Chapter 3: He Wants Me to Die

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: He Wants Me to Die

That day, the pain was so intense I passed out.

Six days before the incident, I woke up to a bright sky.

The rain had passed, and the sun was shining brightly. I struggled up from the floor, the blood between my legs already dry.

"Julian, I’m so scared. What do I do? What do I do?"

Erin’s sobs came from the living room. She was trembling nonstop, saying she was being targeted by a serial killer.

She was afraid of dying.

"Julian, we checked the surveillance footage. Erin was indeed being targeted. Should we call the police?"

"Don’t... Julian, don’t call the police. This killer is brutal. He specifically preys on young women. The police have already found six bodies and still haven’t caught him. If we provoke him..."

Terrified, Erin shook her head, refusing to let them call the police.

"Erin, don’t be afraid." Julian held Erin, comforting her gently.

It wasn’t that he was incapable of tenderness. He had just never shown a shred of it to me.

I stood frozen, awkward and stiff, unsure whether I should leave or stay.

"Erin, what were you wearing when you walked through Hollow-tree Alley yesterday?" Julian’s close friend, Zeke Zane, asked.

"A red dress." Erin said, glancing over at me. "Cece..."

I didn’t say anything. I looked away and walked toward the kitchen on trembling legs, hoping to find something to eat.

"Julian, I have an idea," Zeke Zane said, looking at Julian. "We can lure the killer out. We catch him first, then call the police. That way, if we screw up, he can’t retaliate against Erin. It’s the safer option."

Julian nodded. "Let’s hear it."

"We get a woman to wear Erin’s dress and go to Hollow-tree Alley in the middle of the night to lure him out," Zeke Zane explained to Julian. "There are cameras everywhere, and we’ll be watching. Nothing can go wrong."

Julian frowned. "What a terrible idea. Why don’t you send your girlfriend?"

Erin’s eyes fell on me again. "Cece," she began in a small voice, "you don’t look so good. Are you all right?"

"Why bother with her?" Julian pulled Erin tighter, his voice full of annoyance. "She almost got you killed, and you’re still worried about her?"

The hand I was using to pour hot water froze, and a sharp pain shot from my chest through my entire body.

"Make her go! We have the perfect person right here! She almost got Erin killed, so she owes her. Let her go and atone for it!"

"Yeah! Make Cece go! She and Erin already look somewhat alike. She should be the one to go!"

I looked at Julian in a panic, desperate for him to say no.

’He knows perfectly well that I’m afraid of the dark. How could he send me to such a desolate place in the middle of the night...?’

Julian paused, his gaze falling on me, cold as ice. After a long moment, he spoke. "You owe Erin. You have to pay her back."

His words plunged me into a bottomless abyss.

My fingers went completely numb. I lost my grip on the cup, and scalding water spilled all over the back of my hand.

The water was scalding, yet I felt as if I had lost all sensation.

Ten years. I had spent ten years trying and failing to warm this man’s heart.

But Erin had won it so effortlessly.

"I’m not going..." I refused. I couldn’t possibly gamble with my life.

"Julian, don’t force Cece..." Erin’s eyes reddened. "Cece didn’t mean to push me down the stairs."

"Don’t speak up for her!" Julian suddenly flared with anger.

Even Erin was taken aback.

He got up and strode toward me.

I shook my head, terrified. "Julian, I’m not going!"

"It’s not up to you!" Julian was dead set on making me go.

"Our men will be watching. We won’t let you die," Julian said, as if giving me his assurance.

I looked down, hot tears scalding my eyes.

"Pay back your debt to Erin, and I’ll consider you reformed. I won’t target you anymore," he said in a low voice, as if dangling a carrot in front of me.

And against all reason, I believed him. "Will you really... guarantee my safety?"

"Obviously," Julian said, his patience wearing thin.

"Julian, I don’t owe Erin anything," I said, looking at him with desperation. "After the killer is caught, will you promise me one thing?"

’I wasn’t trying to bargain with him; there was just something I had to tell him.’

"Don’t push your luck." Julian’s expression changed in an instant.

I lowered my head and said nothing more.

Living in the Fletcher family’s home, I was already at their mercy. I loved him, and I feared him.

"Fine... I’ll go," I agreed. "Consider this me repaying you for saving my life all those years ago."

I placed my life in Julian’s hands.

’Once this is over, I’ll be the one to break off our engagement and give him his freedom. I’ll go abroad and leave the Fletcher family forever...’