Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 69: Turning Point Countdown 4: Go to Hell
Natalie remembers the last time she went out alone with Cynthia Kendall, it was when she was a child. Cynthia said she was taking her to buy candy, but instead she took off the hearing aid from Natalie’s ear and shoved her, still so little, toward the rushing traffic.
She stood in the middle of the road, terrified and anxious, staring at Cynthia on the curb, not understanding what she had done wrong.
She opened her mouth to call out "Mom."
But without her hearing aid, she didn’t know if she had actually managed to make any sound.
*
It takes an hour and a half to drive from The Beckett family to the airport.
At a fork in the road, Cynthia steered the car onto a different route, heading in the opposite direction of the airport.
The car went further and further off course, with barely any other vehicles and no one in sight.
Natalie frowned and turned to look at Cynthia Kendall.
She saw Cynthia staring straight ahead, her profile cold to the extreme.
"Mom, where are we going? If we’re late, we’ll miss the flight."
"You think going abroad will solve everything?"
Cynthia suddenly asked her.
Natalie was slightly stunned.
"The filthy thing you’ve done, do you think hiding overseas means it’s over? Matthew Beckett and Julian Beckett obviously know exactly how to solve this mess, but they’re not doing it. It doesn’t matter, if they won’t do it, I’ll do it."
"Mom?"
"Don’t call me that!"
Cynthia suddenly exploded in anger, growling low.
She turned and glared at Natalie, her eyes shooting out a fierce and bitter hatred, "I’m not your mother! You bastard! How could you ever deserve to be my daughter?"
"My daughter... she’s dead... it was you—you, this bastard, you killed her!"
"You killed her... it was you, it was you who killed her..."
Natalie knew Cynthia was having another psychotic episode.
"Mom, please calm down, let’s just pull over, okay?"
But in the face of Natalie’s plea, Cynthia just sneered, "No, I am perfectly calm."
"The Beckett family’s reputation is completely ruined by you. Do you know what you ought to do?"
"You should just die. Only if you’re dead, only if you disappear, will this thing truly be resolved."
"So die."
As Cynthia finished speaking, she slammed her foot all the way down on the accelerator.
A terrifying surge pressed against the chest—a sensation that made the heart numb. In that moment, Natalie felt herself suffocating.
——
Matthew Beckett came home and saw his son there, surprised, asked, "Didn’t you take Nat to the airport?"
"Mom said she’d take her instead." Julian toyed with his phone in his hands.
After a moment of hesitation, still uneasy, he called Natalie’s phone.
But no one answered.
Suddenly he stood up and headed out.
Matthew was stunned and asked where he was going.
Julian: "The airport."
As he said it, he strode to the door, just as Cynthia Kendall came in from outside.
"Mom?"
Cynthia glanced at him and walked inside.
Julian hurried after her. "Mom, did you get Nat to the airport?"
Cynthia went over to the coffee table, poured a glass of water, and gulped it down in one go.
Julian saw that her face looked off, and his unease doubled. He asked again, "Mom, Nat got to the airport safely, right?"
He finished asking, didn’t wait for Cynthia to answer, and dialed Natalie’s phone again.
Still no answer.
Cynthia turned to look at him, then at the phone in his hand, her voice flat: "Don’t bother calling."
Julian put down his phone in shock. "Mom, what do you mean?"
Matthew Beckett sensed something was wrong too, and asked Cynthia, "What’s going on? Did you send Nat to the airport or not?"
Cynthia stared at the two of them and suddenly burst out laughing.
When she finished, madness and excitement flashed in her eyes.
She looked at Julian. "Don’t bother calling means she can’t answer."
Then she turned to Matthew Beckett and said in a completely cold voice, "I didn’t take her to the airport. I took her to die."
"What?" Matthew was shocked, unable to believe what he’d just heard.
And Julian went cold all over, as if someone’s hand had gripped his heart.
——
"When you get inside, you better behave yourself!"
"Remember! If it weren’t for you, The Vance family wouldn’t have sunk to this. Your mother and I wouldn’t be crawling back home like this!"
Jessica Vance was shoved by Mr. Vance into the private room, pushed into the arms of a greasy, fat man.
The greasy man slid his arm around Jessica’s waist and smiled at Mr. Vance, "Father-in-law, I think it’s time we talk about the wedding."
"Alright, whatever you say."
The man’s hand slid downward from Jessica’s waist, groping her ass, "I like kids. When we get married, you’ll stay home and keep giving me babies. Six, seven, eight—no problem. I can afford it."
Mr. Vance chimed in, "Yes, yes, the more kids, the merrier. Jessica likes children too."
Jessica’s face was a bleak gray; her eyes were void of light.
Later, while the fat man and Mr. Vance drank together, bored, she tapped her phone, then suddenly a local news alert caught her eye.
She clicked it open: At around two o’clock this afternoon, a severe accident occurred in the outskirts.
Someone was critically injured and is now missing.
The identity has been confirmed.
That person is Natalie!
Jessica stared hard at the phone, checked multiple times, then burst out laughing.
"Jessica, what’s wrong with you! Are you crazy?"
Mr. Vance came over to scold her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Jessica laughed and couldn’t stop, laughing until tears streamed down her face.
She’d lost everything.
But Natalie wasn’t any better off.
Critically injured and missing?
Hopefully Natalie is dead.
Let her be dead!
——
Ethan Vaughn and Nancy Huxley were just coming out of the clubhouse when Scott Quinn and Aaron Alden blocked their way.
"Ethan." Scott rubbed his hands, stubbly chin, bloodshot eyes—he was pitiful as he said, "Can we have a word?"
"Y-yeah," Aaron echoed.
His state wasn’t much better than Scott’s.
Ethan told Nancy to get in the car first, then lit a cigarette, "What do you want to say?"
"Ethan, we offended The Vaughn Residence for you. You can’t just leave us hanging."
The Quinn and Alden family businesses were a mess, teetering on the edge of collapse.
"Oh, that? Ethan exhaled smoke rings, helpless expression: "That was grandpa’s order. My hands are tied."
When Scott and Aaron heard that, they stared wide-eyed, completely incredulous.
They never imagined Ethan would burn the bridge, kick them to the curb.
Used them up, squeezed them dry, now he was sending them to their doom.
And to Ethan, they were nothing but expendable pawns.
If you’re a pawn, being abandoned is the only outcome.
Ethan stubbed out his cigarette, ignoring Scott and Aaron’s ashen faces, and leaned on his cane, heading for the car.
Suddenly his phone rang.
He answered, and whatever was said on the other end made a wicked smile instantly appear on his face.
After hanging up, Ethan called The Vaughn Residence.
Because Isaac Vaughn had been sent to the Rhovan branch by Philip Vaughn, and Philip was worried he would refuse, so he’d put him under house arrest.
No going out, phone confiscated.
Just waiting for the time to box him straight onto the plane.
So he probably didn’t know the news yet.
Ethan was desperately curious to see how Isaac would react when he found out.
Soon, the call was transferred by a servant to Isaac Vaughn.
"If you’ve got something to say, spit it out." Isaac’s voice was cold and deep.
Ethan’s smile grew even wider, but his voice was full of feigned sympathy: "Isaac, what are we gonna do? I just heard the news—looks like something’s happened to Natalie."
