29

FEW SECONDS BEFORE THE SHOT

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Adira was trying so hard to meet up with Nikolai's pace. She was very anxious and wanted to talk to him before he'd get into the car. But it was more like he intentionally didn't want to speak with her as his pace was so quick and difficult to meet.

"Nikolai!" She finally called, and thankfully, he halted - just beside his opened door.

She took that as her cue, heaved a sigh of relief and ran after him. But her anxiety doubled when she was finally standing in front of him.

Tho, he wasn't looking at her, his face was so cold, they frightened her and made her feel a little intimidated.

"I..." She swallowed hard. "I need to talk to you about..."

That was the moment the gunshot happened.

It was so fast, came from almost nowhere.

It echoed round like a thunderclap, shattering the tranquility that had been present just mommsts ago. Time seemed to slow down, and in that fraction of a second, everything around Nikolai blurred into obscurity, his focus honing