Chapter 8
Still, I fought to hold on. Every second I bought might be one second closer to rescue.
The knife drove into my left arm again and again until the agony tore through my throat in hoarse, broken screams.
Nicholas demanded my surrender, over and over. But how could I beg him for mercy?
The wounds multiplied, my entire arm turned numb, stripped of all feeling. My consciousness blurred at the edges.
The thought of more pain to come hollowed me out with despair.
And then, to my disbelief, Nicholas suddenly flung the blade aside.
“Boring,” he sneered. “Enough. Better to just kill you outright.”
His words made my heart seize in my chest.
Nicholas had given up the game, and the thugs behind him exhaled in relief.
“You do it,” he ordered, clapping his hands once before pulling out a handkerchief to wipe them clean.
The men advanced, pulling something from their coats.
I shut my eyes slowly, bracing for death.
But just as darkness closed in, the shatter of glass split the air.
An explosion of light and concussive force followed, drowning the world in white. My ears rang into silence.
When I forced my eyes open again, Agnes was charging in with a squad of armed police. Within seconds, they had the situation
under control.
She ran to me, her face streaked with tears, shouting words I could no longer hear.
I looked down at my mangled arm, flesh torn and bloodied, and had only one thought, ‘Agnes, it’s not just that I don’t love you
anymore. I hate you.‘
When I woke again, I was lying in a hospital bed.
A doctor came quickly to examine me.
“Other than the severe trauma to your left arm, there appear to be no critical issues,” he said. “But even if it heals, I’m afraid it
will never regain full strength.”
He gave a few instructions for rest before leaving the room.
Moments later, Agnes hurried in.
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“Frank, Frank, how do you feel? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!”
Tears streamed down her face as she apologized again and again.
Once, her words of regret would have broken me, filled me with helpless pity. Now, they made me sick.
“Get out. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
My voice was flat, edged with disgust. I turned my head away.
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“Frank, don’t be like this. I remember now–I remember everything.” Her voice cracked, “It was all my fault. I’ll make it right.
From now on, I’ll treat you well.
“Frank, please, just look at me. Do whatever you want, but don’t leave me.”
She kept apologizing, kept confessing, kept begging.
I sneered. “Agnes, do you remember the last thing your nineteen–year–old self said to me?”
Her body froze at my words.
“If you’ve forgotten, let me remind you,” I said. “Before you vanished for the last time, you said: Frank, if I had known the ending would be like this, I would never have met you. I should have left sooner.”
you
Her head dropped, tears spilling onto the floor by my bed.
“Frank… please. Just give me one more chance.”
I don’t know how much time passed before her voice broke the silence again. But when it did, I couldn’t stop the hollow laugh
that escaped me.
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