?Chapter 394:


    After a long pause, the silence stretched thin… then finally, the old woman spoke in a gravelly voice. “Come inside.”


    A soft smile spread across Ste’s face as she quickly gathered the documents and trailed behind Finley’s mother and daughter into the modest room.


    “Fetch the ointment—we need to rub it on her back before it swells,” the older woman told her granddaughter without a second thought.


    Ste opened her mouth to protest, but the woman cut her off firmly, “Don’t argue. If we don’t treat it now, your back will be ck and blue by morning.” Ste gave in quietly, watching as the young woman returned with the ointment and spoke gently. “You’ll need to take off your top so I can apply this properly.”


    Ste removed it without a word. The woman’s hands were steady and practiced, gently working the ointment into her back with smooth, circr motions. Almost immediately, the sharp ache in her muscles began to fade, and Ste let out a breath of relief.


    Once she set the ointment aside, the woman settled beside her grandmother and looked at Ste seriously. “Okay. Let’s talk.”


    Ste ced the folder on the table between them. “Please take your time and look through everything,” she said softly.


    The woman skimmed through the first few pages, her voice tense. “You do understand what you’re asking of us, right? Testifying could ruin us.”


    Ste nodded without hesitation. “I know it’s dangerous, and I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe. That’s a promise.”


    The young woman’s brows lifted in disbelief. “And who are you to make that kind of promise? Are you more powerful than Nixon himself?”


    The question caught Ste off guard. She had no grand title, no political pull, but she still believed in the system, in justice, and in thew.


    “I get that you’re scared,” Ste said honestly. “And while I can’t promise there won’t be risks, I swear I’ll do everything I can. Nixon’s still out there, still putting lives in danger—people like your father shouldn’t have to suffer in vain.” The older woman and her granddaughter clutched the folder tightly. Life had already taken so much from them, and the thought of others going through the same pain only added to the weight in their hearts.


    Finley’s daughter lowered her eyes, tears gathering at the corners. “Dad would never want anyone else to go through what he did. I’ll testify… but you have to swear—really swear—you’ll protect my grandma no matter what.”


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    Ste’s expression turned solemn as she nodded. “Even if you hadn’t said a word, I still would’ve done everything to protect her. That’s a promise from me to you.”


    The woman stood quietly and walked over to a drawer. After opening it, she reached into a hiddenpartment. “There’s something you should take a look at,” she said.


    Ste took what the woman handed her, eyes narrowing as she studied it. It was a lead—a document pointing toward Nixon’s old associates, the people who had helped him build his corrupt empire.


    Her eyes lit up with disbelief. “Where did you even manage to find this?”


    The woman’s lips curled into a faint smile. “I’ve been quietly collecting evidence against Nixon for years,” she said. “I just never had the courage to act. Not while Grandma was still alive.”


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