Chapter 3 - The Inferno
The intense flames rapidly devoured the oil-stained walls of the small auto shop office.
Ethan coughed violently as thick, toxic black smoke completely filled his burning lungs.
He shoved the critical flash drive deep into his heavy jacket pocket for extreme safety.
The wooden door to the main garage was already completely engulfed in roaring, unstoppable fire.
He grabbed a heavy metal wrench from the floor and sprinted desperately toward the burning door.
With a highly desperate scream, he smashed the wrench entirely through the weakened, burning wood.
He dove bravely through the blazing opening and rolled wildly across the concrete garage floor.
His jacket caught fire immediately, forcing him to desperately beat the flames out with his bare hands.
He managed to forcefully kick open a rusted side exit and stumbled out into the rainy alleyway.
He gasped fiercely for fresh air, his entire body burning with intense pain and sheer exhaustion.
He knew perfectly well that Margaret was actively trying to erase all evidence of her horrific crimes.
He stole a rusty, abandoned bicycle from the alley and pedaled furiously back to the cheap motel.
When he finally arrived safely, he rushed into the room and locked the flimsy door securely behind him.
Lena quickly helped treat his severe burns with a highly basic emergency first aid kit.
Ava looked at him with sheer terror, desperately begging him to stop risking his fragile life.
Ethan promised her gracefully that this specific evidence would finally send his wicked mother to prison forever.
He borrowed Lena's cheap laptop and plugged the slightly melted flash drive perfectly into the port.
By some absolute miracle, the internal memory was completely undamaged by the intense, brutal heat.
A high-definition security video loaded smoothly onto the screen, precisely dated the night of the crash.
The footage clearly showed Margaret handing a thick briefcase of blood money directly to the mechanic.
But as the camera zoomed in deeply, Ethan felt his entire world violently and entirely shatter.
The mechanic eagerly accepting the blood money was not a complete stranger at all.
It was Ava's own estranged biological father, Richard.
Ava covered her mouth firmly, screaming in absolute horror as she successfully recognized her own flesh and blood.
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Her father had literally accepted a massive bribe to brutally cripple his own innocent daughter.
Suddenly, the motel room window violently shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.
