Chapter 169

Chapter 169

The mountain switchback road.

The pavement winds and curves. On one side, steep rock walls. On the other, a gorge with no visible bottom.

Snow melts in the sunlight, leaving wet patches that catch the glare.

The helicopter they'd arranged was grounded last minute due to weather restrictions, so Lucas drove to the lake instead.

The Range Rover moved smoothly along the road.

The heat was on inside. Upbeat country music played through the speakers.

Elodie leaned back in the passenger seat, scrolling through skydiving guides on her phone.

"Altitude over thirteen thousand feet. Sixty seconds of freefall." Elodie swiped through the screen. "Lucas, I'm actually kind of excited about the weightlessness. I've heard when you're falling that fast, your mind just goes completely blank."

Lucas steered with one hand, a slight smile on his face. "Your instructor will be right there with you. Remember to keep your eyes open and look at the snow-covered mountains. After the jump, we'll go have cheese fondue."

"Sounds good." Elodie put down her phone and looked out the window.

The Silvercrest Range stretched endlessly in the distance.

Her life had finally gotten back on track. No more drama from a powerful family. No more Adrian.

Just herself.

Three miles behind them.

A Maybach tore through the mountain switchbacks.

The tires screamed against the road as it took each curve.

The assistant gripped the steering wheel with both hands, knuckles white, veins standing out on the back of his hands.

"Mr. Stewart, the road's too slippery! We're going to crash at this speed!"

Adrian sat in the back seat.

He was still wearing his hospital gown, a coat thrown loosely over his shoulders.

His face was pale. The fever hadn't broken. Cold sweat covered his forehead.

He stared at the winding road ahead, his eyes shot through with red.

"Faster." Adrian's voice was hoarse, carrying a reckless, obsessive edge.

The assistant gritted his teeth. "There are back-to-back U-turns ahead. No visibility. It's too dangerous."

Adrian leaned forward and grabbed the assistant's arm.

Hard.

"I said go faster. Catch up to that Range Rover. Now!"

His left hand clutched the diary with sunflowers on the cover.

The edges of the pages were crumpled from his grip.

Elodie's diary.

She still loved him. She was just angry.

She hadn't even told him when she got sick, afraid of bothering him.

He deserved to die.

Adrian felt a sharp cramping pain in his stomach. He fought the urge to cough up blood and kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

He had to see her right now. He'd give his life for hers if he had to.

The Range Rover entered a blind curve.

Rock wall on the left. Guardrail on the right.

Elodie turned to look out the window.

A sharp roar cut through the air out of nowhere.

A heavy dump truck with no license plates barreled out of the opposite lane, going the wrong way.

Moving fast. Tires throwing up mud and dirty snow.

No slowing down. No horn.

Coming straight at the passenger side of the Range Rover.

Less than sixty feet away.

Elodie could clearly see the face behind the windshield. A rough-looking white man.

The corner of his mouth curled up. A cold, satisfied smirk.

No way to dodge it.

Lucas slammed the brakes and wrenched the steering wheel hard.

The tires skidded across the icy road with a sharp shriek.

The shadow of death fell over everything in an instant.

A roaring engine exploded from behind them.

The black Maybach forced its way through from the inside lane.

Doing over a hundred and forty miles an hour.

In the back seat, Adrian reached over the center armrest and grabbed the steering wheel out of the assistant's hands.

He yanked it hard to the right.

The Maybach lost control and fishtailed sideways.

It forced itself into the gap between the Range Rover and the heavy dump truck.

Bang.

A deafening crash of metal tore through the air.

The dump truck's massive front end slammed into the Maybach's side door.

Glass exploded. Shards flew everywhere.

The door caved inward.

The Maybach was shoved backward by the impact.

The tires left two long black marks burned into the road.

It broke through the guardrail at the edge.

Half the car hung over the edge of the gorge. It could fall at any moment.

