Chapter 154
Even without the driver's warning, Victoria had already sensed something was off.
This place was as remote as it could get.
She wanted to turn back too, but thinking about her limited time left and how she'd finally gotten news about the mute boy, if she missed this chance, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.
When people are dying, this is how they are, wanting to see people they haven't seen in ages, wanting to fulfill long-unrealized wishes. She wanted to know if the mute boy was doing well!
Maybe the person who wanted to see her was the mute boy himself!
Victoria forced down her unease and smiled at the driver, "It's fine, just follow the GPS. I won't short you on the fare."
The driver didn't say much more, stepped on the gas, and continued speeding along following the navigation.
Half an hour later.
The taxi stopped at the foot of a mountain. The driver turned around with difficulty, looking at Victoria, "The place you're going isn't far from here, just another ten minutes or so on foot. Why don't you walk from here? The road ahead is a mountain path, the car can't get through."
"Okay, thank you."
Victoria pulled out two hundred dollars from her wallet.
The driver felt embarrassed and didn't take it, "One hundred is enough, you don't need to give that much."
"It's fine, you won't be able to pick up passengers on the way back. Consider it gas money."
Victoria still pressed the money into the driver's hand. Actually, the real reason she doubled the fare was because even as a stranger, he cared about her.
He was genuinely considering her situation, and she found that warming.
She opened the car door and got out.
"You're a good person with a kind heart. I still suggest you don't go up the mountain. Anyone who'd ask you to meet in such a remote place definitely has bad intentions. I'm a local, and if I wasn't driving you here, I wouldn't even know such a remote place existed. Why don't you just come back with me?"
"You young girls are too easily blinded by love, easy to deceive. You know about those dismemberment cases, right? They all happen in places like this!" The driver spoke with a heavy local accent, his brow furrowed with concern.
When Victoria heard "blinded by love," her expression became dazed. Hadn't she been blinded by love before too?
She couldn't help but grip her backpack strap tighter.
"I'm not joking with you. A girl's personal safety is the most important thing."
"Thank you for caring so much. But I'm here to see someone very important to me, and he even owes me a favor. The situation you're talking about won't happen."
Victoria smiled. She thought the person who asked to meet her must be the mute boy.
She wondered if he was taller now, or thinner.
Whether he could speak now.
He must be married with children by now, living an ordinary but happy life.
Seeing Victoria so confident, the driver felt he'd been worrying too much and drove away.
If only Victoria knew that hell awaited her ahead!
She would definitely heed the driver's advice right now and turn back immediately.
But life doesn't come with that kind of foresight.
Everyone holds onto beautiful expectations, thinking life will get better and better according to their fantasies, only to find the opposite happens. When they fall into hell, they discover even more suffering waiting for them!
At this moment, Victoria, filled with endless hope and longing, struggled along the winding, rugged mountain path with difficulty.
She'd been pampered since childhood and never liked exercise.
Plus, with her terminal illness, Victoria was soon gasping for breath after walking just a short distance.
But worried that the mysterious person would leave if they waited too long, she didn't dare rest much.
When she'd walked about two-thirds of the way, her liver suddenly hurt.
The baby in her belly also seemed to sense the vague unease and started moving.
Cold sweat dripped from Victoria's forehead.
She took half a bottle of painkillers, forcibly using the medication to control the liver pain.
But her belly kept moving.
As she walked, she rubbed her swollen abdomen with her hand, murmuring, "Baby, hang in there a bit longer. Just a bit longer and we'll be there. Don't be scared, everything will be fine."
Victoria rarely had such intense fetal movement, but no matter how she tried to soothe the baby, it kept struggling and fighting.
Just like how she used to resist her desperate fate!
Following the GPS directions, she reached a bottomless lake.
Her belly hurt more and more. Victoria had to find a rock and slowly sit down.
She looked around.
Green mountains and clear water.
Because it was deep winter, all the leaves had fallen from the branches, leaving only bare trunks.
The crows' shrill cries pierced Victoria's eardrums.
Hearing the sound, she looked up and saw a row of crows perched on branches.
They spread their wings and flew high, tracing lonely yet hauntingly beautiful lines across the sky.
Victoria didn't know if it was because of the pregnancy, but after sitting for a while her back hurt terribly, so she stood up from the rock and walked to the lakeside.
The lake water was emerald green, without a single ripple.
Victoria just glanced down and felt dizzy!
Bottomless!
Why hasn't the person arrived yet?
Victoria checked her watch. It was already 8:30. The anonymous text had said the meeting time was 8 o'clock.
She was already half an hour late!
Victoria pulled out her phone, found that anonymous text, and dialed the number.
The phone was on.
But no one answered.
Just like last night when she'd called, the exact same situation.
Victoria thought he wasn't convenient to answer, didn't think much of it, and sent him a text: [I'm here, where are you?]
She looked around. There really wasn't a single person.
Her inner unease grew heavier and heavier.
Her instinct told Victoria she should leave immediately!
This place was dangerous!
But she'd already come all this way. What if the person meeting her was the mute boy?
She didn't have much time left to waste.
Even if it wasn't the mute boy, even just information about the mute boy would be good.
Victoria forcibly convinced herself, 'Victoria, don't be scared. You haven't done anything wrong, how could anything happen?'
You've helped so many people, Mia and Martin, the mute boy, Tamsin—who hasn't benefited from your kindness?
In the layers of green shade stood Mia.
She put on disposable gloves while looking at the text Victoria had sent her on her phone.
She looked up at Victoria's back standing by the lake, her lips curling with malice. What a fool! So easy to lure here.
Mia pulled out the knife hidden in her pocket, played with it briefly, then put it back and walked toward Victoria step by step.
Today, Victoria had to die!
Last time she'd gotten Tamsin to do it, that idiot had messed up at the critical moment. Looked like she had to do it herself!
Martin had fallen for Victoria and didn't want to marry her out of gratitude anymore. She had to eliminate this threat completely!