Chapter 13
Tristan couldn’t bring himself to consider the worst possibility. He pulled out his phone and called Steven again.
“Find out where Annabel is right now. Use every connection we have. I don’t care what it takes. Just find her.”
Steven’s response came instantly. For a moment, all he could hear was the tapping of keys on a keyboard.
Tristan had never felt time pass so slowly.
Moments later, Steven’s hesitant voice came through.
“Mr. Morse, Ms. Norton’s identity records have been erased.”
Deactivated?
Why would Annabel suddenly choose to erase her identity? What exactly had happened while he was away? Tristan’s eyelashes trembled. Without realizing it, his hand had clenched so tightly that it turned pale.
A sharp pain in his palm brought him back to his senses.
There might be a clue about Annabel’s whereabouts hidden inside the necklace.
He spun around and rushed into his study, pulling up the recording. But the moment it played, everything in his mind went blank.
On screen, Cassie stood at the edge of the platform, a cold smile tugging at her lips. The person in the burlap sack was struggling. As the fabric slipped away, the face clearly.
Tristan’s breath hitched.
It was Annabel. Her pale face, tangled hair, and the blood at the corner of her mouth were clearly captured on video.
She looked in his direction, lips trembling as if she wanted to say something. But the next second, he shoved her off the platform with his own hands.
he saw
The surveillance room was filled with the echo of a splash, leaving Tristan with only the piercing sound of ringing in his ears. He clutched the necklace tightly, his knuckles white. A bitter metallic taste rose in his throat.
Suddenly, as if something had clicked, Tristan yanked the playback bar backward.
His finger froze.
Cassie’s smile was so obvious, as if mocking Tristan who was watching the screen.
His breath quickened as he stared at the face he could no longer recognize.
Just then, his phone rang again.
“Mr. Morse, the hospital…” Steven’s voice came through, but Tristan roughly cut him off.
“Get the car, I’m going there now.” His voice was hoarse beyond recognition.
The tires screeched as the car sped out of the driveway.
When Tristan arrived at the hospital, he had just stepped into the hallway when he heard Cassie’s venomous voice leaking through the crack of the door.
She was speaking into her phone, her voice full of disdain and contempt.
“Don’t worry. He won’t find out… I already destroyed that bitch’s medical records… Yes, the surveillance footage from the villa has also been handled… It’s that bitch’s fault for not knowing her place. She deserved it…”
Every word pierced through him like poisoned needles, tearing apart the last of his self–deceiving denial.
Slowly, he took a recording pen and turned it on.
A few minutes later, Tristan finished recording and called Steven.
“Look into Cassie,” he ordered, his voice dangerously low and cold. “I want everything she’s ever done. Use every connection you have.”
Steven froze briefly before answering, “Yes, Mr. Morse.”
Tristan walked out of the hospital. A gust of cold wind hit him in the face, but he didn’t feel a thing.
He used to think Annabel would never leave him. But now, he had become the one who pushed her straight into hell.
