Chapter 3

I stared at the flood of incoming calls on the screen and did not answer a single one.

Ten minutes later, the door was kicked open.

He leaned against the doorframe, panting.

He had rushed back so fast that the gunshot wound on his shoulder had completely torn open. Blood soaked his new shirt all over again.

Flynn acted like he could not feel the pain. He rushed in like a madman and tore the divorce papers into pieces.

That still was not enough. He pulled out a lighter and burned the scraps to ashes.

Only after doing all this did he look up, his deep eyes locking onto me.

Dangerous and predatory.

"Audrey, you know full well I would rather die than let you go."

He stepped closer to me. "You must know the divorce papers were just Cleo playing a trick on her own."

"Why did you still sign it?"

Without giving me a chance to answer, he leaned down and pressed against me. He kissed me forcefully, and it was almost brutal.

I could not breathe, and I soon tasted blood.

I shoved him away and wiped my lips hard, as if trying to wipe off something dirty.

I panted and let out a cold laugh. "Right, you would rather die than leave me, but you can cheat on me without a second thought."

"Flynn, you really are something."

His movements instantly froze.

"What, did you think I loved you so deeply that even if you slept with someone else, I would humbly beg you to stay?"

Meeting my mocking gaze, Flynn's expression softened.

He lowered his head, his nose gently brushing against my cheek in an almost pathetic way.

"I was wrong, darling." His voice was hoarse. "What do you want me to do to make this right?"

"Tell Cleo to get rid of the baby."

He did not hesitate. "Okay."

I did not speak. I just laughed softly.

"Cleo, did you hear that?"

"The baby in your belly, and your position. He can give them all up for me."

A heart-wrenching sob came from my phone.

"Flynn! You bastard!"

Flynn's face changed drastically.

I smiled and picked up my phone. The screen clearly showed an ongoing call.

I had him on a call with his little lover this whole time.

On the other end of the line, Cleo was crying hysterically. Her emotions completely broke down.

"Flynn, you turned your back on me and our baby first! You will regret it!"

She hung up right after saying that.

Flynn looked utterly frustrated. His jawline was completely tense, and curses were already on the tip of his tongue.

But meeting my gaze, he forcefully gritted his teeth and held his anger back.

He pushed past me, turned around, and stormed out the door.

By the time I slowly followed the tracking app on my phone and found the family's abandoned warehouse, the two of them were already putting on a deranged scene.

They were cursing at each other hysterically while pulling at each other in despair.

They were slapping each other one second and clinging to each other the next.

Seeing me show up, Flynn instantly straightened his back and pulled Cleo behind him again.

He suppressed his temper and stared at me with complicated eyes.

"Audrey, why did you follow us? What do you want? Cleo is extremely unstable right now. I am warning you, do not provoke her anymore!"

Cleo, however, suddenly stepped out from behind him. Tears were still on her face, but a light of pure certainty lit up in her eyes again.

She rushed over to me and leaned close to my ear.

"A man's words mean nothing."

"You cannot believe how he sweet-talks you. You have to see what he does when lives are on the line."

"I am carrying two lives right now. Take a guess. When he really has to choose between us, who will Flynn pick?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she violently kicked over a nearby gasoline drum and pulled out a lighter.

The moment she dropped the lighter, the flames shot up instantly.

The raging fire instantly roared upward. It split the warehouse in half, trapping me and her on opposite sides of the flames.

Thick black smoke and intense heat swept toward us.

"Flynn! This is your own flesh and blood in my belly! If you have the guts, then just watch me burn to death!"

Cleo's shout carried both panic and certainty.

On the other side of the wall of fire, Flynn's face twisted in the dancing shadows of the flames.

He only hesitated for a few seconds before rushing to her side. Then he scooped Cleo up and charged toward the door.

"Audrey, I know you know how to survive. You can find the exit yourself, but Cleo cannot handle the smoke!"

Cleo lay in his arms, looked back over his shoulder, and flashed me a highly triumphant cold smile.

She silently mouthed the words to me, "This time, I won."

I smiled right back at her through the flames.

"Maybe we both win?"

She was visibly stunned and stared at me like I was a deadly threat.

But I did not call for help, nor did I struggle to run toward the exit.

Flynn was right. I knew exactly how to survive.

But just now, watching his back as he protected someone else without a second thought, I suddenly realized something. He refused to let me go while I was alive. But what if I made him think I died in the fire?

The oxygen was slowly being swallowed up by the raging flames.

I stared at the retreating figures holding each other tight and quietly stepped back into the shadows deep within the firelight.

Goodbye, Flynn.

I was just about to quietly leave through the air vent.

But that silhouette in the firelight suddenly stopped.