The cold air along the northern mountain pass seemed to freeze, blanketed by the spinning red-and-blue emergency glare flashing from the line of police patrol cars. Across the damp asphalt roadway, the atmosphere transformed into a profoundly dramatic stage of justice. Rehan sat limply on the ground with his hands tightly handcuffed behind his back, staring blankly at the earth as his entire body trembled violently.

Before Rehan could even mourn his absolute ruin, the roaring engine of another black police van drew near and halted right beside the primary tactical jeep. The van doors swung open, and two police officers forcefully escorted a woman out into their midst.

Clara.

The mistress looked utterly disheveled. Her makeup was smeared with tears, her long hair was a tangled mess, and her luxury trench coat was creased and ruined. She had just been nabbed by investigative units from her apartment unit through the expansion of corporate emergency fund flow investigations. The moment she spotted Rehan slumped with handcuffed hands on the asphalt, Clara shrieked hysterically, thrashing against the officers' grips.

"Rehan! What is the meaning of this?! Why am I being dragged here?!" Clara screamed in a high-pitched voice, her eyes wide with terror as she took in the dozens of police officers and the blinding glare surrounding them.

Rehan looked up slowly. Seeing the presence of the woman who had served as both the source of his catastrophe and his accomplice in crime, the veins of rage in Rehan's neck abruptly tensed once more. The cowardly and selfish nature within Rehan instantly exploded.

"You... You cursed woman!" Rehan snapped in a high-pitched, raspy voice, attempting to force himself up from the ground before being yanked back down by the officers.

"Because of you constantly hounding me for money and threatening to expose everything, our moves got exposed! You are a plague in my life, Clara!"

Hearing that curse, Clara froze for a fraction of a second before her fury ignited violently. The self-respect she had taken pride in shattered instantly before the law and the people who despised her.

"A plague, you say?!" Clara shrieked hysterically, brushing away the officer's hand gripping her arm and pointing straight at Rehan's face. "Don't flip the narrative, Rehan! You are the rotten mastermind behind this entire charade! You engineered the corporate embezzlement, you promised me all of Aileen's fortune, and you're the one who drew up the premeditated murder plot right here at this cliffside!"

"Shut your mouth, you bitch!" Rehan cursed furiously, trying to lunge at Clara, only to have his movements forced downward by the police officers.

"No! I won't stay silent!" Clara grew increasingly frantic, hot tears spilling down her pale cheeks. She turned toward the law enforcement officers and tactical teams, weeping in utter desperation as she spilled every single secret out in the open. "Officer! Swear to God, I was merely a puppet manipulated by this man! Rehan is the primary brain behind all the fraud, document forgery, and the attempted murder of his wife! I'm the one who recorded all of his confessions! He's the one who forced the execution of that fatal cliffside plan!"

A fierce brawl, mutual finger-pointing, and filthy insults echoed wildly between the two traitors, breaking the silent mountain night. Those who had once allied themselves in greed were now tearing into one another the moment the legal storm battered their lives.

A few paces away from the altercation, Aileen stood tall side by side with Damian.

Aileen folded her arms across her chest, staring down at the two pathetic human beings before her with an ice-cold, flat gaze devoid of a single shred of pity, mercy, or even lingering vengeance. Her heart felt remarkably spacious and serene, as though the heavy burden crushing her soul for three years had finally lifted entirely.

Damian glanced briefly toward Aileen. Seeing the absolute composure on the face of the woman he loved, the corners of Damian's lips curved upward into a subtle smile of profound pride. He wrapped an arm gently around Aileen's shoulder, channeling an infinite warmth and sense of safety.

"You see it, Aileen?" Damian whispered softly near the woman's ear. "Those snakes are now feeding on their own venom. A most equitable spectacle."

Aileen nodded slowly, resting her head briefly against Damian's shoulder. "Yes, Damian. They received what they justly deserved. Not a single trace of fear remains left in my life."

Amidst the clamor of curses and Clara's hysterical sobs, the police commander stepped forward carrying a digital tablet containing complete audio confession records and forensic documents. He fixed a sharp glare on Rehan and Clara, who were still hurling abuses at one another.

"Enough! Cease your bickering before the law!" the police commander barked in an authoritative voice that instantly silenced them both.

The commander turned toward Damian and Aileen to request final instructions, then gave a decisive gesture to his subordinates.

Realizing their situation was entirely spent and no escape route remained, Clara dropped to her knees on the wet soil, clutching her head in her hands. With a severely raspy, sobbing voice, she pointed toward Rehan for one final time, delivering the ultimate verdict that sealed the man's destruction:

"He... Rehan Baskoro is the primary mastermind of the fraud and attempted murder! Arrest him and lock him away forever! I don't want anything more to do with this!" Clara shrieked hysterically at the top of her lungs.

Hearing that devastating confession from the woman he had defended to the death, Rehan froze rigidly. Paleness consumed his face, his eyes dilating into a blank stare as he realized he had been abandoned, betrayed, and stripped bare before the law with not a single defense left.

Without wasting another second, four police officers moved swiftly. Two cuffed Clara to drag her off to a separate holding vehicle for further interrogation, while the other two heaved Rehan's limp, powerless body upward.

"Get inside the prisoner transport right now!" a police officer snapped, forcefully shoving Rehan into the back of the barred iron transport van.

SLAM!

The iron doors of the transport vehicle slammed shut with a sharp, echoing metallic clang that resounded through the midnight mountains, locking Rehan away inside absolute darkness entirely alone.

Aileen stood in her place, watching the departure of the transport van carrying the cowardly man away down the pitch-black road. The night sky gradually began to reveal a streak of golden dawn along the eastern horizon, illuminating a new freedom now resting entirely within her grasp.