Chapter 6

I wasn't really surprised. After all, she was the woman he loved. As for his promise to compensate me, it was just a sick joke.

Arthur burst into hysterical laughter. "Hahaha! Bastian, you really are a hopeless romantic!"

With a loud mechanical screech, the winch on the left released, and Moriah was lowered down safely amidst her screams.

In that exact second, a muffled impact echoed from the shipping containers in the distance.

Bastian's sniper fired. The bullet blew straight through Arthur's chest in a spray of blood.

Arthur's laugh died on his face. He stumbled backward, but right before he hit the dirt, he used his final ounce of strength to smash the other red button on the remote.

"Then... go to hell together," Arthur choked on his own blood and collapsed.

"NO—!" Bastian's gut-wrenching scream tore through the docks.

With a sharp crack, my rope snapped.

The wind rushed past my ears like a hurricane as I plummeted from the sky like a cut kite. In those few seconds of freefall, time seemed to stretch infinitely. I saw Bastian sprinting toward me like a madman, a look of absolute terror and despair on his face that I had never seen before.

A massive crash rattled my spine.

The impact pulverized my body. By some miracle, I hit a massive pile of thick sea sand right beneath the crane, cushioning the lethal blow. But the sickening crunch of bone echoed in my ears. My organs felt like they had ruptured, and the pain made even breathing a luxury.

"Davina! Davina!"

Trembling arms scooped me into a warm chest. Bastian fell to his knees in the sand, cupping my face. Those normally cold, calculating black eyes were entirely bloodshot with panic.

"Get a doctor! Call a fucking ambulance! NOW!" he roared at his men like a lunatic.

His hot tears hit my cheek.

How ironic. One second he throws me to hell, and the next he sheds tears for me.

Suddenly, shouts erupted nearby. "Ma'am! Ma'am, what's wrong?!"

Moriah, who had just been rescued, went limp in a guard's arms.

"Bastian..." she reached out weakly, her face pale. "Arthur... he injected me with something... It hurts so much..."

Bastian stiffened and whipped his head around.

On one side, me—shattered bones, plummeting from a crane. On the other, Moriah—poisoned with an unknown drug.

It took him exactly three seconds to make his choice.

He gave me one long look, full of pain, guilt, and sickening self-justification.

"Davina, you landed in the sand. You just have broken bones; you're not in critical danger right now," Bastian gritted his teeth, his voice terrifyingly hoarse. "But Moriah might die."

He carefully passed me off to one of his men. "Take her back to the estate. Have the medical team treat her immediately."

Without looking back, he stood up, sprinted to Moriah, scooped her into his arms, and boarded the waiting helicopter.

I was rushed back to the trauma wing of the Howard estate. The elite private medical team was ready and waiting.

They cut open my blood-soaked coat and hooked me up to the monitors.

"It's multiple fractures in the left leg and ribs, mild internal contusions. Nothing fatal," the lead doctor sighed in relief. "Prep the OR to set the bones."

The nurses collectively exhaled.

But right then, my heart rate began to drop at an alarming speed. My blood felt like ice, a strange, freezing numbness creeping out from my marrow.

I knew exactly what this was. The precursor to the fake death pill.

It was time.

I coughed heavily.

Without warning, I jerked my head to the side and vomited a massive pool of thick, dark blood across the white sheets.

"What the hell is happening?!" the lead doctor yelled, his face draining of color.

"Heart rate is plummeting! Blood pressure is tanking!" a nurse screamed over the frantic blaring of the monitors.

"She was completely stable! Push one milligram of epi! Get the paddles ready!"

The room descended into absolute chaos. The alarms were deafening.

But the frantic voices around me were fading, like I was listening through thick glass. My vision blurred, and the agonizing pain of the fall vanished entirely. It was replaced by an unprecedented feeling of weightlessness.

Perfect. The timing was perfect.

I would never have to face this cold estate again. I would never have to watch Moriah's cheap acting again. And I would never have to wait for Bastian's cheap, hypocritical "next time."

A long, flat beep echoed through the room.

The erratic wave on the EKG monitor finally pulled into a single, flat, continuous line.

The doctor dropped the defibrillator paddles, stepping back in defeat. "We've lost her."

Amidst the dead silence and panic in the room, I closed my eyes with a faint smile on my lips.

I was finally free.