Xo Novel
Chapter 216
Chapter 216
Deathly silence greeted Anthony when he stepped into the factory.
He bristled when he sensed danger, but before he could turn around, he was ambushed from behind and struck
on the head.
Anthony’s vision went black.
Fractured images flurried through Anthony’s mind while he was unconscious, as though trying to make up the full picture of the three years he had lost.
He saw fragments of the past and the people who had come and gone in his life.
He felt like he was being torn apart.
The ache in his heart spread through his body, and sadness overwhelmed him as his feelings for a certain woman grew convoluted.
He saw a depthless sea at night.
He saw the cold, flickering lights that were dwarfed by the fireworks overhead.
The person he was looking for had disappeared. The ring was still with him.
They told him that the person had fallen into the sea and died.
The dull roar of the ocean filled Anthony’s ears. As he stood on the swaying deck and the salty sea breeze enveloped him, he went mad.
Just then, a huge wave crested and tipped the cruise ship.
Anthony wanted to be swept away by the waves and swallowed by the dark ocean.
At least then he could see her.
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Emergency calls only) L
D100%
09:36
However, the moment the waters rose to claim him, he felt himself hauled upward.
Anthony regained consciousness and felt the dampness on his face.
He was in a quiet room, but he could hear loud bickering going on outside.
“What happened? How did he pass out in a car in the countryside?” Quincey demanded hysterically. “Didn’t he take his medicine? Where is it?”
“Mrs. Hoffman, the doctor said Mr. Hoffman shouldn’t be taking unprescribed medication after suffering a head injury,” said Daniel patiently.
“What? That medicine was imported! It’s supposed to be good for Anthony!” Quincey yelled.
“All right, Mrs. Hoffman. I’ll have Mr. Hoffman take the medicine after he comes to.” Daniel comforted Quincey quietly, “You should go back. I can take care of things here, but I won’t be able
to come and go as I like, so be
careful.”
Daniel returned to the hospital room after seeing Quincey off and saw that Anthony was already awake.
“Mr. Hoffman,” Daniel greeted in surprise, holding Anthony’s medicine.
Anthony narrowed his eyes at the medicine Daniel was holding. “How long was I out?”
“About 48 hours, Mr. Hoffman. I tracked your coordinates and found you passed out in your car. I didn’t call the police, as you requested. How are you feeling?” Daniel poured a glass of water and added, “I’ll go get the doctor.”
Anthony’s gaze darkened. “Wait.”
He closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts.
He had realized something when his memories overlapped, like why Genevieve had reappeared suddenly and grown to hate Andrea and Lauraine.
Anthony’s heart tightened as a dull ache seized him. He looked pale. When he opened his eyes again, restrained emotions seemed to crest in his depthless gaze.
“Keep quiet about this. If anyone asks, just say I relapsed and passed out,” Anthony ordered. “Also, did you find Andrea?”
Emergency calls only 3
Daniel paused, contemplating his response. “Yes, but…” He hesitated as a strange look crossed his features. “She’s gone mad.”
Anthony frowned and cut Daniel a look as sharp as his jawline. Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.
Daniel took a deep breath and pulled up the footage he had gotten from the police. He explained in a raspy voice, “There were no surveillance cameras along that road, so we don’t know how she got there in the first place. But, there was a functioning surveillance camera on the rooftop of this abandoned building and it managed to capture Andrea’s strange behavior.”
Anthony raised a brow. Strange behavior?”
He clicked into the footage.
In the footage, Andrea ran up to the rooftop, her steps clumsy and her face pale with horror.
She appeared to be alone but moved as if someone was pushing her.
She stood before a pile of ropes and crouched down nervously, then broke down in tears.
She turned around and began cursing incoherently, shouting in a hoarse voice, “You can make me pay for wanting to kill you, but don’t forget Lauraine was the one who pushed you into the sea! Go after her if you dare!”
Anthony frowned.
The next second, he watched Andrea tie herself with the rope. She first bound her feet, then her wrists.
There was still plenty of rope left when she was done.
She howled desperately as she hopped to the edge of the rooftop.
There was nothing but dirt and rocks below.
The plunge was not as foreboding as it would be from a skyscraper. Nonetheless, a fall from a standard five–story abandoned factory would still be shocking.
It was enough to cripple someone, if not kill them.
At that moment, Andrea cried and begged on her knees for mercy, bowing so low her forehead hit the ground.
Emergency calls only
But she was alone and appeared to be talking to herself.
A second later, it was as if someone had given Andrea a hard push. She screamed as she fell.
The rest of the rope was pulled taut..
Anthony never expected this.
Andrea was out of view, but her frantic screaming continued.
Anthony set the phone down grimly, his gaze cold.
Daniel explained, “She didn’t hit the ground. The rope was too short and got caught in her arm. Dislocated arm aside, she went mad. She’d been left dangling for 12 hours before a passerby saw her and called the police. After that, her mind was a mess and she spoke only gibberish. A psychiatric evaluation determined that she was severely traumatized from being in a stressful situation for too long. She was later sent to a psychiatric hospital.”
Anthony didn’t care about what happened to Andrea, but the words she had screamed into thin air made his blood run cold. “You can make me pay for wanting to kill you, but don’t forget Lauraine was the one who pushed you into the sea! Go after her if you dare!”
‘whom was Andrea talking to?
“Was it Genevieve?” Anthony asked himself, then felt the answer coming to mind and truth slowly surfacing.
Anthony couldn’t play dumb even if he wanted to. ‘Andrea and Lauraine were behind Genevieve’s disappearance on the cruise ship!‘ he concluded.
And Anthony had been the one who invited Genevieve to the cruise ship party.
In other words, he was complicit in her disappearance to some degree.
A sharp pain washed over Anthony like a merciless sea threatening to drown him, rending the air out of his lungs until he went numb.
He finally understood Genevieve’s fierce and unrelenting vengeance.
It was out of her hatred for Andrea, Lauraine, and even Anthony.
Emergency calls only
calls only OM…
That was why she hadn’t even hesitated to cut each of them down.
Genevieve had watched Anthony struggle and suffer in doubt, letting him drown in confusion.
E
She forced him to make the decisions that she predicted he would before she dealt him the final blow.
Genevieve dealt with Lauraine and Andrea swiftly, but she took her time hurting Anthony, making little cuts here and there until he was left bleeding dry.
Anthony thought ruefully, ‘Oh, Genevieve…”