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“Linda, can you pick up the call?” Mr. Lay shouted from the second floor, his voice edged with impatience. “It’s been ringing for a minute now!”

Mrs. Lay quickly grabbed the phone, her hands shaking slightly. “Hello? This is Linda speaking.” she answered.

“Mom, I think I might have figured it out,” Amelia said breathlessly, clutching the phone tighter. “Mark didn’t do it, it was - emm……” Her voice trailed off into a sudden silence.

“Amelia? Amelia!” Mrs. Lay’s worried voice crackled through the receiver. “Are you still there? What’s going on?”

But there was no response—only the faint sound of static and a muffled noise in the background before the call abruptly cut off.

Mrs. Lay’s heart pounded as she pulled the phone away, staring at the wall. The call had disconnected.

Mrs. Lay’s hands trembled as she quickly dialed David’s number. The call rang once, twice — “David, is Amelia with you?” Her voice was unsteady, laced with worry. There was a brief pause before David’s confused voice came through. “What? No, I’m still at work. I haven’t seen her since this morning. Why? What’s going on?”

Mrs. Lay’s grip on the phone tightened. “She called me just now, saying she figured something out about the book… but then the line was cut off.”

Silence hung between them for a moment before David spoke again, his voice urgent. “Okay, I’m coming back home now.”

The line went dead with a soft click, leaving a hollow unease in the air.

“Lucian!” Mrs.Lay called urgently, already grabbing her coat. “Something’s wrong with Amelia—I don’t know what happened, but the call just cut off. And she is not with David. We need to get to her!”

Mr. Lay walked downstairs, his expression darkened, jaw tightening. “What? What happened to her?”

"Forget it, let's go first, I will explain more on the way." Mrs. Lay said, snatching the car keys from the counter.

Within minutes, they were on the road, the night stretching endlessly before them as the car sped toward Amelia’s house.