Chapter 13
[Isaiah, it’s Emery. I’ve been thinking about something for a long time, and I gotta tell you. Please call me back.1
Isaiah pulled over and stared at the message for a while, a strong premonition building in his chest
This had to be about Genesis.
He quickly dialed back, but the phone was turned off
punched the steering wheel in frustration, his eyes reddening as he
Unwilling to give up, he tried several more times–same result. Isaiah pun struggled to breathe
When he tried again, the number was completely disconnected.
His last shred of hope vanished. He hurled his phone toward the passenger seat, but just then it rang
Isaiah answered without thinking. Mrs. Emery’s familiar voice came through, tearful
“Isaiah, I’m so sorry… if I’d just waited for you to come back that day instead of leaving, Genesis wouldn’t have.
She kept crying and apologizing.
Isaiah caught something off in her words and hesitantly asked: “What do you mean?”
Mrs. Emery had watched Isaiah grow up. Hearing the pain in his voice, she threw caution to the wind and told him everything]
“When the fire started, I called you right away, I needed you to come save Genesis–I didn’t have keys.”
“But Sadie picked up your phone. I told her to get you back there, and she swore she would. Said she’d send you home right away and kept telling me to get out before I got hurt. So I left didn’t stick around to wait for you.
“Few days later, some guys showed up at my place. Threw a bunch of cash at us and said our whole family had to disappear. Cancel our phone numbers and everything of we’d end up in prison. I got scared and took everyone away…”
“I saw the news these past couple days and finally figured it out… Genesis is really gone, isn’t she? It’s all my fault–I should’ve waited for you!”
“It’s been eating at me… I felt like I had to tell you so Genesis could rest in peace. She was such a good girl.”
Mrs. Emery was still confessing on the other end when veins began bulging in Isaiah’s neck
He knew it! How could no one have told him!]
Suddenly everything clicked into place.
Why he hadn’t gotten any calls, why he knew nothing about the villa fo
It was all because of Sadie!]]
She’d intercepted the message!]
She didn’t want him to come home–it wasn’t about some wedding night, it was to destroy the evidencel
Those surveillance videos that had put his mind at ease were probably fake too![]
He quickly pulled up the saved footage and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he spotted the flaws.
All At generated, and he hadn’t even notk
Rage exploded through him, hurning his eyes red
If he’d been the one to get that call, Genesis would still be alive!]]
After Mrs. Emery finished, he immediately arranged a safe place for her, guaranteeing she wouldn’t face retaliation.]]
He hung up and turned his car toward Sadie’s place. But just as he reached her building, his phone rang again.
“Isaiah, I dug up something you need to see. It’s about Genesis.“||
Isaiah had just unbuckled his seatbelt, but after hearing this, he buckled it again. A faint hope flickered in his heart.
He’d thought it might be Genesis’s trail, maybe some of her belongings, or even–God help him–that she was still alive…]
But he never imagined what his friend had uncovered: []
Hard proof that Sadie had been tearing Genesis apart all along!
