Her voice grew louder, more unhinged with every word.
“I should’ve done this a long time ago. I’m going to kill you. Once you’re gone for good, Lucas will finally be mine.”
Before I could fully process her words, she reached over and turned off one of the machines keeping me alive.
The air in my lungs immediately thinned.
I opened my mouth to scream, but all that came out were guttural, rasping sounds.
My arms and legs felt like they were strapped down, completely immobile.
Terror consumed me, shredding every last thread of rational thought.
I could feel death closing in.
Cassidy stood there, watching me struggle, a twisted smile spreading across her face.
“Nora, do you want to know something?” she said, her tone almost conversational.
“Eight years ago, that note you gave Lucas? I threw it away. He never saw it. He has no idea it even existed. All this time, he thought I was the one who called the police that day. That’s why he’s so devoted to me. If I asked for the stars, he’d find a way to pull them out of the sky for me.”
My eyes widened in shock, my mind reeling at this revelation.
“And three years ago? When I broke my leg skiing? I loosened the bindings myself. But I told Lucas you sabotaged me.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper, but each word hit me like a thunderclap.
“That paternity test? It was fake. I used my own hair, Nora. That man in the countryside? He’s my biological father. Lucas never doubted it for
a second.”
I stared at her, my disbelief turning into pure, unfiltered rage.
“Oh, and those gambling debts your father owed? That was me. I set him up. I made sure he lost everything.”
9:50 AM
<
G
She listed every one of her crimes, one by one, like she was bragging about her accomplishments.
Her laughter echoed through the room, manic and chilling.
But then, as she laughed, tears began streaming down her face.
“As long as you’re alive,” she said through gritted teeth,
Her words froze me to my core.
I felt like I had been plunged into a frozen lake.
The fury inside me had no place to go, no way to escape.
heart will never truly belong to me. But if you die, he’ll finally love me.”
I wanted to stand up, grab her by the shoulders, and demand to know why she had done all of this to me.
But my body refused to move.
My vision blurred, and the room began to spin.
I gasped for air, desperate and broken, like a fish suffocating on dry land.
I could feel my life slipping away.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
Someone stormed in and dragged Cassidy away from me.
Another person rushed to turn the machines back on.
And someone else–someone familiar–was shouting desperately for the doctors to save me.
12
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
When my mind finally cleared, my vision sharpened, and an overwhelming sense of lightness washed over me.
Was this what they called a final moment of clarity before death?
Lucas Hart was sitting beside my hospital bed.
The room was quiet, just the two of us.
He looked at me with an expression I didn’t recognize–grief, regret, pain… all tangled together.
“Nora, I’m sorry.”
“I know the truth now. I know I wronged you.”
“Please… just live. I’ll do anything you want. Anything.”
He paused, his voice trembling.
“Nora, do you remember the first time we met?”
“Nora, I love you. I’ve loved you since that day. I thought I’d found the person who saved me… but I was wrong.”
“Nora, can we start over? Please? Would you love me again?”
I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“Lucas, I won’t love you again.”
P
Love or not, it no longer mattered.
This was the end, in this life at least.
In the next life, I hoped we’d never meet again.
I was so tired.
I just wanted to sleep.
And when I woke up, I wished I could be fifteen again–the carefree little girl I once was, living a life untouched by pain.
One year later.
Cassidy and her father from the countryside were both sentenced to life in prison.
They wouldn’t be getting out, not in this lifetime.
After putting everything in order, Lucas left for Eldoria alone.
He only brought one item with him–a small box.
No one knew why he went, or when he would return.
“Breaking news: Lucas Hart, CEO of the Hart Corporation, was euthanized yesterday morning in Eldoria. His body has been donated to a local medical school.”
“Sources reveal that during the procedure, Lucas was holding a small urn close to his chest. The name on it read: Nora Hart, my wife.”