The front axle of the dump truck snapped. Black smoke poured from the engine. It ground to a stop in the middle of the road.

The driver kicked open the warped door, glanced at the Maybach hanging over the cliff, muttered a curse, and took off running into the mountain forest.

The Range Rover had stopped thirty feet away.

The front bumper had scraped against the rock wall.

Lucas unclipped his seatbelt and looked over at Elodie. "You okay?"

Elodie shook her head.

She pushed open the door and stepped out.

Cold wind swept past.

The air smelled of gasoline and burnt rubber.

Elodie walked to the edge of the cliff.

The Maybach was badly crushed.

In the driver's seat, the assistant was covered in blood, already unconscious. The airbag had deployed and was pinning him in place.

The back seat was worse.

The door had been compressed into a crumpled piece of scrap metal.

Adrian was wedged between the collapsed seat and the door.

Blood ran down his forehead and over his eyes.

His chest was caved in at a strange angle. Several ribs had broken through the skin.

His breathing was faint. His throat made a rasping, wheezing sound, like broken bellows.

But his left hand was still pressed tightly against his chest.

Between his fingers, the edge of a diary with sunflowers on the cover peeked out.

Blood dripped onto the sunflower design. It was a jarring sight.

Elodie stood outside the car.

She looked down at him.

Her expression was calm.

No panic. No heartache.

Just a faint flicker of irritation at being disturbed.

What was wrong with this man?

Wasn't playing the wounded victim enough? Now he'd moved on to staging a near-death scene?

He'd used this extreme stunt to save her, and now he wanted her to feel guilty? To feel like she owed him?

And if he died here today, did he expect her to carry that for the rest of her life?

Not a chance.

"God, what a nuisance." Elodie said, her voice flat and cold.

Lucas walked over and looked at the wreck inside the car.

"Broken bones. Internal bleeding. He could die any minute." Lucas took out his phone and called emergency services. "What is this supposed to be? A grand gesture that came way too late?"

"Just a man feeling sorry for himself." Elodie turned away from Adrian. "Call the police too. Look into that driver who ran. That was no accident."

The smirk on that dump truck driver's face had made it clear. He'd come specifically to kill her.

St. Gallen Cancer Research Center.

Outside the emergency room. The red light above the door was on.

The hallway reeked of disinfectant.

Elodie sat on a plastic bench.

There was a little blood on her hands. She'd gotten it on her while helping the medical staff carry the stretcher.

Lucas had gone to handle the paperwork.

Elodie stood up and walked toward the restroom at the end of the hall.

At the same time.

First floor lobby.

Chloe clicked across the floor in heels, walking quickly toward the elevator.

She was wearing a black coat. Her hair was perfectly styled.

The corners of her eyes were touched with a light reddish tint.

For the past two hours, there had been silence in her earpiece where Hans's voice used to be.

The last thing she'd heard was a violent crash and the screech of brakes.

Hans had said the job was done.

Chloe's pulse quickened.

Elodie was dead.

That irritating woman had finally disappeared from this world.

Adrian must be devastated right now.

This was her chance. Her best chance.

She had the forged diary. She'd stay by Adrian's side, play the role of the understanding younger sister honoring her sibling's memory.

Once Adrian got through this dark period, Mrs. Stewart's position would still be hers.

And the hundreds of millions belonging to the Stewart family would be hers too.

The elevator doors opened.

Chloe stepped in and pressed the button for the emergency center floor.

She took out a compact and checked herself in the mirror.

Expression perfect. Soft and pitiful.

Ding.

The elevator arrived.

Chloe took a deep breath.

Tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

She rushed out of the elevator, her voice shrill and broken. "Adrian——"

The hallway was empty.

Only one person stood at the far end, at the sink.

She was wearing a white down jacket.

Her head was lowered, both hands held under the running faucet.

The water washed the red stains from her fingertips.

Chloe hurried toward her.

"Where's Adrian? Elodie, she……"

Chloe started, her voice choking.