelmed by grief and betrayal, Elina's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor of the police station, sobbing.
David realized that if the police put him in a lockup now, he would never be able to prove his innocence. Fearing he was being framed with no way out, he seized a moment and ran out of the station.
Elina was already broken by the assault, but the confirmation—in her mind—that the rapist was the man she loved more than life itself destroyed her completely.
Jack took a shattered Elina back home and explained everything that had happened at the station to the family. David's mother was devastated, falling at Elina's feet and begging for her son's life. Elina said nothing; she simply went to her room and locked the door.
Meanwhile, David sought help from his closest friend, Nikhil. Nikhil didn't hesitate to give David a place to hide. "David, listen to me," Nikhil said. "First, we need to find out who actually gave that man the 20,000 rupees and sent him for the watch."
"You're right," David agreed. "That's where we start."
They began searching for the man. To their surprise, they discovered someone had already bailed him out of jail. After hours of searching, David and Nikhil finally tracked him down. They cornered him, and after a rough interrogation, they demanded the truth.
"Who sent you to the guest house?" David roared.
The man, trembling with fear after being beaten, finally broke. "I didn't go there to take the watch! I went there to plant it!"
David and Nikhil froze. "What? Why?"
"Your brother paid me 20,000 rupees to do it," the man stammered. "I'm a peon at Jack Sir's office. My mother is very ill, and I asked Jack Sir for a loan. He told me I wouldn't have to pay it back if I did one job for him. He handed me David Sir's watch and told me to leave it in the guest room of the Smith house that night.
"But as I was going in, I accidentally knocked over a vase. The noise brought Elina Ma'am toward the room. I got scared and ran away before I could even leave the watch. At the police station, Jack Sir signaled me to name you, so I did. His lawyer was the one who got me out of the lockup."
David and Nikhil were stunned. "What is your name?" David asked.
"Shib," the man replied.
Gripping Shib by the collar, David and Nikhil dragged him straight back to the Smith mansion. They burst through the doors, and David began shouting for Elina.
The family rushed downstairs. When Jack saw Shib with David, his voice faltered. "David... why did you bring this criminal into the house?"
David walked straight up to Jack and delivered a powerful slap that echoed through the hall. "I didn't do that horrific thing to Elina," David shouted for all to hear. "It was Jack! Jack did it!"
The room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone stood in absolute horror.
Is Jack truly the monster responsible for Elina's pain? Or is there an even deeper truth hidden behind this betrayal? How will Elina react when she hears the accusation against the man she thought was her protector?
To find the answers, keep reading "Beneath The Truth," only on Webnovel.