Chapter 4
Panic rose in me again. So, I pounded on the door, shouting, “Gustavo! Gustavo!”
However, the silence that followed crushed whatever hope I had left.
Then came his voice–calm, distant, on the phone.
“Ms. Moreau, I’ve done what you asked. As for the rest of my mother’s medical expenses…”
My heart completely sank.
So that was what this was. Gustavo had been Elise’s pawn all along.
No wonder Elise claimed the cold storage’s backup power was down and the temperature inside was no different from outside yet the moment I stepped in, it just kept getting colder and colder.
No wonder the latch on the window, which used to move freely, ended up jammed shut..
With all this betrayal crashing down on me, my hands slipped weakly from the icy shelves.
Just as I was about to collapse and resign myself to fate, a sudden thought sparked in my mind.
I remembered that back when I helped design this café’s kitchen, I had worried about emergencies–like someone accidentally getting locked in- so I installed an emergency call button in a hidden spot inside the cold storage near the exhaust fan.
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That button would trigger an alarm directly connected to a building’s security and send a message to a designated contact.
The catch? It was installed at the highest point inside the cold room.
Getting there now would mean draining every last bit of strength I had
left.
Right then, I heard the frost crackling with a sharp “crack.”
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The needle on the cold storage thermometer dipped another mark lower.
‘If I stayed here any longer, I would not make it out alive.
So I clenched my jaw and dragged myself toward that corner with everything I had.
My bones felt like they were shattering from the cold, each movement stabbing like a hundred needles. Yet, I forced myself forward, racing against death itself.
Just as I finally reached the emergency button and was about to press it, a noise came from the window.
A cup of steaming liquid was poured through it. Most of it hit the floor and froze in seconds, but a few burning drops splashed onto my face.
The sudden contrast in temperature made my skin sting like fire.
Then came a deeper, biting cold–like a cruel reminder of how little strength I had left.
Suddenly…
A loud bang echoed from the outside as if something heavy had slammed into the door.
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“Where’s Adrienne?”
I knew that voice right away. Remy Allemand. He was my close friend back in school, who is now a firefighter.
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He was the one who helped me choose the location and settings for the emergency button.
And he was the one person who knew it existed.
Then, I heard Gustavo’s voice.
““Captain Allemand, Ms. Renaud isn’t here! She already clocked out and went home…”
“Don’t lie to me! I just received an emergency signal from her directly from the cold storage. That code was something only she and I knew!
“Call Gerard right now. Tell him to bring the key here immediately!”
They dialed him up.
Gerard answered with an irritated tone.
“Oh, let me guess, Adrienne ran crying to you again? What, you two got something going on? You’re always this jumpy when it’s about her!
“Forget it. I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t fight with you. This is all because I’ve spoiled her too much. That’s why she thinks she can do whatever she wants! She already left, so stop poking your nose in and get out of my café before I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing!”
“Gerard, are you out of your mind? That distress signal came straight from the cold storage! Do you know how cold it gets in there? She could
literally freeze to death!”
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“Why do you care so much about my girlfriend, huh? If I say she’s not there, she’s not there! You’ve been into her for ages, haven’t you? That’s why you can’t let it go!”
Remy was fuming. Without another word, he hurled his phone aside and charged toward the cold storage, swinging a fire axe to break the lock.
However, what he did not know was that by the time he got the door open, I had already collapsed under the emergency button, and every ounce of strength was drained from my body.
I wanted to call out, to let him know I was still conscious. However, a wave of freezing air swept in through the crack he had just made.
My vision went dark, and everything went silent.
