The wind howled around us.
Carrie stood at the edge of the cliff in a white dress, her body swaying dangerously. The sea breeze whipped her skirt into
the air–she looked as fragile as paper.
“Carrie!” Three brothers shouted anxiously, “Step back! Come back to us!”
She turned around, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Christian… Lysander, all of you… I don’t want to leave you. But Blair doesn’t want me here. I’m dying anyway–might as well end it now. At least I won’t be in Blair’s way anymore…”
The four of them immediately turned to glare at me.
“Blair!” Christian shoved me forward. “Say something! Get her back here!”
I watched this ridiculous scene play out in silence.
“You’re really gonna drive her to her death, aren’t you?” Lysander shouted. “Just say something, damn it!”
I met their eyes and said calmly, “You keep saying I find her presence unbearable. Do you have any proof?”
The moment those words left my mouth, everyone froze.
“I’ve never once said that. This is the first time I’m hearing it–from her.”
Carrie’s face went blank. She didn’t know how to respond. Her tears fell harder, and the next second–she turned and
threw herself off the cliff!
“Carrie!”
All four of them lunged at once–just in time to grab her by the wrist.
They dragged her back to safety, and she collapsed into their arms, sobbing hysterically.
“It’s okay now. You’re safe,” Christian murmured, holding her tightly, voice so gentle it barely sounded real. “We’re all here
for you.”
The other three patted her back. “Don’t be scared. We’re not letting anything happen to you.”
Carrie buried herself in Christian’s arms, still crying–but then she started struggling again. “No–let me go! Let me die!
Blair… she doesn’t want me alive…!”
She lunged for the edge again, and the four of them rushed to hold her back.
“Enough!” Zayden turned and shot me a vicious glare. “Look what you’ve done to her!”
Orion wrapped an arm around Carrie’s trembling shoulders, his voice soft and reassuring. “Don’t worry. As long as we’re here, no one can drive you away.”
I stood still, watching the whole scene unfold, a cold smile tugging at the corner of my lips.
I knew Carrie too well. This was her favorite trick–threatening suicide to win sympathy. And every single time… they fell for it.
Chapter 8
6.96%
“Beta,” Lysander ordered coldly, “tie Blair over the cliff to reflect on what she’s done. She wants proof? She can think real
hard about where she went wrong.”
As the others turned away, Carrie flashed me a triumphant smile.
That look in her eyes said it all: You’ll never beat me, Blair.
The pack warriors stormed forward, tying me up with coarse rope soaked in wolfsbane. They dangled me over the cliff’s edge like some kind of punishment display.
The rope bit into my skin, but I didn’t even flinch.
As Christian left, he paused–just for a moment–to glance back at me.
My gaze met his, calm and steady. For a second, I saw something flicker in his expression.
But right then, Carrie “fainted” in his arms. He panicked, scooped her up, and left without looking back.
And just like that–I was alone.
The wind howled. The rope swayed with each gust, grinding deeper into my blood–soaked wrists.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I was tied too tight to reach it.
So I started moving. I twisted my wrists against the rope, slowly loosening it with each grinding motion.
Blood ran down my arms, dripping from the rope. But I didn’t feel a thing.
Finally, the rope slackened. I twisted my body and lunged, catching hold of a jagged rock on the cliff’s edge. Inch by inch, I
pulled myself up.
By the time I crawled over the edge, my hands were a bloody mess.
Trembling, I fished out my phone. One new message.
[Ms. Swan, the transfer of your private island has been finalized. You may move in at any time.]
I stared at the message, then looked at the rope still dangling from the cliff. And I laughed.
If I was going to disappear–might as well let them think I died.
I’d never win against Carrie. But she forgot one thing-
The living can never compete with the dead.
With that thought, I took off my coat and hung it on a nearby branch by the cliff’s edge. Then I cut the rope and let it fall
into the abyss below.
The jacket flapped in the wind, like a ghost’s final trace before plummeting into nothingness.
“Goodbye,”
I whispered–not to any of them. But to the girl I used to be. The one who once loved them with all her heart.
I flagged down a taxi, climbed in, and never looked back.
This time, I’m saving all my love… for myself.
