Chapter 003

Wren stumbled back, pulling up his pants. Scarlett snapped up, pulling down her dress, not meeting my eyes.

Another sob escaped my lips as daggers were piercing into my heart.

Wren turned around, his eyes wide open, trying to come up with something.

The truth hit me: based on the way they were clinging to each other, this wasn't the first time.

“Elara…” Scarlett was the first to talk. But I didn't want to hear her. Not her.

She wasn't just a stepmom to me, I considered her my friend the moment she married my father. How could she?

Wren placed his hands on his head, seeming to regret this. But deep down, I knew he wasn't. If he was, he wouldn't dare do this to me.

How could he? I loved him from the bottom of my heart.

My memory rolled on everything I ignored, on every sign I wronged. The always ‘TV fixing’ thing, and other signs…

How didn’t I notice? His sudden coldness. All my missed calls. The decrease in our intimate time.

I swallowed my sobs. I wasn't going to cry. Not before them.

Wren bridged the gap between us in two steps and held my arm. His voice was low and regretful. “Elara, please. Let me explain.”

I pulled my arm out of his grip forcefully and just turned around.

I started walking, but his words stopped me.

“You were busy all the time. You came home after midnight most times. And I am a man, Elara. I have needs.”

When I stopped, he added, “Let’s sit and talk, honey, okay?”

“Screw yourself, Wren. You're such an ungrateful man. I can't believe you’re saying this. I worked too hard, to the point that my eyes hurt from focusing on the screen all the time, because I believed in you, in us!” I was panting as I finished.

“Listen…” he hesitated. “I didn't want all of this to happen. I wanted you, only you. It’s just… she was around, available, and…”

“Stop!” I snapped, covering my ears. “Are you listening to yourself?”

Scarlett seemed hurt. He must have lied to her.

“Come on, Elara,” he laughed coldly. “Don’t act so innocent! You stay late at night just working?”

I was too dumbfounded to reply.

“No? Then how do you finish yourself off?”

The smug smile on his face made me want to vomit.

Did he really say that? How was I too foolish and blinded to even love a man like him?

“You disgust me!” I mumbled, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“You’re not the victim here. There's no woman who stays every day after midnight at work just for work. We’re equal,” he said cruelly.

“Fuck you, Wren! If you acted like the man you must be in this relationship, then I was going to do my role as a woman!” I screamed, my throat burning from dryness.

Every muscle in my body trembled.

If I stayed any moment longer here, I would die from the frequent shocks. I glanced at Scarlett—she was frozen in shock—before I ran out of the room, then the whole venue.

My vision was blinded and blurred with tears when I carelessly crossed the road. The loud sound of the sharp screech of brakes slashed across the asphalt, freezing me in place. And before I could react, the vehicle sent me flying into the air.

And…

There was no thud. No pain. No blood. No sounds around. No ambulance.

Just silence.

I faltered my eyes open. Sharp pain hit my head with a loud sound of a closed channel on TV.

I scanned the area around me. The dim light and the tense atmosphere made me feel danger immediately. It reminded me of my horror stories.

The place looked like an old abandoned bus station. How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was that I was hit by a car.

Where was I? Why did the place look so… empty? Quiet?

Am I dead?

I exclaimed as I stood, “Hello!”

But nothing;  just my voice echoing.

I couldn't count the time. I didn't know for how long I stood there.

Suddenly, the squeaking sound of an old wheel coming from afar caught my attention. A foggy light of a wiggling bus getting closer and closer until it stopped right before me.

The bus doors opened.

Instinctively, I took a step back. The bus looked not usable by humans.

I scanned around. The place looked long deserted and lifeless. I glanced back at the bus. It seemed it was my only hope.

I swallowed hard and took a step forward, throwing a peek inside. But there was nothing, just darkness.

I stumbled backward. Something heavy in the air told me that danger was around.

The bus didn't move, as if it was waiting for me.

The lights flickered on and off.

“What are we waiting for?” a woman's voice from inside the bus asked.

“There’s a girl in the station!” someone replied.

“So? Why didn't she get in?” the woman asked again, seeming impatient.

“You know, a scared newbie,” the second one laughed.

What the heck were they talking about? Was I dreaming?

I felt a breath right next to me, then someone whispered, “Get the fuck your ass in.”

I jumped in place, nearly having a heart attack.

The masculine voice was deep and rough; the kind of voice that makes women melt, but in the current atmosphere it sent a chill of fear down my spine.

Defensively, I raised my fist in the air, and in the same second, a grip tightened around my wrist and pulled me inside the bus.

I tried to pull my wrist as I kicked and twisted trying to free myself.

But I froze the moment the bus lights lit up brightly and I saw the man before me.