Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 339: The call from future Alice

Ryan glanced out the window again, lost in thought. Just then, a figure standing in the rain, hooded and mysterious, caught his attention. His eyes lit up, and a sudden surge of hope flooded his heart.

A wave of joy swept over him.

Without hesitation, he leaped out of the window!

His body plummeted rapidly, gravity pulling him down with terrifying speed.

The hooded woman outside stared in disbelief, her mouth agape as she watched the entire scene unfold.

Thud!!!

The impact was so loud it seemed to shake the earth.

The world outside flipped upside down, and his vision blurred through the chaotic curtain of rain. He was barely alive now, wracked with unbearable pain.

At that moment, a young girl in a hood slowly approached, tears streaming down her face.

“Why are you so stupid, Ryan? I’ll take you to the hospital!” she cried, trying to lift him onto her back.

Ryan clenched his teeth, summoning the last bit of strength he had left, and whispered, “Don’t… save me…”

Anna froze, hesitating for a moment, stunned by his words. “What? You don’t want to live anymore?”

Ryan gently shook his head, motioning for her to come closer.

It seemed like Ryan was whispering something into Anna’s ear.

“Really?!” Anna’s voice was filled with doubt.

Ryan, gasping for breath, gave a faint nod.

Just then, a sharp, searing pain shot through his chest again. He looked down to see a cold blade piercing through his chest. His breathing grew labored, weakening with each passing second. Anna’s hands were covered in blood, her tears mixing with the rain as they slid down her face.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the storm.

Ryan’s vision blurred further, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as the last few moments of his life slipped away.

[Ding! Main Quest Progress: 4/5 – Killed by Anna (100%)]

…

Ryan jolted awake, his heart pounding in his chest. He found himself standing by the bathroom window again. Time had seemingly rewound to the moment just before he was about to open the window.

“This time, I’ve got the real answer,” Ryan muttered to himself, clenching his fists. He knew it wasn’t over yet.

Just one more time, and it would all be over.

At that moment, Nella looked at Ryan, her face filled with urgency. “Ryan, what are you doing just standing there? You need to go down the ladder first! This door won’t hold much longer.”

Ryan stared at her quietly.

“Nella, why don’t you go first?” Ryan asked slowly.

Nella paused, surprised. “Alice is after you, Ryan. Your safety is the priority.”

Her eyes were filled with concern for him.

Just then, Ryan’s phone rang again.

Ryan knew this was his last chance to take a call.

He answered.

It was Nella on the other end.

“Ryan, I’ve found proof that Alice isn’t who she says she is.”

“My friend’s mom is a doctor at a hospital. She delivered both Alice and her sister. I asked her to show me the photos from when they were born.”

“They look almost identical, but there’s one difference: Alice’s sister has a black birthmark on her back. Alice doesn’t.”

“Ryan, listen carefully. Your time of death has been moved up. In five minutes, you’ll die in that room.”

“Whatever you do, don’t open the bathroom door. Don’t let Alice in. Follow my instructions, Ryan. I swear, I would never hurt you.”

The call ended.

Call Limit: 0

Now, it was up to Ryan to decide who the real killer was.

Ryan stared at Nella’s face, memories flooding back to him.

Four years ago, Ryan had food poisoning. Bella held him in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. During those days in the hospital, it was Bella who took care of him.

Now, in this moment, Ryan had made up his mind.

No, to be precise, it was time for Ryan to strike back.

…

Time rewound to 8:00 PM.

Before Ryan received Alice’s call, he had actually gotten another one.

“Ryan, this is you, six hours from now.”

“We only have one minute to talk, so don’t say anything. Just listen.”

“At 2:00 AM, Alice is going to push you off the roof.”

“You’ll lose a lot of blood, but you won’t die immediately. You’ll see Alice walking toward you, panicked. She’ll crouch down beside you, and you’ll beg her to save you.”

