William then reminded Victoria, "We already have a contingency plan, don't we?"
Unable to argue, Victoria had no choice but to accept the situation.
The only thing she could do was pray that Elise was dead and that William would only find a cold, lifeless body when he arrived.
That thought brought Victoria a small measure of calm.
William drove away from the building immediately after exiting, repeatedly calling Elise, but she never answered.
He began speeding toward the airport when he heard a violent crash along the road—he instantly tossed his phone aside and rushed toward the sound, spotting Patrick's car being pursued by several other vehicles in the distance.
He slammed the accelerator, giving chase, but despite pushing his car to its maximum speed, he couldn't close the gap and had to follow Patrick's car along the winding mountain road.
Then, he heard another deafening impact that seemed to echo across the horizon.
With three cars ahead, he couldn't see what was happening further up the road.
His hands trembled as he gripped the steering wheel, and soon he heard an even more violent collision.
He floored the gas pedal again, but arrived just in time to see Patrick's car lurch through the guardrail and tumble down the steep slope.
No! From that height…
William's face turned ashen. He slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt in the middle of the road before leaping out and vaulting over the guardrail.
He lost his footing, caught off balance, and began rolling uncontrollably down the slope.
The three cars ahead promptly sped away after witnessing Patrick's car crash down the embankment, and everything beneath the dark sky fell into an eerie silence.
No sounds of vehicles remained, no cries, no further collisions.
Meanwhile, William tumbled down the slope for what felt like an eternity before slamming hard into a large boulder, which finally halted his descent.
He didn't waste a moment, pushing himself up from the ground, but as he did, his vision swam with darkness. His legs wobbled uncontrollably, and he dropped to one knee.
Even so, he forced himself upright again as quickly as possible, using that brief moment to let his body recover.
Once steadied, he rushed toward the wreckage of the black Rolls-Royce, stumbling countless times on the treacherous, uneven slope.
Finally, he reached the crash site, the car now a mangled heap of metal.
Not daring to delay, he rushed forward, desperate to find the occupants.
But the night was too dark, the car even darker, making it impossible to see inside.
Frustrated, he pulled out his phone and activated the flashlight.
Somehow, he hesitated to shine it into the car's interior.
He was terrified of seeing a pool of blood.
His eyes burned with unshed tears, but he finally raised his phone, illuminating the car's wrecked interior, immediately spotting Patrick and Elise.
The car's frame was severely crushed, nearly squeezing them, but the airbags had deployed, almost completely covering them.
Still, there was no way to tell if they were okay behind those inflated bags…
"Elise," William called out to her tentatively, his voice barely above a whisper, as if afraid to startle her if he spoke too loudly.
Yet, God knew how desperately he wanted Elise to open her eyes and answer him, even if she glared at him with pure loathing.
"Elise…" he called again, over and over.
'Please.'
'Answer me.'