All Chapters of The Countdown to Goodbye: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Fiona's POVAs soon as Sebastian Robertson finished speaking, my mother, Daphne Vanderbilt, snapped angrily from beside me. "What are you waiting for? Do you think the bomb is going to wait for you?"Sebastian was annoyed. "Daphne, Fiona is a businesswoman, but you're the head of the forensic team. Don't you understand? The kidnappers want me. The bomb won't go off until I get there. So it doesn't matter when I go."Several police officers heard him too.They wanted to say something, but before they could, Nancy started crying again. "Mr. Robertson, we've already confirmed that the bomb is real..."Then she suddenly gasped. "Sebastian, someone's outside! Did the thief come back?"The call suddenly ended.The police officers stared at each other in disbelief before turning their eyes back to the tablet.On the live video sent by the kidnappers, Fraser was crying so hard that he could barely speak. "Mom, Dad, why aren't you coming to save me?"The moment I heard his voice, pain tore thro

Chapter 2

I forced myself to stand straight before opening an address on my phone.A few months ago, Fraser and I both came down with high fevers during a terrible storm.Sebastian's car happened to be at the shop for maintenance, so I asked him to drive us to the hospital in my car.He simply rolled over in bed and said, "The rain is too heavy. It's not safe to drive."With no other choice, I drove us myself.But just as I was leaving our neighborhood, Sebastian suddenly came running over and told us to get out of the car. "There's thunder. Nancy gets scared during storms, so I need to stay with her."I held Fraser in one arm and a shaking umbrella in the other. My voice was already hoarse when I asked him, "So are we supposed to just stay here and wait?"Sebastian had only half-closed the car door when he looked at Fraser, who was already delirious from his fever, and at my bright red face.For a moment, he seemed to feel sorry for us.But his phone rang the next second.When he saw Nancy's n

Chapter 3

"Fiona, don't panic. The experienced officer is already in our neighborhood. He'll be here soon!"His voice softened as he tried to calm me down, "Did you hear me? Nancy is so scared that she can't even eat, yet she's still trying to speak up for you. Fiona, trust me. Fraser will be fine. Joseph said he wanted to see me. That means he either wants me to change someone's autopsy report or he wants our family's money. Fraser is his bargaining chip. He'd never be stupid enough to kill him before I show up."I looked at Fraser's exhausted face on the screen.Then I said quietly, "Sebastian, Joseph has already killed ten people. He's capable of anything."Sebastian fell silent for a moment.I thought he had finally understood. Then I heard a doorbell ring through the phone.He said, "Fiona, the officer is here. Just wait a little longer.""I'm not the one who's waiting. Our son is waiting..." Before I could finish, he hung up.Only five minutes remained before the bomb would explode.Walter

Chapter 4

Sebastian fell silent.The only sound coming through the speakerphone was his restrained breathing.Nancy whispered something beside him.After listening to her, he took a deep breath and said, "Dad, there's only a little bit left to finish with the police report. I'll head over as soon as we're done. You've all been waiting this long, so just wait a little longer."I stared at the red numbers on the countdown.Three minutes remained.Walter was so furious that he threw the phone to the ground. The screen shattered into pieces.Daphne ordered the SWAT team to prepare for a forced entry while helping Helen, who was close to passing out.But we all knew what would happen if they stormed the building. The bomb would explode immediately.I took a deep breath and pressed the communicator. "Joseph, let's talk. I'm Sebastian's wife. Whatever you want to know about Sebastian, I might know the answer."After two seconds, Joseph finally replied, "I'll only allow you to enter the first-floor lobb

Chapter 5

Sebastian had barely pushed open the car door and taken a few steps when his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees.Nancy rushed over to help him, but he quickly forced himself back up and kept running.By then, the entire street had been sealed off with police tape. Fire trucks were arriving one after another.When Sebastian reached the area near the explosion, he saw several powerful streams of water hitting the walls, but they couldn't put out the flames.It had really exploded.Sebastian coughed several times after breathing in the thick smoke. He looked around again and again, but he couldn't find Fiona anywhere.Nancy came running over, gasping for breath. She grabbed his sleeve and cried softly. "Sebastian, this place is terrifying. I think I breathed in too much smoke. I need to go to the hospital..."Sebastian was anxiously searching the crowd for Fiona.He barely looked at Nancy as he said, "Then go to the hospital and get checked out. Be careful on the way."Nancy started

