The wind howled through the mountains, and blood dripped from the edge of the blade. Zoey's hands shook as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The wind tore into her throat, piercing her windpipe. She swallowed blood which carried the bitter taste of rust. Her haste caused her to stumble and fall, scraping her knees and hands on the coarse rocks. There was no time to lose. Zoey picked herself back up and continued running. Despite the beautiful sunset in the background, the strong gusts shuffled her hair, adding to her disheveled state. She had nearly exhausted all her strength when she spotted Sarah's car. The old junk was vintage; God knew where she’d borrowed it from.Zoey drew close, her breaths in short gasps when she heard the wailing of an infant. Tears streamed down her face, a silent release of the tension and fear from sleepless nights.She pulled the car door open with force and carried the baby left in the front passenger seat in her arms. It was probably due
Laurence saw a missed call on his phone after a meeting. The contact displayed on his mobile screen took him by surprise. He quickly returned the call, but no one answered. Since the woman had not called his number in a long time, Laurence had reasons to suspect that she had either dialed the wrong number or butt-dialed him. It was no time to dwell on the matter, though. Laurence made multiple attempts to call her back, but the calls went unanswered, and her phone was eventually switched off. He clenched his phone tightly as his stomach churned. … Sarah watched as the burning car teetered on the edge of the cliff for a moment before plummeting down, consumed by flames. She lit a cigarette. Hiding her expression behind the wisps of smoke, she asked, "Is she inside the car?" The hired gun paused, then nodded, believing that no one could survive such circumstances. He replied, "Yes. Don't worry. She's dead for sure." He was paid to do a job, so he wouldn't cross the line and pok
Laurence had almost forgotten about the paternity test. He was the one who had insisted on getting it done, but the truth was, he couldn’t care less about the results now. It turned out people could be childish when they were in love. He constantly sought Zoey's validation, afraid of being invisible to her. He clenched his phone. "Alright, I'll be there." Since the highway was backed up for miles at around nine o'clock, Laurence took longer to arrive at the hospital. He wasn't in a hurry to get out of the car. Instead, he paced back and forth before heading to the clinical laboratory. The hospital was a hive of activity, so much so that there weren’t any nurses along the corridor. The hospital director immediately welcomed Laurence as he entered the building, knowing he was not someone to cross. After learning that Mr. Scott was there to collect the paternity test report, the hospital director ushered Laurence to his office. A nurse was sent to the nurses' station to retrieve t
Laurence tensed up, his fingers pale from straining. He sat rooted to the spot in the deafening silence. Since there was no response from Laurence, the police officer thought he had hung up. He checked, "Mr. Scott, are you still there?" The man's expression was hidden in the shadows. Clenching his phone, Laurence squeezed the air out of his lungs to talk. The catch in his throat made him struggle to speak. He forced, "I'm listening." Laurence's voice was already hoarse, but now it sounded like nails on a chalkboard as he answered the police officer's question lifelessly. Laurence blinked and found his face wet with tears. He asked, "Are you sure? Did you get the wrong person?" Could this be a case of mistaken identity? The police understood emotions could be running high in the family. He replied, "We believe Ms. Jenner's car rolled off the cliff, and the leaking gas tank caused an explosion. My colleague found her phone and jacket at the scene, which led us to her possible ident
"No." Laurence recalled the missed call. By the time he’d seen it and returned the call, there was no answer on the other line. He calmly swallowed the blood in his mouth, his bloodshot eyes despairing. He choked as he stifled a sob, "I didn't take the call. I was in a meeting." The harsh white light above cast a clinical pallor over the man's face.The police officer stared into Laurence's bloodshot eyes as if he could see the blood coursing through his veins. "Mr. Scott, do you feel okay? You can take a break in the lounge if you need to."Laurence pursed his lips into a straight line. "I'm fine." He had a lot of questions, but his mind was racing so fast that it felt like it was going to burst. His temples throbbed and pounded. How could she be fine one moment and gone the next? Why would she go to that place? It was remote, far away, and dangerous. It was like a nightmare he could not wake up from. Laurence was dragged into the deep, dark sea, his lungs burning as the water ent
The fight was quickly broken up since they were in a police station. Laurence was not one to take a hit lying down. He wiped away the blood from his lips and scoffed, then emotionlessly got up in Jason's face and landed a punch on him. Both men ended up with a battered face, neither of them with the upper hand. Jason gave Laurence the stink eye, not hiding the bloodthirst in his eyes. He strode to the police officer, his jaw tense, and said something before being led to the evidence room. Laurence could taste the blood in his mouth. The metallic aftertaste coursed through his esophagus. His presence was no longer needed at the station as the police officer had questioned him. Laurence refused to believe that Zoey was gone forever.The burnt car was still dangling halfway down the cliff. Due to limited resources, the wreckage had not been recovered. There was no surveillance in the warehouse or the mountain area, so there was no evidence of a third party's involvement. This evide
The two individuals talking behind Laurence's back felt a chill down their spine. The pair clammed up and looked behind them, only to meet a pair of cold eyes. They shuddered, and words couldn’t describe the looks on their faces. Laurence had overheard the duo gossiping about him. The tension was excruciating. Despite the cringe, they were socially inept enough to say hello to Laurence as if nothing ever happened. They behaved courteously, respectfully, and reverently. "Mr. Scott." Laurence drew close, his leather shoes quiet on the corridor carpet. The man's complexion under the harsh light was pasty. His dark eyes fixated on the women as he echoed their words in a chilling, flat tone, "Am I a madman?" The pair had thought they would get away with it since they were in a public space. At the very least, Laurence wouldn't give them a hard time about it. They were wrong. At a loss for what to do, the individuals stumbled for words before coughing out an apology. It only proved t
Hearing this, Mrs. Scott paused for a moment. She thought when her son had said “no longer here” he’d meant Zoey was no longer in Northwell. She didn’t automatically think the worst.Seeing Laurence in a trance, Mrs. Scott felt a little emotional. "You ought to calm down. All your life, you've hardly done anything out of the ordinary. Running around like a ..." She paused, stopping herself before saying the word "lunatic"—it wasn't the most pleasant thing to say. She continued, "... headless chicken looking for someone isn’t nice to see. You're only going to seem mentally unstable; it'd probably scare Zoey."As she spoke, her voice gradually trailed off. The whites of the man's eyes were streaked with discernible blood vessels, something she hadn't seen in her son in many, many years. He appeared fragile, as if he was on the verge of shattering. His gaze was so hollow and so helpless. His crimson eyes looked like they could shed tears of blood at any moment.It didn't seem like he w