Chapter 116: Chapter 114: He Loves Her More Than He Imagined (10)
Just as it was about to start, Catherine Callahan leaned over the car window. "I forgot to tell you, I went to great expense to buy this car specially for you, in your name. You’ve really cost me a lot of time and money. I’ve paid a huge price to make you die. If you don’t, you’ll have truly let me down."
Nora Ainsworth watched her hold up something that looked like a remote control key. With a soft press of a button, the car shot forward from the bridgehead, speeding onto the span. Nora wanted to lift her hand, but she couldn’t move at all. The effects of the anesthetic made her no different from someone in a vegetative state.
She lay there, wanting to scream, but she realized that showing any weakness or fear would only give Catherine Callahan exactly what she wanted. ’There are still so many things I haven’t done,’ she thought. ’I just wanted to live my own simple life... but it looks like that’s impossible now.’
The wind howled in her ears as the car, just as she’d feared, was remotely steered into a turn, charging toward the railing in the middle of the bridge. Nora’s eyes flew wide as she watched the railing shatter. With nothing left to stop it, the car plunged straight into the river.
The calm surface of the river, rippled by a light rain, was suddenly shattered by a tremendous BANG. Icy river water rapidly flooded the car’s interior as it sank beneath the surface.
The murky green water was like a giant beast, swallowing the luxury car in an instant.
Catherine Callahan stood at the end of the bridge for a good ten minutes. Only after she saw the river’s surface gradually return to calm did she and the man who had been driving get into another car parked nearby and leave the scene.
Ethan Ellsworth got out of the shower to the sound of his phone ringing. He hurried to answer it, and seeing it was Nora Ainsworth calling, he picked up. "Nora, what’s up?"
"Hello, are you a friend of this phone’s owner? I found this phone in front of the Seagull Hotel. Could you come and claim it?"
Ethan Ellsworth was taken aback. The voice sounded very familiar, but he didn’t give it much thought and just said, "You found it? Wait there, I’ll come get it."
He didn’t even have time to change. Still in his bathrobe, he slipped on a pair of leather shoes at the living room door and rushed to drive to the Seagull Hotel.
Jean Grant was standing at the hotel entrance. Ethan Ellsworth walked up to her. "What are you doing here? You’re the one who found Nora’s phone?"
Jean Grant was also a bit puzzled. She looked at the contacts on the phone. "The contact labeled with a single letter, ’E’... is that you?"
"Of course it’s me you called. No wonder your voice sounded so familiar. Where did you find it?"
Jean Grant pointed to the steps. "I saw it right there. Nora’s? Nora Ainsworth’s phone?"
Ethan Ellsworth took the phone and scrolled through the contact list, his expression darkening. Only Chloe Marshall’s number was saved under the name "Chloe." All the other names were just single initials: E, L, G, A, H. There were only six numbers on the entire phone, and his was the first on the list.
"Why would Nora’s phone be dropped here? Did she come to the hotel for dinner?" Ethan Ellsworth muttered to himself.
"You should return it to her. Do you know where she lives?" Jean Grant asked.
"She moved. I know she lives near the university, but I don’t know the exact address. I’ll call Chloe and ask."
Ethan Ellsworth called Chloe Marshall, only to learn that she had been waiting outside Nora Ainsworth’s home for a long time, but there was no sign of her.
Ethan Ellsworth weighed the phone in his hand, his expression suddenly growing grim. Remembering Nora Ainsworth’s last car accident, he looked at Jean Grant. "Something might have happened to her."
Jean Grant was baffled. "What could have happened?"
Ethan Ellsworth turned and walked up the steps. "You don’t know. Her last car accident was premeditated. I’m going to ask to see the surveillance footage."
Hearing this, Jean Grant immediately ran after him. "Wait for me."
They found the hotel’s lobby manager and went to the security room together.
They pulled up the surveillance footage and saw that Nora Ainsworth had indeed come for dinner that night, but she left after paying the bill. They then checked the camera at the main entrance.
The footage showed her standing at the hotel entrance when a woman, so heavily bundled up her face was obscured, started talking to her. After two minutes, the woman moved closer to her, and Nora Ainsworth’s legs visibly gave way. The woman then helped her into a car.
"Did that woman stab her or something? Look, Nora has no strength in her legs at all." Jean Grant immediately pulled out her phone. "I’m calling the police. We can’t wait."
Ethan Ellsworth didn’t stop her. He also took out his phone and dialed Quentin Grant. "Something’s happened to Nora."
Quentin Grant hung up on him immediately. When Ethan Ellsworth tried calling again, Quentin didn’t pick up.
Ethan Ellsworth was losing his mind. He had cried wolf to Quentin Grant last time, and now that something had actually happened, Quentin didn’t believe him.
’Have I ever shot myself in the foot more perfectly than this?!’
Soon, the police arrived. After reviewing the surveillance footage, they immediately began a pursuit. It was clearly a criminal case.
The main priority now was to find Nora Ainsworth; saving her was what mattered most. According to street surveillance footage, the car drove for a long time, heading to the city’s outskirts.
In the last segment of footage, the car could be seen clearly crashing through the guardrail and plunging into the river.
Upon receiving this information, the police chief personally ordered a rescue operation at the bridge on the outskirts of the city.
Ethan Ellsworth was nearly paralyzed with fear by the scene on the monitor, as was Jean Grant.
The two of them followed the police cars to the outskirts of the city.
"Ethan, at a time like this, shouldn’t you be calling Herman?"
Ethan Ellsworth’s face was ashen. "You’re right. I should."
Reporters, having gotten wind of the story, were already rushing to the scene to film and report, even in the middle of the night.
His fingers trembled slightly as he dialed Herman Hawthorne’s number.
"What is it?"
"Young Master Hawthorne, the suburban bridge... the only really big, high one. You need to come. Something’s happened to Nora." Ethan’s voice was heavy.
Herman Hawthorne paused for a moment. "Isn’t this the same act you pulled on Young Master Grant? Are you trying to fool me now, too?"
Ethan Ellsworth stared intently at his phone, then suddenly roared, "I’m not screwing with you! This is real! Her car went off the bridge half an hour ago. The chances of her being alive are slim. Jean is here too. If you don’t believe me, you can listen to her."
Jean Grant quickly spoke up, "Herman, what Ethan is saying... it’s true."
The line on the other end went dead.
Ethan Ellsworth clutched his phone tightly, watching as Chloe Marshall got out of a taxi and ran toward them. Her eyes were red, and she was on the verge of collapse as she asked him, "Where’s Nora? Where is she?"
Ethan Ellsworth turned and pointed down toward the river. "The surveillance footage shows the car went off right here."
Tears instantly streamed down Chloe Marshall’s face. She shook her head again and again, her voice hoarse. "I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you!"
With that, she broke into a frantic run toward the shattered section of the railing. "Nora! How could this happen? How?! I’m coming to save you!"
She leaped straight off the bridge. Ethan Ellsworth’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Idiot!"
Jean Grant slapped a hand over her mouth. "She actually— Ethan, what are you standing there for? Go save her! Hurry!"
