Chapter 1 - The Echo of the Fall
The sound of the rushing water below swallowed the paralyzed man’s final, heartbreaking words.
The treacherous wife, Sarah, and her secret lover, Mark, stood perfectly still at the edge of the jagged cliff.
They waited anxiously for a satisfying thud, but the roaring river below completely masked any sound of impact.
Sarah forced a dramatic sob from her throat, her hands violently rubbing her dry eyes until they turned a convincing shade of red.
Mark, playing the role of the panicked friend, dialed emergency services with aggressively trembling fingers.
"Help us, please, there has been a terrible accident!" he screamed into the phone, his voice echoing off the damp canyon walls.
Within an hour, flashing red and blue lights illuminated the gathering, thick mountain mist.
Search and rescue teams rappelled down the treacherous gorge, their bright flashlights cutting through the blinding fog.
Sarah wrapped a thick wool blanket tightly around her shoulders, playing the part of the grieving, shocked widow to absolute perfection.
She wept openly in the arms of a sympathetic female police officer, detailing how her husband's wheelchair simply slipped on the wet moss.
Mark corroborated every single detail of her story, shaking his head in mock disbelief at the sudden tragedy of it all.
However, as the sun began to finally set, the lead investigator approached them with a deep frown etching his weathered face.
"Ma'am, my men found the shattered pieces of the metal wheelchair caught in the deadly rapids," the officer stated grimly.
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Sarah held her breath, eagerly anticipating the final confirmation of her newfound billionaire status.
"But there is absolutely no sign of your husband's body anywhere in that deep water," the officer concluded.
