My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 761

The policewoman helped Alex White to a bench. “Last night, we told Matthew Ross about Brandon and Helen being expelled from school,” she said. “He broke down. When we mentioned you wanted to see him, he was very resistant, wouldn’t agree to meet. So, just wait here a bit—I’ll go ask him again.”

Alex nodded, his eyes shadowed with emotion.

The officer turned to leave, but Alex called out to stop her.

She glanced back. “What is it?”

Alex hesitated, then finally said, “Can you tell him… my hand always aches when it rains.”

She looked puzzled, but nodded. “Alright, I’ll let him know.”

Alex waited for five long minutes, replaying the words in his mind. Then the door opened and the officer reappeared, a smile on her face. “He said he’ll see you. I’ll take you in.”

“Okay.”

Seeing Matthew Ross again brought a tangle of feelings Alex could barely untangle.

Back in school, Matthew had grown up poor, but there was always a fire in him—a kind of relentless drive, a hopefulness that made even his part-time jobs seem like adventures. Life, for him, was something to be conquered.

Now, though, Matthew was a shadow—painfully thin, cheeks sunken, dark circles bruising his eyes. He looked shrouded in a kind of quiet despair, as if hope itself had fled.

They were only ten years apart, but Alex, tall and composed, seemed almost regal by comparison, while Matthew looked closer to fifty—crushed by life, hunched with defeat.

Alex frowned.

Matthew looked up, his eyes bloodshot and complicated—anxious, ashamed, desperate—all those emotions swirling and then vanishing in an instant.

“Matthew Ross,” Alex said, settling into the chair across from him, voice calm and even.

Matthew’s lips cracked as he stared at the cane Alex had propped beside him. “What happened to you?”

Alex hadn’t expected Matthew’s first question to be about his health. The mix of feelings inside him was hard to describe. “Car accident. Broke my left leg. Still healing, but it’s nothing serious.”

Matthew stiffened, shoulders tensing, and instinctively tried to duck his head again.

Alex caught it, his frown deepening. “Look at me when you answer.”

Matthew pressed his lips shut, the corners trembling. “I… you already know, don’t you?”

Alex’s voice was cool. “Know what?”

Matthew took a shaky breath, stared at him, and said nothing.

Alex gave a dry laugh. “That you’re working for Isabella Austin?”

Matthew’s pupils contracted violently; his head dropped, chest heaving with emotion.

He wanted to deny it, but his lips wouldn’t move—like they’d been glued shut. His throat was so dry he kept swallowing, but it did nothing to help.