Easton burst into my room, his eyes bloodshot, with Connor and the other two right behind him. Their faces were grim, but Easton’s was the darkest of all as he grabbed my arm with a violent jerk.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!”
I struggled with all my strength, but they forced me out, dragging me into a waiting car.
Before I knew it, they hauled me onto a helicopter. When we landed and I finally saw where we
were–l froze.
We were standing on a platform a thousand meters above the ground. Below us stretched a dizzying abyss.
My legs instantly weakened, trembling uncontrollably. My face was drained of all colors.
They knew. They knew I was terrified of heights–and yet they brought me here.
‘You lunatics!” I shouted hoarsely, clinging to what little breath I had left. “What the hell are you rying to do?”
Easton’s eyes were blazing red as he stared me down.
‘Where did you take Charlie?!”
His hands shot to my throat, squeezing tight, as though he wanted to snap my neck.
Yesterday–it was clearly me! Yet you dared to blame her for it?” he snarled.
My pupils shrank, vision darkening as my breath caught in my chest. I gasped desperately, orcing broken words past his grip.
‘I… didn’t‘…”
He inhaled sharply, his gaze like ice.
‘I know you like me,” he spat. “But I’ve told you before–I don’t like you. None of us do. Not me not Connor, not any of them.”
He loosened his grip just enough for me to draw air again.
‘If it weren’t for Charlie, we wouldn’t have bothered pretending with you. If you don’t tell us where she is, don’t blame us for what happens next.”
Gasping, I screamed back at him with all the strength I had left.
‘I don’t like any of you! I was never going to choose you! What does Charlie’s kidnapping have to do with me? I told you–I didn’t do it!”
His expression darkened instantly. I could see it–his rage, though I couldn’t tell what fueled it more: my rejection, or my denial.
The others exchanged uneasy looks, but then closed in around me.
Connor spoke softly, almost coaxing, “Debbie, I know you’re upset about what happened last night. Just be good. Tell us where Charlie is, and we’ll treat you just like before.”
As he spoke, his hand tugged at the safety harness strapped to me.
My body lurched, swaying over the endless drop below.
Charters
..
3:20 pm D
A strangled gasp escaped my lips as my body stiffened in terror. My face was pale as death.
For a brief second, I saw something flicker in their eyes–hesitation, pity, maybe even regret. But none of them loosened their grip.
Easton drew in a breath, his voice sharp and merciless.
“Debbie, I’ll count. If you don’t give us an answer by the count of three, we’ll strip you bare. If you still don’t speak by ten-” His eyes narrowed to slits. “We’ll throw you down.”
froze, staring at him in disbelief.
‘You’re insane! I told you, I didn’t do it! If I die, the Sinclair family will never let you go!”
He laughed coldly.
‘Even if they try, we are the heirs of the other four great families. Do you really think the Sinclair amily can touch us?”
Tears of fury stung my eyes as I glared at them, one by one.
And then his countdown began.
‘Ten.”
‘I told you–I don’t know!” I screamed, but my cries fell on deaf ears.
‘Nine.”
bit down on my lip until I tasted blood, shaking violently.
‘Eight.”
At his signal, Connor caught my wrist. His voice was tender, gentle, but his actions were
‘uthless.
‘Debbie, don’t fight it. Think of this as a lesson.”
n one swift motion, he tugged at my clothes.
was only wearing a thin nightdress when they dragged me from my room. If they stripped it away–nothing but my undergarments would remain.
‘No!” I shrieked, twisting frantically. But my terror of height sapped all my strength.
Against them, I was powerless.
Connor’s hands moved with chilling ease, unfastening buttons one by one, even as he looked at ne with feigned affection.
clutched my chest desperately, screaming until my throat burned.
But Easton’s countdown continued.
Every number. Every snap of fabric undone.
Until the final count fell.
And with merciless indifference, Easton shoved me off the platform.
The abyss swallowed me whole.
The terror was so absolute, so consuming, that I didn’t even have time to scream. My mind went blank–and fainted directly.
…
Charterf
2/3 20.3%
1:20 pm D
When I awoke again, before my eyes even opened, I heard Kenji’s voice nearby.
Connor, you really are cruel. If Hayden and I hadn’t tied a safety line to Debbie’s back… she’d be lead for real.”
Connor chuckled softly.
She struck first at Charlie. And even if she died, with the four of us together, we could escape esponsibility easily enough.”
Kenji sighed. “If she had died then, maybe we’d finally be free. Pretending all these years… I don’t
now how much longer I can keep it up.”
Fortunately, Charlie is unharmed,” Hayden’s cultured voice added softly. “Now, I wonder which o Is Debbie will choose as her fiancé after this.”
Silence followed.
Only after they left did I open my eyes.
There wasn’t a mark on my body. But my heart was already torn to shreds.
Thank heaven–I was leaving today.
Dragging my exhausted body upright, I left without hesitation.
From a distance, Connor and the others turned, as if sensing something. All they saw was my etreating figure.
‘Strange… that looked a lot like Debbie,” Hayden murmured.
Connor sneered.
‘Even if she woke up, she’d be bedridden for days. Don’t forget–she’s afraid of heights.”
When I returned home, I packed swiftly.
The engagement tokens they had once given me, I tossed carelessly into four boxes for the outler to deliver tomorrow.
Then I typed an identical message to each of them, scheduled to be sent to their phones tomorrow at the banquet.
‘I will never choose any of you. I’m marrying Martin Addams in a week!”
Then, without hesitation, I blocked and deleted all of them.
From now on, the four of them meant nothing to me.I no longer cared.
I boarded the plane without looking back.
Easton, Connor, Kenji, Hayden.
From this moment forward, I was done with all of them!
Chapter 5
