Chapter 2
Before going to sleep, Natalya opened her big eyes and asked him, “Bradyn, can I sleep with you, just like when we were little? I’m a little scared…”
Bradyn originally wanted to refuse, but when he touched her innocent and timid eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to say no.
I knew that he cared about her past experiences and also cherished their childhood friendship.
“Um.”
They slept fully clothed, lying on the not–so–large hospital bed.
The night was dimly lit, and Natalya casually mentioned to me, “Bradyn, is Annabella still mad at you?”
Mentioning her, Bradyn furrowed his brows tightly and said, “Don’t bring her up to me. Whether
she comes back or not, it has nothing to do with me.”
At that time, Bradyn couldn’t have imagined that his words would come true, but indeed, I had died
outside.
Natalya twisted her ankle and died on the evening when he took her to the hospital.
At the brink of death, I mustered all my strength to make a phone call to him, “Bradyn, save me… I
am in danger…”
I was full of hope, but I heard a cold laugh on the other end of the phone, “You are so lucky and naturally brave, what danger could there be? Natalya had a sprained ankle. I am at the hospital with her. Annabella, stop making a fuss, hmm?”
“I’m serious… I was really hurt. Bradyn, I felt like I was going to die the next second…‘
”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Just as a glimmer of hope was starting to
ignite within me, the man’s words extinguished it completely, “Is there anything else you want to say? If not, I have to help her into the hospital room.”
He had never believed my words from the beginning to the end.
“None left.”
After being murdered that night, I exerted my strength twice in total. The first time, I used all my strength to make a desperate call for help. The second time, with only a little strength left, I hung
up the phone.
Bradyn, goodbye, never to be seen again.
In the darkness, a cunning and triumphant gleam flashed in Natalya’s eyes, but unfortunately,
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Bradyn didn’t notice.
However, I was extremely familiar with her expression.
When she had this expression in her youth, it meant that I would be criticized and blamed by my
father.
“Anna, Natalya has just arrived at our house. You must learn to get along with her peacefully. It is not right to bully her.”
“Anna, did Dad teach you that? How could you put the thumbtack in Natalya’s shoe?”
Afterward, being with Bradyn meant constant arguments and conflicts between him and me.
‘Annabella, I always treated her as a sister, why did you have to go and upset her!”
“Annabella, why are you so cruel? Are you going to throw away the lunchbox Natalya brought me?”
And now, she had the upper hand, as I indirectly died at her hands.
I will never forget that night three days ago.
“You have always been kind to me and understand my importance in Bradyn’s heart. I’m sure you don’t want our relationship to break because of me, right? Besides, you are a forensic expert and half a police officer, so it’s better for you to handle this criminal and bring him to justice!”
It was only before I closed my eyes that I learned everything. In the dim light of the night, Natalya and the thug who was dragging me shook hands, and she took the cigarette from his hand and
started smoking it herself.
“You did a good job on this matter, and the money will be transferred to your account in a few
days.”
“What’s the use of being polite.”
On the fourth day after my death, Darnell Curry, the chief of the medical examiner’s office,
approached Bradyn. “Bradyn, theoretically, this case shouldn’t trouble you, but Annabella went out
to clear her mind. The team couldn’t find anyone with equal abilities to replace her, so I thought of
coming to you.”
Darnell was forty years old, and he was the professor who led us back then.
Upon hearing this, a sarcastic smirk crossed Bradyn’s eyes as he coldly retorted, “She is truly selfish and self–centered. With such a big incident happening in the team, she actually has the audacity to go out and relax.”
Just four days ago, “I” posted a picture of a beach vacation on the Timeline.
Even today, when the team urgently reported the case of missing bones in a nearby area, as the
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team leader, I remained silent about it.
Darnell, unlike Bradyn, instead explained to me, “Maybe it’s because she had an argument with you, she’s in a bad mood. Annabella is so dedicated, when has she ever missed a case? If she’s not coming now, it’s probably because she didn’t see it.”
Bradyn didn’t respond, he just rubbed his throbbing temples and said, “Alright, let’s get down to
business.”
Three days ago, the police discovered a large number of bloodstains and severe drag marks on the outskirts of the new district. The vehicle involved in the accident has now been impounded. After a thorough investigation and search, the victim’s body could not be found. According to the analysis of the scene, the victim is believed to be a young woman between the ages of twenty and twenty–five, with a height between 1.65 meters and 1.68 meters, and a well–proportioned figure.
“She may have had a habit of regular exercise, as she had the strength to stand up after being dragged for several hundred meters.”
The current problem is that the corpse of the deceased has disappeared without a trace, and the whereabouts of the murderer are also unknown.
“Okay, I will follow up on this case.”
After finishing their conversation, Bradyn made a move to leave but was stopped by Darnell from behind. “Bradyn, I understand that there is her incarcerated father and Natalya standing between you two. However, any healthy and progressive relationship requires mutual effort and maintenance. It has always been her one–sided effort and sacrifice between you two. Over time, she will get tired. If you don’t want to lose her, you must humble yourself.”
“Don’t want to lose her?” Bradyn mused over these words. “No, if it wasn’t for her persistence, we would have never started in the first place.”
