Framed for a Hit-and-Run Reborn to Expose My Wife and Her Ex

Chapter 4

I stared at my dad, my whole body shaking, my breath coming fast and uneven.

What the hell was happening?

Why was he pointing at me?

Had he really seen something?

No—impossible.

I'd been locked up for the past seven days. I hadn't done a damn thing.

And yet—

"That's Zach Sullivan's dad?"

"Even his own father is calling him out! That settles it—he's guilty!"

The crowd erupted.

Their voices sharpened, turning into weapons aimed right at me.

"Zach, quit the act! You selfish, heartless bastard, how long are you gonna keep pretending?" Hannah's voice sliced through the chaos.

Rage crashed through me.

"I didn't do it!" I roared. "Why the hell should I confess to something I never did?"

Then, like a switch flipping in my brain—

I had proof.

"The detention center," I snapped. "I've been locked up for the past seven days. Check the surveillance footage—it'll prove I wasn't there!"

I turned to the officer next to me, my pulse hammering.

He looked just as rattled as I felt.

Because he knew I'd been in custody. But now—with the crowd out for blood, the damning video, and my own father testifying against me—hesitation flickered in his eyes.

Still, he didn't waste time. He grabbed his phone.

"I'm calling for the footage," he said. "Everyone, stand down!"

The reassurance did little to settle the mob.

Tension crackled in the air.

Then—

Another officer rushed over, a flash drive clutched in his hand.

I held my breath as they plugged it in, fast-forwarding through the footage.

And there I was.

Clear as day.

Every hour, every minute—accounted for.

A slow, sharp smirk tugged at my lips.

I turned to Hannah, my voice deadly calm.

"Well?"

She hesitated.

Just for a second.

Then—

Liam shoved forward, jabbing a finger at the screen.

"Wait! Hold up!" His voice crackled with excitement. "Look at that—that person leaving the detention center… doesn't that look like Zach?"

The footage zoomed in.

A figure in a yellow coat walked out of the building.

The image was grainy. Blurry.

But the coat—

It was identical to the one I'd been wearing when I was arrested.

My blood turned to ice.

Hannah's lips curled into a smug, satisfied smile.

"Zach," she crooned, tilting her head. "Are you really gonna stand there and deny that's you?"

Her voice dripped with fake pity—then turned sharp as a blade.

"You must've bribed someone to let you out. You left, did the crime, and snuck back in—didn't you?"

The crowd exploded.

"Yeah! What's the point of this bullshit excuse?"

"He's rich—he thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants!"

The officer beside me stiffened, his grip tightening on his baton.

He remembered my coat. Everyone did. I'd picked that ugly yellow thing because it stood out.

I clenched my jaw, my voice low and razor-sharp.

"That's not me."

A shiver ran down my spine.

Someone had set me up.

Planned this down to the last, perfect detail.

And Hannah knew.

She knew I was innocent, yet she doubled down, feeding the flames.

"Zach, you're a disgusting excuse for a human being," she spat. "You killed a pregnant woman and her child, and now you're trying to worm your way out?"

Liam sneered, jumping on the momentum.

"Yeah! You're a piece of shit who thinks money can fix everything. You deserve to burn for this."

A sharp glint caught my eye.

The knife.

It had been forgotten in the chaos—until now.

The victim's husband bent down, fingers curling around the handle.

His grief twisted into something raw. Something deadly.

His eyes locked onto me, burning with pure hate.

And I knew.

If the officers so much as blinked, that blade was going straight into my chest.

"Damn it, it really is him!" someone shouted.

"He must've bribed a guard! He snuck out, killed them, and slipped right back in!"

The husband's breath hitched—

Then, with a choked roar, he lunged.

I stiffened, every muscle locking up.

Nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

This was it.

But then—

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The voice cut through the chaos like a gunshot.

Everything froze.

My breath caught.

And for the first time in this entire nightmare—

Relief slammed into me like a tidal wave.

Because the person I'd been waiting for had finally arrived.