Chapter 329 Falling from the Building
But Emma never showed up. George's patience was wearing thin, and his anxiety grew stronger by the minute.
That day, he went to pick up Lucas from school as usual, only to be told that Emma had already taken him.
"What?" George's face darkened instantly, his voice filled with shock and anger. "Who did you say took Lucas?"
The teacher looked at him nervously and replied cautiously, "It was Lucas's mother. She came to pick him up this afternoon."
Countless thoughts raced through George's mind, his heart pounding as he quickly dialed Joshua's number.
"Any sign of Emma at the Crystal Street store?" His voice was low and urgent.
"Mr. Russell, we just got word that Ms. Jones was spotted at the store," Joshua reported promptly.
A cold glint flashed in George's eyes, his voice betraying his impatience. "Don't lose her. I'm on my way."
"Get it, Mr. Russell!" Joshua responded immediately.
After hanging up, George jumped into his ca and sped towards the Crystal Street store.
When he arrived, the store was empty.
The clerk told him that Emma hadn't been there.
"How dare you say that again!" George's fist slammed onto the counter with a dull thud.
The clerk, however, was unafraid, standing tall and meeting George's gaze. "I'll say it again: Ms. Taylor hasn't been here."
Since this was Emma's store, George didn't want to make things difficult for her employees, so he left.
His men had been tracking Emma, and they immediately reported her movements. Unfortunately, after following the directions for ten minutes, the tracker reported that they had lost her.
"Lost her?" Joshua kicked his subordinate to the ground and continued to organize a city-wide search for Emma.
Just then, George's phone vibrated in his pocket, and the notification caught George completely off guard, leaving him astonished: [Brilliant Star Hotel 2201, Emma's in trouble.]
The brakes screeched in the rainy night as George ran his third red light. In the rearview mirror, his eyes burned with intensity, his tie loosened and leaving a red mark on his neck. During the seventeen seconds the elevator numbers counted down, he could hear his own heartbeat pounding between his ribs, his throat tightening with each reverberation.
The sound of the key card reader was unusually loud. As George pushed open the door, the sickly sweet scent of perfume mixed with the metallic tang of blood hit him. The crystal chandelier cast web-like shadows on the carpet, and Phoenix lounged on the sofa, the transparent liquid in the syringe catching the light.
"Surprised?" She waved her phone, the lock screen showing a candid photo of George's profile. "It wasn't easy getting you here, George."
George's pupils contracted sharply.
He turned to leave, but two bodyguards in black blocked the entrance. Phoenix's high heels crunched over the rose petals scattered on the floor, the needle pressing against his throbbing carotid artery. "I hear that when you inject a sedative, people hallucinate?" Her red lips brushed his earlobe. "Guess what? When you're addicted, will you beg me for drugs or for me to pretend to be Emma?"
The rain poured outside. George suddenly laughed, his Adam's apple trembling under the needle. "You'll never be her." He reached into his suit pocket, the silver wedding ring leaving a red mark in his palm—a ring he had once placed on Emma's finger, still carrying the scent of jasmine from her wrist.
As the bodyguard's fist grazed his brow, George crashed through the floor-to-ceiling window.
The cold rain stung sharply as he fell from the twenty-second floor. Countless shards of glass reflected the same face, each fragment turning into Emma's tear-filled eyes as they fell.
The rain pounded the ground, sirens piercing the night. News of George's fall quickly spread throughout the city.
"Former Russell Group CEO George fell from a twenty-second-floor building tonight and has been confirmed dead," the news anchor's calm voice on the TV made Emma's heart skip a beat in alarm.
Her hand shook, and her phone slipped to the floor, the screen still displaying the news alert.
"No way." Emma's face turned pale, she gripped the sofa armrest so tightly her knuckles turned white, her strength drained. Her mind was in chaos, her ears buzzing as if the world was collapsing.
"George." She whispered, tears streaming down uncontrollably. She couldn't believe it, even couldn't accept it.
The next moment, she jumped up, grabbed her coat, and rushed out the door. The rain hit her face, cold and biting, but it couldn't clear her mind. She had only one thought—find him, confirm if it was true.
When Emma arrived at the scene, the area was cordoned off, surrounded by people. She stumbled, her clothes soaked, hair plastered to her face, looking disheveled.
"Let me through! Let me in!" She shouted hoarsely, trying to push through the crowd, but the police stopped her.
"Ma'am, this is a crime scene. No unauthorized personnel allowed," the officer said coldly.
"He's my husband!" Emma's voice trembled, her eyes filled with despair. "Let me in, I need to see him!"
The officer hesitated, seemingly moved by her emotion, and finally stepped aside.
Emma stumbled into the crime scene, only to see a pool of blood on the ground from a distance, with a body lying in it.
Judging by the suit, it was clearly George!
Emma tried to rush forward but was stopped by the police, who refused to let her near the body.
"We need to preserve the scene. No one is allowed to enter."
"Why did he die? Why?" Emma screamed.
Then she heard someone say, "I heard he fell from the twenty-second floor. It's tragic."
The twenty-second floor!
She had to go to the twenty-second floor!
Emma rushed into the building, the elevator doors closing slowly. She clutched her chest, her heart pounding as if it would explode. She couldn't imagine George really being gone. George, the man who had caused her so much pain and heartbreak, yet whom she could never forget—how could he just disappear?
When the elevator reached the twenty-second floor, Emma dashed out. The floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hallway was shattered, glass shards scattered everywhere, rainwater pouring in, the floor covered in water and bloodstains.
Emma's steps halted abruptly, her body freezing in place. She looked at the bloodstains, her pupils contracting, her breath stopping.
"George!" Her voice trembled, barely audible.
She took one step at a time towards the bloodstains, the glass shards crunching under her feet. Her fingers trembled as she reached out to touch the blood, but she pulled back at the last moment.
"This isn't real; this isn't real." She muttered, tears blurring her vision, her body swaying.
Her eyes scanned the floor and suddenly spotted a wedding ring lying next to the bloodstains.
It was the ring she had designed herself, one George had never worn. She thought he had thrown it away, but he had kept it.
"George!" Emma finally broke down, crying out loud, tears streaming like a flood. She collapsed to the ground, clutching the ring tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why did you do this? Why did you have to die?"
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