Chapter 4143 Unheeded Emergency Calls

Audrey did not bother replying. She simply turned and pushed open the heavy double doors of the autopsy room.

The sharp, stinging scent of formaldehyde, laced with the faint, sweet stench of decay, hit us instantly.

Luke pinched his nose, letting out a sharp scoff.

"Pathetic dramatics."

In the center of the room lay a table. On it was a shape covered by a white sheet.

Peeking out from the bottom was a pale, swollen ankle.

Luke stopped two paces away, a cruel sneer on his lips.

"Grace, drop the act."

"Do you honestly think that lying here will make me cancel the wedding?"

"Get up. Let's talk like adults. How much money do you want to end this little circus?"

The figure beneath the sheet remains perfectly still.

Luke's patience snapped.

He strode forward and tore the sheet away.

I hovered near the ceiling, staring down at my own body.

It was truly hideous.

Having spent three days submerged in water, my skin had turned a ghostly, mottled grey, with patches of epidermal peeling.

My fingernails were completely torn and split from clawing at the car windows, exposing raw, dark-red flesh underneath.

And there, stark against the ruin of my arm, was the deep, thick scar on my wrist.

Luke's gaze landed on my face, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

But a moment later, a cold laugh escaped his lips.

"The special effects makeup is impressive. Must have cost a fortune."

He reached out, his fingers stretching toward my cheek.

"Let's see how long you can hold your breath under this mask."

Audrey lunged forward, slapping his hand away with a vicious crack.

"Are you insane, Luke? She's dead! Have you no respect for the deceased?"

Luke glared at his reddening hand, his expression darkening with rage.

"Audrey, assisting a civilian in faking a death is a federal offense. I can have your license revoked by tomorrow morning."

Audrey let out a bitter, hollow laugh, staring at him as if he were a monster.

"You still think this is fake?"

She reached onto a metal tray, picking up the evidence bag containing my ruined phone.

"Fine. If you won't believe your own eyes, listen to this. The tech department just recovered the audio logs."

I desperately reached out, trying to tell Audrey to stop. Please don't play it, Audrey. Please don't.

You've done more than enough for me. My parents only helped put you through college, but you've already repaid that debt tenfold by finding my body. Please, just let it go. The living need to move on.

A moment later, the sound of my ragged, desperate breathing echoed through the sterile room.

"Hello... is this dispatch? I'm trapped under the Southside Viaduct... the water is rushing into the car..."

Luke's face froze.

That was the first call.

Audrey skipped forward, pressing play on the fiftieth recording.

"Please... send help... the water is up to my chest... I can't open the doors..."

My voice on the recording was trembling, thick with the terror of impending death.

Luke's chest rose and falls rapidly, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists.

Audrey did not stop. She dragged the timeline all the way to the very last call.

The 143th call.

The voice that came through was barely a whisper, drowned out by the terrifying sound of rushing water filling the cabin.

"Luke... why... why won't you pick up..."

"It's so cold..."

"I didn't take the money back then... I just... I just wanted to hear your voice one last time..."

The line went dead with a harsh, flat beep.