The Lie Of That Night Chapter 09
Terrence’s vision went black, and a buzzing sound filled his ears.
“Terry, don’t go. It’s dangerous there, dark and chaotic. Let the police and rescue team handle it, okay?”
Paulina rushed up from behind, almost pleading, “Today is my birthday, you promised to stay with me… I’m scared, please don’t leave…”
On any other day, her frail and helpless appearance might have softened his heart.
But at this moment, Terrence only felt it was fake.
“Let go!”
He shook her off forcefully and dashed outside.
Behind him, Roderick’s face turned deathly pale after hearing Randolph’s words.
Pacific Coast Highway.
“Mr. Mendez, we’ve assembled the best search and rescue team, but the conditions in this sea area are complicated, with many undercurrents, and it’s low tide. I’m afraid the golden rescue window…”
The person in charge on site reported with a grave expression.
“I don’t care!”
Terrence interrupted him, his eyes bloodshot. “Use the best equipment, dispatch helicopters, drones, divers in three shifts. Find her for me — alive or…”
The word “dead” rolled on his tongue, burning so much that he couldn’t say it.
He clenched his fists suddenly, his nails digging deep into his palms. “You must find her.”
A huge amount of money was spent like running water, and the most advanced search and rescue equipment and personnel were quickly put in place.
Terrence stood at the edge of the cliff, letting the sea wind lash his body, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the surface of the sea.
Every time he closed his eyes, Gretchen’s lifeless eyes at the end would appear vividly before him.
He could even hear her silent accusation by his ear, full of blood and tears: “Terrence, why didn’t you save me?”
No, it wasn’t that he didn’t save her…
He had personally pushed her to the brink.
He had tacitly allowed it all to happen.
This realization was like a venomous snake, biting into his heart, making it so painful he could barely breathe.
Ignoring the filth on the ground, he grabbed the computer and pulled up all the surveillance footage available from the road.
Frame by frame, he missed nothing.
Suddenly, his finger froze.
About fifteen minutes before the accident, a black luxury car was caught on a remote side road surveillance camera, slowly driving in and then quickly leaving.
The car model was rare, but what truly shocked Terrence was the vehicle’s unique design and wheels.
He remembered!
It was the custom car of a mining tycoon from South America, the only one of its kind in the world.
He had seen information about it at a top private exhibition for the ultra-wealthy.
How could such a car possibly appear here for no reason, and right before Gretchen’s accident?
A coincidence?
Absolutely impossible!
His voice was agitated: “Investigate, check this car immediately. Where did it come from, where did it go, who was in it. I want every record, not a single one missing.”
At the same time, he ordered hoarsely, “The driver who went into the sea — his background, his family’s accounts, all his recent communications and movements, dig up everything.”
The investigation proceeded at a rapid pace.
On the surface, the driver’s report appeared flawless.
It seemed as if the accident was caused by fatigue driving.
But the “cleaner” it looked, the heavier the suspicion weighed on Terrence’s mind.
Just then, his assistant sent an encrypted message with several hospital surveillance photos: “Mr. Mendez, as you instructed, we’ve tracked down the couple. They’re in the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, seriously injured but not in life-threatening condition. Strangely, they seem to be waiting for someone. Here are the front-facing photos.”
Terrence opened the images and zoomed in. Their facial features…
Terrence’s pupils contracted.
The woman’s features actually bore a striking resemblance to Gretchen — about sixty or seventy percent similar.
The assistant’s message popped up again: “Also, it seems they came here on purpose, saying they’re here to take their daughter home.”
Take their daughter home…
Could they be Gretchen’s biological parents?
But wasn’t Gretchen an orphan?
How could she possibly be the daughter of the richest family?