Chapter 4

It was Sam’s phone, but a woman had answered it!

Judging by her voice, she was around thirty.

I was stunned, and anger surged within me. But what she said next made me realize that it was not the right time to snap.

She snarled impatiently. “Whoever you are, you stupid witch, you’re really pissing me off. Damn you for ruining my night!”

She hung up after that, and I shot to my feet.

That voice sounded too familiar, especially the way she said the words, “Stupid witch!”

It was the same woman from the call, one of Aurora’s killers.

My husband was with the murderer!

Were Sam and the murderer working together?

No. That could not be. Before I even got pregnant, he would always say how much he wanted a daughter.

He joked that sons could be such handfuls. At a certain age, they might even become so mischievous that it drove everyone crazy.

A daughter was different. She would be his sweet and gentle little princess.

‘Oh, no! Sam must be in danger!’

The thought chilled me to the bone.

I called Jared right away and told him what happened as I hurried to change clothes.

“Please, you have to pull all the strings you can and find Sam as soon as possible. He’ll die if we wait any longer.”

I knew the rule that no missing person could be reported until after 24 hours.

Plus, Sam’s phone had been answered, though it had not been him on the line.

Everything had to be done according to procedure. I had no intention of putting Jared in a difficult position either. But I had lost Aurora, and I could not lose Sam too.

“Calm down, Claire. Listen to me. I heard every word, and I promise you that I won’t let anything happen to Sam. Just stay home and wait for my call.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

I had to believe him. Jared had never lied to me, not even when we were kids.

I paced back and forth across the living room with my phone gripped tightly in my hand.

Every few seconds, I would check the screen. Whether it was a call across time from Aurora or a call from Jared, I could not afford to miss either one.

I knew I was a wreck since I was panicking and unstable, but I could not help it.

Five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty…

It became the length of a battle in an online game, two episodes of an anime, and five songs on repeat.

Twenty minutes were so short, yet it felt like an eternity.

Eventually, the phone in my hand lit up.

It was Jared!

“Claire, Sam’s alive.”

“Thank goodness. I’m so glad he’s okay.”

My tension eased, and I could breathe again.

“But…”

That word hit me like a gut punch, and my breath caught.

A terrible image flashed in my mind.

Sam was alive, but that woman had tortured him terribly.

Like Aurora, he had been bludgeoned. His body was bloodied beyond recognition, and he was on the verge of life and death.

The words that came next suffocated me further.

“Sam’s having an affair.”

However, I sighed in relief a moment later. It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he had just said.

Should I be thankful or furious?

I snorted and asked Jared where he was.

When the call ended, I slapped myself hard across the face twice.

I forced myself to stay calm.

Since Jared claimed that Sam was cheating, he must have caught him in the act.

It had not even been thirty minutes since that woman answered Sam’s phone.

That could only mean one thing: Sam was indeed having an affair with her, the woman who had murdered Aurora!

At this moment, I finally understood why Aurora could reach me across time.

There was injustice and a terrible, cosmic wrong.

Even if I could not save her, I would avenge her!

I would not let that witch and that cheater get away with this!