I ignored the call, put my phone on silent, tossed it into my bag, and headed to meet Wendy.I took a cab to in99 and had just gotten out when someone bumped into me, spilling the contents of her bag all over the ground."I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she stammered, quickly bending down to gather her things.Her voice sounded familiar. "It's okay," I said, crouching to help her."Jen?" Sharon asked, looking up in surprise as she zipped her bag closed."What happened? You look so upset," I asked. Sharon, unlike Cindy, had a good character, and I had a favorable impression of her."It's Cindy... she's missing!" Sharon's eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry."She can't just disappear," I replied, skeptical."I really can't find her," Sharon insisted, her voice frantic. "We were shopping, and she was trying on clothes. I ran into an old friend and chatted for a bit. When I went back, Cindy was gone.""Maybe she went home.""No," Sharon shook her head, pointing
"The incident back then was your doing too," I said, trying to control my rising anger as I confronted Cindy, who had hurt me so many times without any repercussions."So what if it was? What can you do about it?" Cindy taunted, clearly pleased with herself. "Jen, with your level of intelligence, going against me is just setting yourself up for humiliation. You're not even a challenge. But before I declare a temporary truce, I'll do you a favor.""The identity of the man that night means nothing to me. This isn't worth meeting you over," I said, suspecting she was just trying to find another way to hurt me."If you don't come, I'll take your father's ashes abroad and bury them with my mother. He was with your mother in life; in death, he can be with my mother. That's fair.""Address," I demanded. Cindy was crazy enough to follow through on her threat. She had already proven she would go to any lengths to hurt me."That's more like it. Come to Asta Residence. I want to see you in t
Wasn't he supposed to be in the hospital? How could he be right behind me?Realizing the danger, my body instinctively tensed, and I tightened my grip on my bag.Holding my breath, I stayed still, observing his movements through the glass door.Max approached quickly. As he reached out to cover my mouth, I spun around, swung my bag at him, and stomped on his foot."Ouch!"Max cried out in pain and paused.Ever since he nearly killed me at Cintail Mountain, I had developed a post-traumatic response. When I saw him in jail, the bars between us allowed me to remain calm.Now, fear took over. I screamed and ran in panic."Shut up!" Max, now a fugitive, feared drawing attention and yelled at me to be quiet.Ignoring him, I kept shouting, "Help! Help!""Jen, you're asking for trouble!" Max, desperate and dangerous, had nothing to lose. If he caught me, survival was unlikely. I ran as fast as I could."You think you can escape?" Max's long strides closed the distance between us. I
"Ah!"Max threw me onto the floor and slammed the door shut, causing sharp pains to shoot through my body.With sadistic pleasure in his eyes, Max kicked me and taunted, "You're already in pain and I haven't even started. What will you do next?""How did you escape, Max?" I asked, bewildered. The hospital had police guards and handcuffs to restrain him. How did he manage to leave without anyone noticing?"You're still curious about that?" Max sneered. "Do you really think sending me to jail would make you safe? I'll be your nightmare for life. You can't get rid of me!"Interrupting our conversation, a timid female voice spoke up, "When can we leave, Mr. Jennings?". I looked over to see Mindy, Max's assistant from his startup days.Mindy was a young, outgoing woman who had recently graduated from college. She was always cheerful and respectful, addressing me as "Sister Jen" every time we met. Wendy had warned me that hiring a young girl like her might lead to trouble, but I had tr
Mindy's naivety was so extreme that I felt the urge to shake some sense into her."With Mr. Jennings here, he'll find a way to help us escape," I said, disbelieving the nonsense Max had fed her, which had made her blindly loyal."Mindy trusts me. It's pointless to try and turn her against me," Max said smugly."He's right," Mindy added. "When you were with him, I had no chance. But now that you've left him, he's mine. I'll never leave him."This was absurd. I wanted to shake her and see if there was any sense left in her.The pain in my body lessened slightly, and I pushed myself up, searching for an opportunity to escape. Max shifted his position, and I tensed, fearing he might strike.Max relished my reaction, savoring it like a hunter toying with its prey. I was no match for him in terms of strength, and my anger was futile.Max gestured towards the sofa. There, tied to a black wooden chair, was a person covered in blood. Long hair obscured their face. I hadn't noticed the me
"I was wrong, Max. I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. Please, don't hurt me anymore," Cindy pleaded, her body covered in wounds, wishing she could faint from the pain."Didn't you always want to know who entered Jen's room at the Waldorf Hotel that night? I'll tell you now," Max said, leaning close to Cindy."I... I don't want to know anymore," Cindy whimpered, terrified of Max. As he approached, she tried to move away, despite her injuries, desperate to increase the distance between them.Max ignored her attempts to escape, leaning in close to her ear, his lips curling in a mocking smile."Max, was it you who arranged for that man to be there that night?" I asked, feeling a surge of anger and betrayal. Max had previously denied knowing who the man was, leading me to believe Cindy was behind it."Just assume it was me," Max said, looking down at Cindy. "Did you hear that clearly?""That's not true. You're lying!" Cindy's disbelief turned to resentment.I was
A phone call had just come in moments ago, but now the call had ended and the phone was locked. Max tried several times to unlock it without success. He grabbed my hand and demanded, "Unlock it.""What are you going to do with my phone?" I clenched my hand tightly, refusing to cooperate.Max attempted to unlock the phone using facial recognition, but I quickly shut my eyes. "Jen, I don't have the patience for this," he said, waving the knife in front of me.Realizing that my life was in immediate danger, I reluctantly opened my eyes, and the phone unlocked. Max quickly navigated through the phone. "Looks like the police already noticed I left the hospital. If you had seen the messages or answered the calls earlier, you wouldn't be in this mess. Bad luck for you."I regretted setting my phone to silent to avoid Cindy's calls. Missing those alerts had indeed brought me to this point. I needed to buy time, hoping the police would find us before it was too late.I caught sight of Mind
Last night at ten o'clock, when I was getting ready to go to sleep, I got a call from an unknown number in our city.The voice on the line, clear and pleasant, asked, "Are you Jen Middleton?"I didn't hesitate and said, "Yes, that's me. Who's this?"Instead of answering, the woman laughed and said, "Your husband is so wild in bed"I was completely confused and was about to ask who she was and how she knew anything about my husband, but the call was abruptly cut off, leaving a dial tone.At first, I thought it was just a prank and didn't think much of it.But as soon as I hung up the phone, a troubling thought crossed my mind: if it was just a prank, how did the caller know my name so accurately?Lost in my thoughts, I received a video through text from the same unknown number, followed by a message."Don't believe it? Take a close look at the true colors of your husband, Max Jennings."Even the mention of my husband’s name ‘Max Jennings' was alarmingly accurate.A few seconds