Chapter 157 Richard Cole
ANNA'S POV
"The guards are silently searching the place for anyone who might be suspicious enough to be doing this, until then I suggest we shut down the projector. As we are no longer fully in control of it, we don’t know what this person might show on the screen,” Dan said to Dad.
His voice was calm, but I could tell he was tense. The tightness in his jaw gave it away.
“Yes, I agree. Inform the technical team right away,” Dad replied.
Everything suddenly felt too heavy.
Just a few minutes ago, I had been preparing myself to step on stage and give a speech that was meant to mark a major milestone for Quinn’s Group. A moment that was supposed to be proud, organized, perfect. Now the atmosphere inside the hall had shifted completely.
Whispers were spreading among the guests.
People were turning their heads toward the projector screen, curiosity growing by the second.
And I still hadn’t seen Isabel.
That alone was enough to make my stomach twist.
Even if she had claimed she changed, even if Mom believed her, something inside me just wouldn’t settle. A strange, uneasy feeling kept nagging at the back of my mind.
Before Dan could move to carry out Dad’s order, the projector suddenly flickered.
The blank screen changed.
A video appeared.
The hall instantly grew quieter, like everyone subconsciously knew something important was about to happen.
Whoever was controlling the projector had already started something.
The video hadn’t played yet, but something on the screen caught my attention immediately.
It was the file name.
Richard Cole.
My heart skipped.
Isn’t that Ryan’s late father?
Why would there be a video saved with his name?
And why would someone choose to play it here, of all places?
Confused, I turned toward Ryan.
I wanted to see his reaction.
The moment I looked at him, I saw the shock on his face. His brows were pulled together tightly, his eyes locked on the screen like he was trying to understand what he was seeing.
That alone made my chest tighten.
I was about to walk over to him and ask if he had any idea what was going on when the video suddenly started playing.
At first, the footage was shaky.
The camera moved around as if someone was holding it with unsteady hands. The sound crackled faintly, mixed with the rustling noise of movement.
Then someone adjusted it.
The camera steadied.
The image became clearer.
“Make sure that video recording is as clear as possible before we begin,” a man’s voice said.
My brows slowly furrowed.
I stared at the screen, confusion flooding my mind.
The man standing in the video…
That was Richard Cole.
But he looked much younger than any photo I had seen of him before.
Ryan looked even more stunned now.
I could almost feel the tension radiating from him as he watched.
The recording continued.
One of the men in the background dragged a chair and placed it directly in front of the camera, positioning it carefully like they were preparing for something important.
Something about the environment in the video made my chest tighten.
I blinked a few times.
That place…
It looked familiar.
Not just slightly familiar.
It felt like I had actually been there before.
But my mind couldn’t fully grasp it yet.
“Don’t just stand there, go inside and get the girl. We don’t have much time. I need to send this video to that useless Quinn family Margaret and her husband,” Richard said.
What?
My breath caught in my throat.
Did I hear that right?
For a moment I wondered if my ears were playing tricks on me.
I thought Dad and Richard Cole were best friends.
That was what I had always believed growing up.
So why did he just insult our family like that?
And what did he mean by sending the video to the Quinns?
I quickly looked at Dad and Mom.
They looked just as confused as I was.
Mom’s face had gone pale.
Dad’s eyes were fixed on the screen, his expression darkening with every second that passed.
Around us, the guests had gone completely silent.
Everyone was now fully hooked on the video.
And the worst part?
This entire thing was being shown to the whole crowd at the ceremony.
The video continued.
A faint muffling sound echoed from somewhere off-camera, like someone struggling or trying to speak through something covering their mouth.
That uneasy feeling in my chest kept growing stronger.
I couldn’t shake the sensation that I had seen this place before.
Then, just when I thought today couldn’t possibly get any worse…
The man who had gone to get the girl returned.
He walked back into the frame.
And he wasn’t alone.
My heart dropped.
Because the girl he was dragging into the room…
Was me.
My eyes widened instantly.
My mouth fell open without me realizing it.
I could hear Mom gasp loudly beside me.
Dad sucked in a sharp breath.
“What the…” Dan muttered under his breath.
Everything around me suddenly felt distant, like the world had been muted.
All I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
What the hell was actually going on?
Fear crawled down my spine.
My hands started shaking before I even noticed.
Why was I in that video?
And why was my mouth tied up?
My mind started racing.
Fragments of something buried deep in my memory began pushing their way forward.
Something I had almost forgotten.
Don’t tell me…
“Sir, we need to hurry up with this. There’s a hurricane coming and it doesn’t look lovely,” one of the men in the video said as he glanced toward a window.
That was it.
That was the moment everything clicked.
That’s why watching the video felt so familiar.
Because I remembered.
It was blurry.
Faded.
But I remembered.
Those men.
That place.
The cold air.
The fear.
Suddenly the pieces started coming together in my head, one after another.
The strange memory of a storm.
The sound of strong wind outside.
The way I had been so scared I couldn’t even think properly.
Back then, I was younger.
Much younger.
And now seeing it again…
Seeing it clearly on a massive screen in front of hundreds of people…
It felt like my chest was being crushed.
My breathing became uneven.
I remembered being held.
I remembered struggling.
I remembered trying to scream.
But my mouth had been tied.
Just like in the video.
A horrible wave of realization washed over me so suddenly that it made my stomach twist.
The ideas forming in my mind made me feel sick.
Like I might actually throw up right there in front of everyone.
Because if this memory was real…
If this video was real…
Then that meant something terrible had happened back then.
Something no one had ever explained to me properly.
Something that involved Richard Cole.
My vision blurred slightly as the thoughts rushed through my head.
And the worst part?
The video was still playing.
Right in front of everyone.