Chapter 40

• Present
• The woman's hands gripped the steering wheel with a fierce determination, her eyes fixed on the road ahead as she drove nonstop, the silence between her and Valerie growing thicker with each passing mile. Valerie sat beside her, her face pale and worried, her mind racing with questions about where they were headed and who this woman really was.
• As the hours ticked by, Valerie's anxiety reached a boiling point, and she finally spoke up, her voice shaking with a mix of fear and desperation. "Please, stop the car," she begged, her hands grasping the door handle as if ready to make a desperate leap. "I'll go myself; I don't need your help."