“You’ll hear Alice say, ‘Ryan, I’m sorry. I wanted to marry you and have a child. I wanted to be a good person, but those mob bosses and the people in power just wouldn’t let me. They kept blocking my way. In the end, my plan to clean up the gang fell apart. And that old cop who’s been watching me seems to have figured out who I really am. I need to leave the country and disappear for good.'”

“She’ll carry you up to the third floor, smile, and throw you off again.”

“At first, the police will rule your death as an accidental fall, but they’ll soon find a button tightly clenched in your hand.”

“You were smart. Alice didn’t notice the button you grabbed, and that’s the clue you left for the police.”

“I bet you’re shocked right now, wondering how I can call you if I’m already dead. Honestly, I’m just as surprised. Somehow, I’ve been sent back to one minute before Alice pushed me.”

“I don’t know why Alice is avoiding the police, but what matters now is that you have to survive.”

The call ended.

Ryan looked at Alice’s profile, doubt creeping into his mind.

He remembered all the good things Alice had done for him, every moment of kindness.

But future Ryan had no reason to lie to himself.

So, Ryan made a decision.

He had to strike first to protect himself.

Right now, Alice and Nella hadn’t made any moves, so Ryan had no reason to call the police.

But why? Why would they betray me?

…

9:30 PM.

Ryan was giving Alice a massage when her phone rang.

He felt her eyes open.

Ryan held his breath.

He could feel Alice glance at him.

Ryan pretended to be asleep, his breathing steady and even.

Alice answered the call.

But she didn’t say a word.

Soon, she hung up, acting as if nothing had happened, resting her face against Ryan’s hands as she drifted back to sleep.

But what she didn’t know was that Ryan had secretly picked up her phone.

There was a one-minute call in the call log.

But when Ryan saw the caller ID, his pupils contracted sharply.

The call was from Alice’s own number.

A call to herself.

Alice had no idea that Ryan had installed a secret recording app on her phone.

Every call she made was automatically recorded by the app.

Ryan opened the app, turned the volume down low, and, trembling, brought the phone to his ear.

“Alice, this is you, one week from now. Don’t be surprised, just listen.”

“You’re on the run, hiding from the police. Your plan to clean up the gang has failed, and now you’re living like a rat in the gutter.”

“When you were a kid, you were smart. During the fire, you crawled under your unconscious sister, and that’s how you survived.”

“You’ve always known that your parents favored you more. To avoid going to juvenile detention, you switched identities with your dead sister, Alice, and lived on as her. Even now, you can’t remember your original name.”

“Unfortunately, the cop who was in charge of your case back then has been watching you like a dog, never letting go. So, I know you’re planning to leave the country.”

“I know you love Ryan, but you also know that once he finds out the truth, he’ll leave you. And if you can’t have him, you’ll destroy him. You’ve already made up your mind to kill him tonight. But what you didn’t expect was that when you pushed him off the roof, he grabbed one of your buttons.”

“And that button is the evidence the police will use to hunt you down. Now, you have a chance to do it all over again. You can kill Ryan perfectly this time, without leaving any trace.”

“But you also need to get rid of Nella. She’s been suspicious of you, just like that cop, and she’s been watching you closely. She might have already figured something out. Look at your old photos together—she’s always staring at you.”

“But you can’t kill Nella yourself. The best way is to use Ryan to do it for you.”

“Nella has a fatal weakness. She was kidnapped once, and that experience left her with temporary amnesia and deep trauma.”

“Coincidentally, her dorm caught fire, and she was the only survivor.”

“She’s been hiding this secret, afraid that Ryan would hate her for her ‘dirty’ past. But you can use this to make Ryan doubt her.”

“A lie mixed with the truth is always more convincing than a completely fabricated one.”

Ryan calmly placed Alice’s phone back where it was, but his hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

…

10:00 PM.

The call from future Alice came in.

And Ryan, pretending to be terrified, answered the phone.