Chapter 43:
Zoey untied my feet, then my hands. In the middle of untying my hands, his phone rang, but he ignored it and kept on working. When I was finally freed, I noticed his phone still ringing.
He looped the rope around my neck.
“Come on, let’s go upstairs,” he said, pulling me up.
I noticed the phone kept ringing. I guessed Evan and Zach might have located him by now, possibly nearby.
He led me upstairs. The lights in the hallway were off. As he grumbled and pulled out his phone, it continued to ring. After hanging up, he switched on his phone’s flashlight.
I took note of the straight hallway and the windows on both sides, one of which was broken. The wind from that window, and the direction of the entrance door downstairs, told me that side led to the ocean — my potential escape.
Feigning weakness, I stumbled toward the window. He lowered his guard, just as he was about to open a door. Seizing my chance, I slipped the rope off my neck, dashed toward the window, and jumped without hesitation.
Zoey stared in shock as I plunged downward. Only after the splash did it dawn on him what I had done. He rushed to the window, but there was no sign of me.
His phone rang again. He answered, and Zach’s voice came through the line, saying they couldn’t find me and that Evan was dismissing the entire management of the branch office and the factory.
Zoey hung up and immediately called Ann Maxwell, deliberately fanning the flames and provoking her.
Ann hung up, throwing her phone angrily onto the passenger seat. Zoey smirked, knowing she was furious.
He peered back toward the sea. “Beauty, you killed yourself. Don’t blame me.”
