Lucy’s POV 

Who said only the hero gets to rescue the heroine at the climax? 

Her best friends can do it too. 

And Rubina and Sheela were living proof of that. 

The second the last knot came undone and the rope slipped from my wrist, I collapsed forward into Rubina’s arms. My limbs felt like water while my brain felt all foggy. But despite the swirling chaos, I felt safe in her trembling hands as she steadied me. “It’s okay. You are safe now. We are safe now.” 

Then came the sound–sirens, cutting through the basement walls like a blade. 

Of course. The police arrived. So typical. Always after the climax. 

Outside the apartment building, I was wrapped in one of those crinkly foil thermal blankets–the kind that made you feel like a burrito wrapped in aluminum foil. 

Sheela hovered beside me, bundled in a matching one. Her arm was looped protectively through mine as a nurse gently dressed the wound on the back of my head. 

Rubina stood a few feet ahead, speaking in a low, firm voice to one of the officers. 

Clara was being dragged out of the building in handcuffs. Her hair was wild, her lips curled in frustration, her wrists shackled behind her back. She thrashed against the officer guiding her, her voice echoing with shrill curses. 

“I didn’t do anything! She’s lying! They’re all lying! That-” She jerked her chin toward Rubina. “She’s the one who hit me! I’m the victim here. 

She assaulted me!” 

Rubina didn’t bother responding. She simply raised her middle finger with a brave calm as one officer read Clara her rights while another stood by the open SUV door, watching her like she might snap again at any moment. 

As they shoved her into the backseat of the police SUV, Clara caught my eye. Her gaze was just as vicious as it had been minutes ago. It wasn’t the arrest that infuriated her–it was the fact that I was safe. Free. And she wasn’t. 

The door slammed shut, cutting her off from the world–and from me–for good. 

Then I saw it. A stretcher being wheeled out of the building’s entrance. 

It moved slowly, almost ceremoniously, as if the paramedics understood that what it carried wasn’t a rescue but a story waiting to be told. 

The body on the stretcher was fully covered in a white sheet. Head to toe. 

Until a gust of wind–strangely timed, eerily precise–swept through the narrow gap between the buildings. The sheet lifted ju revealing a pale face. Eyes closed. Blood drying between the brows. 

vinches, 

Marco. 

I froze. My breath caught in my throat./ 

1/3 

D 

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Chapter 159. 

A single bullet wound sat cleanly between his eyebrows like someone had aimed with terrifying precision. No blood spatter Just one clean. 

silent end. 

The world dulled around me. No voices. No sirens. No flashing lights. Just that image. That face. That moment burned into my memory (da a scar that would never fade. 

Then Sheela’s arm tightened around me. She’d seen it too. And now she was sacred to hell, just like me. 

Rubina stepped back toward me, her face twisting with worry. 

“Fuck. She did that?” Her voice trembled slightly with shock as her gaze locked onto the body. But the way she wasn’t scared like the rest of us, how she stayed calm, almost too calm, sent a chill skittering down my spine. “Clara shot that guy? Wait a minute… isn’t that… Sterwalt Mansion’s ex–chef? What was his name again… ah… um=” 

“Marco,” I said slowly. 

“Yeah. Marco,” Rubina echoed, her expression darkening. 

“Goddamnit, Ru,” Sheela muttered, looking at her with horror. “We were lucky she wasn’t armed. If she had been…” Her voice trembled. “Oh god.” She clasped her hands together as if in prayer. “Thank you. Thank you for saving us.” 

“Yeah,” Rubina murmured. “Thanks to God… and especially, for saving Lucy.” 

I turned to look at her–Rubina, who was more worried about me than herself. My vision blurred with hot tears of guilt and regret. I had said terrible things to her. I doubted her. Blamed her. Accused her. Insulted her. Got jealous of her. I did everything a bad friend could do–and yet, here she was, standing by me, worrying for me. 

If it weren’t for her, maybe Clara would’ve sold me off to that psycho plastic surgeon… and taken my place. Despite everything I’d done to hurt her, Rubina hadn’t even thought twice before stepping in to save me. I could never repay her for that. Not in this lifetime. 

I stood shakily from my seat. “Ru…” 

The word caught in my throat as hot streams of tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t deserve her forgiveness. It felt selfish to even ask for it. 

“It’s okayyyy…” she said gently, taking my hand and rubbing it. Her touch was warm, comforting–pure kindness. “Everything is fine now. None of this was your fault. Clara manipulated you.” 

“But still…” I sobbed, my voice breaking. “I was a horrible friend.” 

“That you were,” Rubina said without missing a beat. Then she smiled and pulled me into a tight hug. “But… we can work it out.” 

Sheela stood up and wrapped her arms around both of us. “Well, I am the walking, talking epitome of an ideal friend. You can learn from 

meeeee.” 

Rubina and I both burst into soft laughter at Sheela’s cute narcissism, and a couple of seconds later, Sheela’s soft laughter joined ours. 

The moment was so pure, so magical, so fulfilling, that for a brief second, I almost forgot the traumatic things that had happened in the last 

few hours. 

“But… by the way…” I pulled back from the hug, wiping my tears. “Where’s Kaiden?” 

It felt a little off and heartclenching that so much had happened to me–even the police had arrived—but he was still nowhere to be seen. I know Rubina. If something had happened to me, Kaiden would’ve been the first person she called—even before the police. So it couldn’t be that she didn’t inform him. Which only meant one thing. 

He didn’t come. On purpose. 

1536 Thứ 7 Ango 

Chapter 159 

Was he that upset with me? 

Was this his way of saying that it’s over? That we… are over? 

my spiraling thoughts, reading me like an open book. “Before your negative side starts throwing a pity “Wait, wait, wait,” Rubina cut into party, let me just say this–we did try calling Raiden. A dozen times. But his phone’s out of network. He must’ve gone AWOL 

I blinked. AWOL? That… wasn’t great. But it also wasn’t abandonment. It meant he didn’t know. He didn’t ignore me—he simply wasn’t reachable. A small weight lifted from my chest. 

“A–AWOL? What do you mean?” I asked. 

“You guys must’ve fought pretty badly,” Rubina said softly. “That’s when he usually does it–disappears to his secret haven and shuts the world out. The first time he went AWOL was when his mom passed away. The last time? When you broke up with him.” 

My stomach twisted. 

“Oh… do you know where his “secret haven” is?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. 

“I… have…” Rubina squinted, thinking hard. “No idea,” she finally said with a small, guilty shrug. “Sorry.” 

“Oh.” I stared off into the distance, zoning out–not really seeing anything. Worrý pooled in my chest. If only I hadn’t been so reckless, he wouldn’t be so hurt. It’s all my fault. I owe tons of apologies to him and others. 

To be continued…