CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: THE URGE TO DIE HAS NEVER BEEN SO STRONG

Wayne Paxton sat in his office, wearing an impeccably pressed suit, calmly looking at the police officers.

"Then I must have remembered wrong. I had dinner with President Grant last night, drank a couple too many, and got confused."

Summer Shaw didn’t believe a word he said.

"The surveillance footage is crystal clear. It was you who carried her into the car. Stop using being drunk as an excuse. Hand her over!"

Wayne frowned, "I have a dashcam. Though it doesn’t capture the inside of the car, it records audio. Why don’t we let the police listen to it and see what the truth is?"

Caleb Shaw was observing Wayne’s expression with quiet skepticism.

The dashcam ultimately showed that just before the car reached South Kenton Bridge, Juliana Jacobs’ voice could be heard asking to stop, saying she wanted to take a walk by the river. Then there was the sound of the car door closing, along with Wayne’s voice trying to dissuade her.

"So," Wayne smiled, "Miss Jacobs got out of the car on her own. Doesn’t that clear me of suspicion?"

The police thought for a moment and then said he should cooperate if there were any further developments before leaving.

Caleb then asked, "Did Director Paxton remember the wrong location where you and Juliana parted ways because you drank last night?"

Wayne’s sharp gaze shot towards him, "The Shaw Family has a lot of clout, meddling in every affair?"

Caleb chuckled, "Reporting a drunk driver is the civic duty of any responsible citizen."

...

Summer was so angry she almost bit her lip.

"Juliana is definitely in his hands. He’s not telling the truth."

Caleb remained composed, "In his position, drunk driving would get him suspended. We’ll keep a close eye on him to see where he’s hiding her."

"But can Juliana wait? What if he’s a psycho and does something to her..."

The rest was something Summer dared not imagine.

Caleb paused, deciding that Evan should be informed.

So he found his number and dialed it.

"Hello..."

To his surprise, it was Stella Windsor who answered the phone.

Caleb was taken aback; Evan was known never to part with his phone, unless...

"Wh... why is it you?"

"My brother took the wrong phone. Does Dr. Shaw need to speak with him? I can pass a message."

Caleb didn’t respond, simply hanging up.

...

Wayne returned to the villa at Southwood Estate.

He went down to the basement where a doctor had just finished another round of electroshock and was preparing to clock out.

Juliana was slumped in a corner, like a broken puppet.

"Did you get it?" Wayne asked.

The female doctor shook her head, "Not ideal."

Wayne lost patience, "Useless garbage shouldn’t exist."

The female doctor was shutting down her computer, her hand trembled slightly.

"Increasing the current might work, but there’s a risk. If it fails, she’ll be completely ruined."

"If she’s ruined, bury her in the garden!" Wayne said.

The female doctor took off her lab coat, "Alright, but you’ll have to wait 12 hours."

Wayne frowned, "Why wait so long?"

"This is her last chance. If it doesn’t work, you’ll need to find Donor Number 38, so the success rate needs to be higher."

The female doctor spoke as if discussing bland soybean milk from breakfast.

Wayne waved her off, signaling her to leave.

"Someone might be watching outside, be cautious when leaving."

Finishing his sentence, he walked over to Juliana, half-kneeling and grabbing her hair to lift her head.

Juliana’s eyes were dull, her lips dribbled with bloody saliva, her skin an unnatural shade of greyish-blue.

Wayne shook his head, "I feel so sorry for you. Why not cooperate with me? Call your friends and tell them you’re traveling for half a month, and I’ll treat you gently?"

Juliana spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm at him.

"I will never fulfill any of your wishes, unless you kill me."

The pain from the electroshocks made her wish for death, and whenever she was about to pass out, they injected her with drugs, forcing her to stay conscious.

The torment, every four hours, had pushed her to her limits; never had the thought of death been so appealing.

Wayne chuckled, "You’re unwanted by President Grant, no use being stubborn now. Cooperate with me, and maybe once the cells are extracted, I might consider keeping you around for your pretty face."

It turned out he had always known about her relationship with Evan.

Juliana stared at him in shock.

Wayne raised an eyebrow, "What? Your husband stands by that woman publicly, makes you serve tea, even implies to me that you’re just discarded goods. Are you still counting on him to save you?"

Juliana gritted her teeth and smiled, "Go find Number 38. You’ll get nothing from me."

Wayne, seeing her stubbornness, slammed her head against the tiles and walked away.

Juliana slowly lifted her head, her dimmed eyes suddenly blazing with a strong will to survive.

The villains live, why should she die first!

Twelve hours was her window for escape.

She struggled to sit up, surveying the room.

There were cameras, but she didn’t think Wayne would sit watching them constantly.

The female doctor’s computer was still there, but it probably wasn’t connected to the internet.

The room had only one door for entry and exit.

So Wayne didn’t handcuff or shackle her because he wasn’t worried about her calling for help or escaping.

But eventually, her strength gave out, and she collapsed again.

After rounds of electric shocks, she couldn’t even muster the strength to crawl. It was a dead-end, no escape scenario.

...

Meanwhile, Summer was losing her patience.

"Why don’t we just grab Wayne and interrogate him?"

Caleb was changing his clothes, "Who do you think you are? A mob boss? Or Evan Grant?"

Summer, "..."

"The place he lives has been checked, nothing unusual. You have no idea about Wayne’s background. Aren’t you concerned about our parents’ later years?"

Summer was deeply troubled, "But Juliana is in danger."

Having seen much life and death, Caleb was more rational.

"Juliana’s foster family can’t speak for her, and her husband’s family isn’t involved. What can you, an outsider, do? Ideally, you can help, but if you can’t..."

He paused for a few seconds.

Summer balled her hands into fists, glaring at him.

"...then find someone who can help."

That was at least something human to say.

"I’m off to a night shift. Keep an eye out. If Juliana sends you anything, either report it to the police or tell me to find a way, but don’t act alone."

With that, Caleb left.

Waiting for her to send a message?

If trapped, she couldn’t use a phone, but she could still connect Aetherflame’s server using a cipher key to contact herself!

Summer immediately went to the company.

...

Juliana, half-unconscious, had a brief sleep, feeling slightly less weak.

Unaware of the time, disregarding whether someone was monitoring the security cameras, she crawled to the laptop.

The laptop had no internet, and there was no network to be found here.

She picked up the nearby power adapter, smashing it, and used its parts to assemble a makeshift signal transmitter...

Juliana’s fingers trembled over the keyboard.

It was five-thirty in the morning; she didn’t know if anyone was at the Aetherflame computer.

Just then, the sound of high heels on the marble stairs outside startled Juliana, not daring to wait to see if anyone was there, she smashed the laptop as well.

Meanwhile, Summer received an address and was about to respond when the line went dead.

She jumped up from her chair in shock.

Deciding between calling the police or contacting Caleb, she ultimately chose to pull out a simple business card from her bag and dialed the secretary’s number in Kingsford...

At six in the morning, in the penthouse suite of The Apex Hotel.

The secretary hadn’t even had time to wash his face, merely tidied his hair before knocking on his boss’s door.

The man seemed to be working out, with a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"That Miss Shaw called me just now, asking for a little favor."

The man pressed his lips, indicating for him to continue.

"It’s actually a small matter that the police can’t handle. Though we’ve conducted two DNA tests, and Miss Shaw isn’t who we’re looking for, so... should we wade into these murky waters of Kenton?"