Chapter 6

"You're still making excuses! We told you from the beginning that the kidnapper would kill Fraser if you didn't show up! Did you listen? You never cared about Fraser's life!"Sebastian suddenly seemed to wake up.He grabbed Helen's hand. "Mom... It really exploded. Fraser... Where's Fiona? I need to see her. Why didn't she tell me the bomb would really explode? If she had just told me sooner..."Helen violently pulled her hand away.Then she looked at him as if he were her enemy. "Fiona told you over and over again! But you never listened! If you had listened to Fiona and gone to meet the kidnappers, the bomb wouldn't have exploded! All you ever thought about was Nancy. You bought her a house. You saved money for her. You even chose her over Fraser. How could you be so cruel?"Sebastian shook his head in disbelief. "No. That's impossible. Joseph said he wanted to see me. If I didn't show up, why would he really detonate the bomb?""He already killed ten people! Why would he care about

Chapter 7

Once they reached the outside, the firefighters roughly threw Sebastian onto the ground before rushing back inside to keep fighting the fire.Sebastian collapsed onto the concrete. His cheek pressed against the ground, which felt scorching hot.But all he could think about was the last time he had seen Fiona. She had been holding Fraser's hand and talking about taking him somewhere cooler up north during the summer.Fraser had happily asked if Sebastian would go with them.Fiona had gently stroked Fraser's hair and smiled. "Dad is very busy, so he won't be coming with us."At the time, Sebastian had thought Fiona was being understanding.He really was busy.Nancy had gotten her job at the medical examiner's office through him. She still wasn't familiar with the procedures, so he had to keep an eye on her and clean up after her mistakes.She was timid and cried whenever she ran into trouble, so he felt he needed to take care of her even more.Besides, Fiona was at home. So he had always

Chapter 8

Joseph looked unkempt, with a messy beard covering half his face. "Dr. Robertson, I finally get to meet you."Daphne immediately reached over and muted the microphone.She quickly wiped the tears from her face and spoke seriously. "The live video earlier was fake. This is the real one. Joseph never had Fraser on the top floor of that building. He's somewhere else. Sebastian, keep him talking. I'll work on finding their location."Sebastian stared at Fraser's crying face and Joseph's face on the screen in disbelief.Fraser and Joseph weren't here. But the explosion had really happened.He unmuted the microphone and shouted. "You bastard! My wife just ran inside to save our son!"Joseph sneered. "I saw her. So what if she died? Why are you so upset? My wife died too."Sebastian felt completely hopeless.Walter and Helen rushed over after hearing the news.The moment they saw that Fraser was still alive, they were filled with relief.Then Helen slowly realized what had happened.Her face

Chapter 9

"How did Evonne die?" Joseph's voice was calm. The coldness from before was gone.He stared coldly at Sebastian on the screen.Sebastian also remembered that autopsy report.His face grew paler and paler. He wanted to say something, but no words came out.Helen shoved him several times. "Say something! Once you tell the truth, Fraser can come home!"Walter cursed angrily. "What are you waiting for? All he wants is the truth! Is Fraser's life really worth less than one honest answer? There are only five minutes left! You already wasted time last time. Thank God Fraser and Fiona were both okay. Are you going to stall again and get them killed this time?"Sebastian lowered his head and took a few shaky breaths. Then he suddenly looked up and glanced around. "Where did Nancy go?"Walter answered furiously, "Nancy ran away a long time ago. Why are you still looking for her?"Joseph reminded Sebastian, "Dr. Robertson, you have three and a half minutes left."Those words made Sebastian look

Chapter 10

After hearing that, I nodded and asked someone to close the curtains. "Please have the divorce papers drafted. I don't want Fraser to have a father who is a criminal.""Of course, Mrs. Robertson," my assistant replied.By the time Sebastian and I officially divorced, the investigation was almost complete. All the people involved had been arrested.Nancy was sentenced to five years in prison for taking money from the criminals and deliberately destroying evidence.Sebastian had been afraid she would be punished, so he tried to cover for her. In the end, he was sentenced to seven years in prison instead.Sebastian and I never spoke again.He tried several times to contact me through other people and asked to see me, but I only told them to say that I was busy.He used to be busy. Now it was my turn. Fair enough.After a year of therapy, Fraser finally stopped having nightmares.We also threw him a big birthday party and gave him lots of presents.Walter and Helen cut Sebastian out of th

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