Lizbeth stepped over corpse as she approached me.
"You better be ready to get my revenge."
My eyes were red as I clutched my aching lower abdomen. "You really think it was me? Lizbeth, I'm not stupid."
"Are you saying that I'm the stupid one here?" She kicked an unconscious gangster in front of me aside before reaching out to grab my jaw and forced me to look up.
"Didn't I warn you before? I told you to behave. So, why didn't you?"
I laughed, tears running down my face. “I'm just teaching him a lesson. I didn’t mean to get him killed!”
“So Rick was jealous of you and he had to get stabbed and take the blame for you?” Her voice shouted over mine.
“Tommy, do you even know how ridiculous you sound when you lie? He wouldn’t even step on an ant!”
In that moment, I lost all strength to argue.
I watched as she gently helped Erick stand up and walked past me. She said one thing to his men, “You know what to do. Don’t kill him—just leave him breathing.”
“Ah—!”
A knife went straight through my calf. I tried to get up, but another blade pinned my other leg to the ground. The pain was unbearable.
My eyes burned red as I watched her walk away. She held Erick, gently covering his eyes. Her voice was soft, like she was comforting a child.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Those words… They pulled me back to the eight years ago.
The first time our enemies came for me, I didn’t know how to fight. She stood in front of me, alone and killed everyone who tried to hurt me.
Then she turned around, covered my eyes with her scarf and whispered the same words, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
My mind went blank. Instinctively, I reached out toward her, trying to hold onto her warmth.
The next second, a blade cut through my right arm completely.
When I woke again, I was alone in the abandoned factory. I pulled a blood-soaked plane ticket from my pocket and crawled out from this personal living hell.
“Lizbeth, we..."
"Will never meet again.” Lizbeth helped Erick into the car.
