Chapter 315 Three Phone Calls
"How could it not go through? How could it be disconnected?"
"That's impossible!"
"She would pick up if I called her."
Benjamin muttered to himself.
The director tried to comfort him from the side. "Mr. Tudor, please don't get worked up."
"Your health is what matters."
Benjamin pushed his hand away. His fingers were gripping the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He lowered his head, staring at the dark screen. "She wouldn't just ignore my calls."
"Did something happen to her?"
"No, I have to go find her!"
The director quickly stopped him.
"Mr. Tudor, you still need another two weeks of recovery."
"No matter how urgent something is, nothing is more important than your own life."
"After you're discharged, whatever you want to do, I won't interfere."
Benjamin looked up at him. "But she's the woman I love."
"If something happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."
The director had already received instructions not to let Benjamin leave the hospital.
He racked his brain and finally came up with a reason he thought might persuade him.
"Mr. Spencer is your son-in-law, after all."
"Don't you even trust his word?"
"Besides, Mr. Spencer gave us specific instructions to take good care of your health. If you leave the hospital, we won't be able to answer to Mr. Spencer."
Seeing the director's troubled expression, Benjamin's heart softened.
He looked at the dark screen, then lit it up again.
With trembling hands, he dialed Isabella's number.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later..."
Benjamin's dim eyes suddenly lit up with a spark of hope.
Isabella's phone was actually still working.
Maybe Isabella wasn't dead.
So he called again.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later..."
Benjamin wouldn't give up and called a third time.
Finally, after the ringing lasted for a few seconds, someone picked up.
"Hello, who's calling?"
The voice on the other end was familiar. It sounded like Dylan, William's secretary.
"Is this Dylan?"
On the other end, Dylan nodded. He glanced at William, who was sitting nearby watching him, then went on.
"That's right, I'm Dylan."
"So it's you, Mr. Tudor. I didn't expect you to call Ms. Tudor's phone."
"I happened to be sorting through Ms. Tudor's belongings when I heard it ring. I was wondering who would be calling her."
Dylan paused. "You really are a devoted father. Even though Ms. Tudor has already passed away, you still remember her phone number."
William, sitting nearby, calmly turned his head away and averted his gaze.
He fixed his eyes on a sunflower oil painting on the wall.
"Mr. Tudor, what you need to do now is focus on your recovery."
"I believe that if Ms. Tudor were still alive, she would tell you the same thing."
"Mr. Spencer can't forget Ms. Tudor. Every one of her belongings has been carefully preserved. After you're discharged, I can personally take you to see them."
The call ended. Dylan looked down at the phone, silent for a long time.
Then he turned and glanced at William's back.
William stood with his back to him, in front of the oil painting.
Then Dylan heard William say quietly,
"Get a copy of the hospital surveillance as well."
Dylan nodded and went to do it immediately.
Back at the hospital, Benjamin was still standing in the hallway, still gripping the director's phone.
He didn't speak for a long time. He just stared blankly at the air in front of him.
Only when the director spoke up was his trance finally broken.
"Mr. Tudor, are you alright?"
Benjamin paused, then slowly shook his head.
He looked at the screen, which had gone dark again, and didn't know who to call next.
"If you don't need anything else, I'll take the phone back. I have other things I need to get to."
The director's hesitant voice sounded. Benjamin pulled the phone closer to his chest.
He suddenly raised his voice, speaking between gasps.
"Just one more, just one more call."
Benjamin's memory wasn't very good. He only remembered the phone numbers of his own family members.
He patted his head, thinking hard.
Pacing back and forth anxiously, he finally stopped, a faint smile appearing on his face.
From memory, he dialed his neighbor's number.
After they confirmed each other's identity, his neighbor sighed.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tudor. I don't really know much about what happened with your family. You should ask someone else."
His neighbor hung up on his own, not giving him a chance to ask another question.
Benjamin stood in the hallway. His ears fell silent, as if he couldn't hear any of the other sounds in the corridor.
He didn't even remember how the director took the phone back.
With his back against the wall, he slid down helplessly.
Benjamin sat in the hospital hallway, leaning against the wall, his head tilted back as he stared blankly upward.
He looked at the light fixture overhead and called out softly,
"Where did you all go?"
"How did it suddenly... suddenly become just me, all alone?"
William had always trusted Dylan's work, as long as Dylan didn't interfere in his private affairs or make decisions on his own.
But this time, William was very satisfied with Dylan's initiative.
Because Dylan not only got the hospital surveillance footage, but also linked the hallway and room cameras to the villa.
This way, William could watch Benjamin's condition around the clock, at any time.
For the grand plan that was about to unfold.
William even had someone renovate the basement.
He also had Dylan dispose of Juniper's body.
So the plan to come wouldn't be disrupted.
Following William's orders, Dylan had Juniper's body dismembered, separating the bones completely from the flesh.
Then he put the flesh into a meat grinder.
He had the ground meat frozen, so that when it was needed next time, the "ingredients" wouldn't rot.
As for Juniper's bones, following William's instructions, Dylan had someone turn them into a human skeleton specimen.
The basement renovation was put on the schedule. The two dog cages that had been in the living room were all moved down to the basement.
Not only that, but the basement also got an additional security door.
Without William and Dylan's fingerprints, no one could open it.
Isla, who was locked in the cage, was naturally moved to the new basement.
Juniper's skeleton specimen also became a decoration in the basement, placed right next to the cage for Isla to see and touch at any time.
Though Isla could never possibly be in the mood for that.
She didn't know what was happening outside. She only vaguely felt that this was the calm before the storm.
That feeling of oppression made her chest tighten, and her breathing feel heavy.
William prepared everything as quickly as possible.
He had been waiting for the day Benjamin would be discharged.
He stared at the screen showing the surveillance of room 406, one hand propping up his head.
The coffee on the desk was still steaming.
Downstairs, Dylan was still washing his hands,
scrubbing even under the nails of all ten fingers.