Chapter 4

Ingrid's breath hitched for a split second when she saw the car emblem on the floor.

I didn't have time to warn her when Tyler approached with a wrench in his hand.

"Throw the phone over here," he said.

Ingrid wasn't about to comply. She quickly switched it to speakerphone instead. The telephone operator's voice came through the phone speaker at once.

"Ma'am, please keep your distance from the other party. The police are already on their way to you."

Tyler's face darkened at once as he lunged for the phone. "You're asking for trouble!"

Ingrid hit him with the pepper spray immediately, and the pungent, blinding liquid sprayed all over his face.

Tyler covered his face and roared angrily, slamming the wrench against the wall.

Ingrid didn't stay put. She pushed me toward the kitchen, simultaneously grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall. She'd bought it last year because she was worried that my mobility issues would prevent her from getting me out of the apartment in time if a fire were to break out.

At least, her foresight managed to buy us some time.

She glanced at the floor in front of Tyler and quickly retreated behind the dining table. My wheelchair kept bumping into the chairs at the dining table, but she kept her movements steady and calm.

"You should stop now," she told Tyler. "If you keep trying to attack us, you'll only get a harsher sentence when the police arrive later!"

Tyler chased after us with a crazed and maniacal look in his bloodshot eyes.

"Since I'm going to be locked up anyway, I might as well have some fun before going in! Who do you think is going to save you? Your useless husband? Maybe ask him to get out of his wheelchair and talk to me first! Haha!"

I gritted my teeth angrily, but I couldn't even get up. I could only sit there helplessly, waiting for the police to arrive.

Ingrid pulled out the safety pin on the fire extinguisher and sprayed the white powder all over his face. At once, the living room was blanketed in a layer of white powder, and we couldn't see through anything at all.

I heard the sound of chairs and tables overturning, along with Tyler's shouts and furious curses.

Ingrid pressed her lips close to my ear and said shakily, "Don't be afraid, Nick. I'll get you out of here."

She went around the dining table with me and arrived at the entryway. However, the wheelchair ran over a shard of glass on the ground, and suddenly, there was the sound of air quickly escaping.

The wheels on my wheelchair had been punctured.

Ingrid tried her best to wheel me along, but the wheelchair was stuck to the ground like it was nailed in place.

Tyler's figure was quickly approaching us amidst the white haze behind us. Ingrid gritted her teeth and crouched over me, planning to carry me on her back. But I was over 120 pounds, and the moment she pulled me onto her back, her knees nearly gave way, and we almost tumbled to the ground in a heap.

I shook my head anxiously.

She had tried to save me like this in our previous life. Whenever I acted up, I would lash out and kick around with my good arm and leg, but she would refuse to let me go.

But now, my paralyzed body would only slow her down and harm her in the end.

I struck out at the side of the wheelchair, trying to tell her to leave me behind, but she glared at me with red eyes and chided, "Stop flailing about! I'll never leave you behind!"

Tyler suddenly rushed out from the white smog and grabbed her by her hair. Ingrid arched backward in immense pain, but she still crashed into him with all her might despite the pain.

The back of her head struck Tyler squarely in his nose bridge. He gasped in pain and let go of her at once.

With my still-functional left hand, I grabbed the control stick and positioned my wheelchair toward him, setting it to full speed to knock him over. The wheel might have been punctured, but I still managed to drive him to the side of the dining table.

He lowered his eyes to look at me in shock. I immediately played dumb and gave him a silly grin, flapping my hand about. The warning didn't go off in my head, which meant that Tyler wasn't getting suspicious of me and just thought that I was acting up again.

He flew into a rage and grabbed me by my collar, throwing me to the ground.

"You goddamned son of a bitch! You just can't stop causing trouble for everyone!"

I was thrown heavily to the ground, and a searing pain shot through the right side of my shoulder. My oxygen mask also fell off, and I quickly found it extremely stuffy and hard to breathe.

When Ingrid saw that, the first thing she did was pick up my mask from the ground. But the moment she let her guard down, Tyler grabbed her from the back.

Ingrid screamed and tried to dart away from him. However, Tyler grabbed her in a chokehold and pressed the wrench against her temple.

"Keep struggling, and I will smash his head open first!" he threatened.

Ingrid stopped struggling at once, and her tears gushed right out. She looked at me on the ground, her lips trembling as she continued mouthing to me, "It's okay. Don't be afraid."

The wrench was clearly pressed against her head, and yet, she was still concerned about me lying on the ground more than anything.

Tyler began dragging her toward the bedroom, trying to escape from the way he came in. Just as he was about to crouch over and pull the wardrobe door open, there was the sound of hurried footsteps at the door.

Then, someone rapped sharply against the door.

"Police! Ms. Sanford, open up please! Yell if you can hear us!"

Ingrid's eyes had only just lit up when Tyler suddenly dropped his wrench and grabbed his pocket knife instead, pressing the sharp blade against her neck. He stared at the front door, where the police were trying to knock it down, the muscles on his face twitching.

"Since I'm not getting out of this alive, neither are you!"

The police continued knocking the door down, and they'd already nearly succeeded by getting a wedge in the door. We only had to hold out just another dozen seconds or so before they could rescue us.

However, Tyler kept dragging Ingrid toward the access door, the knife still pressed against her neck. The sharp blade had already left a bloody gash in her skin.

"Fine. You want to die? Then we'll all die together!"