It was already 11 in the evening when Matthew finally stepped out of the car. The air was cooler now, but his mind was still reeling from the last few hours.
He had expected trouble—long questions, hours locked in some cold room while they dissected everything he did. But none of that happened.
When Duke and his team brought him in, they barely touched him. No cuffs, no raised voices. Just a few straightforward questions—nothing personal, nothing too detailed. They even let him claim his winnings before sending him off like nothing ever happened.
It didn't make sense until he thought about Alen Tian.
That man didn't need to speak loudly to move things behind the scenes. Matthew was sure of it now. Alen must have pulled strings, silenced suspicions, and quietly steered the focus elsewhere. He wasn't being spared because they believed in him. He was being spared because someone like Alen Tian decided it was better that way.
