The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 573

But his eyes didn't open.

Lance yanked out his phone, his hands trembling violently. The screen was smeared with his own blood. He aggressively wiped it against his jacket and dialed the emergency line.

When the operator answered, his voice was terrifyingly calm.

"I'm at..." He glanced up at the nearest street sign. "The intersection of the main road. Severe traffic collision. One victim in critical condition—massive head trauma, compound fracture of the arm, completely unresponsive. Send an ambulance immediately. Hurry."

He hung up and immediately dialed Sebastian.

It rang exactly once before being answered.

"Boss," Lance's voice was hoarse.

Silence stretched for a fraction of a second. "What happened?"

"I was in an accident." Lance took a ragged breath. "On the way to the restaurant. A cargo truck blew a red light and T-boned us." He paused, looking back at Louis's lifeless form, and swallowed hard. "Louis was in the car with me. He's in critical condition. I sustained minor injuries."

Sebastian's voice instantly hardened. "Which hospital?"

"I don't know yet. The ambulance isn't here."

"Send me your location the second you arrive."

"Boss," Lance called out.

"Speak."

Lance took a deep, shaky breath.

"That truck... it was intentional."

Another suffocating silence on the other end of the line.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Lance's voice dropped to a grim whisper. "I heard them. The hitmen—they thought I was unconscious. They spoke English. They said, 'Target eliminated.' They thought Louis was dead."

On the other end of the line, Sebastian's breathing shifted.

It became slow. Methodical.

Like the deadly calm right before a catastrophic storm.

"Who was their target?" Sebastian asked.

Lance closed his eyes.

"I don't know. But they directly rammed the back seat. And the back seat was the only thing they thoroughly checked before leaving."

The line went dead silent again.

Lance knew exactly what Sebastian was thinking.

The back seat.

Louis was sitting in the back seat.

But that car... it was supposed to be Sebastian's. At that exact time, in that exact location, in that exact vehicle—if Evelyn hadn't felt sick, if the boss and Ms. Sullivan had gone to that restaurant themselves, the person sitting in the back seat wouldn't have been Louis.

It would have been Evelyn.