Chapter 6

Clara's POV

Cold.

A biting, freezing wind laced with the salty stench of seawater whipped against my face like knives.

I struggled to open my eyes. A sharp, intense pain instantly swept through my body from my wrist, shoulder, and ear, causing me to gasp.

I found myself tied to a thick concrete pillar. Beneath me were coarse sand and rocks. Less than two meters ahead of me was a sheer, bottomless cliff, below which lay a raging sea crashing violently against black jagged rocks.

"You're awake?"

A voice dripping with malice spoke up beside me.

Struggling to turn my head, I saw that Chloe was also tied to a pillar. However, unlike my bloody, battered state, the ropes on her were loose, her clothes were neat, and not a single strand of her hair was out of place.

Not far away stood several burly men wearing black ski masks, holding knives and clubs.

"Where is this?" My voice was so raspy I could barely make a sound, and my throat was thick with the taste of blood.

"The seaside cliff. I handpicked this beautiful spot," Chloe said, staring at me with a venomous smirk. Lowering her voice, she hissed, "Clara Somers, you certainly are hard to kill. You survived three gunshots. But it doesn't matter. Today, you won't walk away alive."

A flicker of understanding crossed my cool eyes. "You hired these men."

"So what if I did?" Chloe laughed triumphantly, a crazed look in her eyes. "As long as you're breathing, Justin's eyes will always wander to you. You think I can't tell how he looks at you? Only when you vanish from this world completely can I secure my place as Mrs. Foster in peace!"

"You're pathetic." I looked at her, my eyes devoid of fear, filled only with deep pity. "What you stole through lies is something you can never hold onto, even if you kill me."

"Shut up! You bitch!" Striking a nerve, Chloe's face twisted in rage.

Just then, the shrill wails of police sirens and the roar of a helicopter sounded in the distance.

"They're here!" The leader of the kidnappers immediately tossed his cigarette butt aside. He untied Chloe and me from the pillars, dragging us roughly to the very edge of the cliff. He bound our waists with two long ropes, clutching the other ends tightly in his hands.

If the kidnapper let go or cut the ropes, we would plunge instantly into the endless abyss behind us.

Several black Maybachs screeched to a halt nearby. Escorted by a crowd of bodyguards and police officers, Justin Foster rushed out.

When he saw me covered in blood and Chloe weeping hysterically at the edge of the cliff, Justin's face turned stark white, and his eyes grew blood-red.

"Stay back! One step closer and I'll push them both off!" the kidnapper leader roared at Justin, brandishing a sharp dagger.

"I'll give you however much money you want! Don't touch them!" Justin's voice cracked with panic.

"I don't want money! I want a life!" The leader sneered. "’m only claiming one life today. You can save only one of these women. The other will die alongside my men!"

The air seemed to freeze in that very instant.

Only one could be chosen.

Justin stared fixedly at the two women at the edge of the cliff.

Tears streamed down Chloe's face as she shook her head frantically. "Justin, save me! I'm so scared! I don't want to die, Justin, save me!"

But I was terrifyingly quiet. I didn't cry, nor did I call out for help. The ocean breeze whipped my long hair across my face, and I simply looked at Justin in silence. In my clear eyes, there had once been warmth and endurance. Now, there was only a barren, desolate silence.

"Counting down from ten! Ten! Nine!" The kidnapper pressed his dagger against the two ropes.

Justin looked at the gunshot wound on my shoulder that was still oozing blood. In that brief moment, I felt as though he was on the verge of calling out my name. But Chloe's shrill, desperate screams cut him off completely.

"Three! Two!"

"Let Chloe go!"

Closing his eyes, Justin screamed out the fate-sealing decision with all his might.

At the edge of the cliff, the howling wind seemed to pause for a second.

Looking at the man who had abandoned me without a single shred of hesitation, I suddenly let out a soft laugh.

That laugh was poignant and resolute, as if a thousand pounds had been lifted from my chest.

For three years, I had held his hand in the dark, endured his explosive temper, and soothed his terrors. I had believed that even if there was no love, there would at least be a shred of basic human empathy.

As it turned out, in his eyes, I was worse than a dog. When his dog died, he felt rage; but I was merely a sacrificial lamb used to preserve his true love.

"Alright! Justin is a man of his word!"

The kidnapper leader grinned wickedly and slashed his dagger down.

The rope tied around my waist snapped instantly.

The moment I lost my balance, my body fell backward like a withered autumn leaf, plunging into the endless abyss.

Amidst the rushing wind of my rapid descent, I looked up at the man on the cliff edge whose eyes had suddenly flown open, his face masked in utter shock and terror.

"Justin Foster," my voice was as light as a sigh, yet it clearly pierced through the howling sea breeze, crashing into his eardrums, "the thing I regret most in this life... is being your eyes for three years."

With those final words, my frail body was completely swallowed by the churning black waves.