She faced a thousand-foot cliff that was completely unobstructed. She was terrified. Her face was pale and she trembled uncontrollably.
“Jacob, save me!” she cried out, sobbing.
Jacob’s vision blurred as he took in the scene, his head splitting with pain. He ripped off his seatbelt and lunged at me. His hands were tightening around my throat.
“Laura, have you lost your mind? Get her down this instant!”
His usually cool eyes now held a savagery impossible to ignore. His grip tightened relentlessly.
It was the third time I had seen him lose control. The first was when I watched my parents die in a car crash, consumed by flames.
I ran toward them, sobbing. Jacob yanked me back with all his might.
He screamed, “Laura, calm down! If you charge in now, you'll die! What would I do if something happened to you?”
He held me tight, terrified I'd throw caution to the wind and rush into the flames.
He whispered in my ear over and over, “Laura, we'll have a new home, just you, me and our baby.”
The second time was when I pushed Kiara, who was pregnant and came to provoke me down the stairs. He lost control, clutched the bleeding Kiara and raged at me.
“Laura, you fucking crazy! If anything happens to Kiara, I'll never let you go!”
The third time was today. And it was the second time Jacob lost control over another woman. It was clear enough. He truly was in love with that woman.
“Laura, don't fucking play dumb! Get your people to put her down right now!”
Jacob's eyes were bloodshot. His gaze was seething with violent fury.
My breath was stifled, but I wasn't afraid at all. I laughed, but it was a strained and hollow laugh.
“How can I let her go when you haven't made your choice yet?”
Fear gripped him, his hand tightening around my throat, trembling slightly. He knew I meant every word. Kiara's life or death depended on his every thought.
“You're insane! You're completely insane!”
He couldn't make a choice. He loosened his grip, flung open the car door and lunged to save her.
My gaze flicked to his left hand, the missing little finger glaring like a wound. A mocking laugh spilled from my throat.
“Jacob, what do you think you're doing?”
He turned and roared at me. But in the next instant, a heart-wrenching, agonized whimper escaped him.
I watched his face contort in extreme pain. Unable to hold back, I burst into laughter. Yet my hand turned the knife in my grasp, slow and deliberate.
“Jacob, you robbed me of my right to be a mother. How could you possibly have a child of your own?”
The day I severed his little finger was when I had wanted to do just that. It was just unfortunate. He sensed it ahead of time. And dodged it.
Jacob was drenched in cold sweat. The color drained from his face. His eyes were red as he stared at me, suppressing his pain.
Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “Is this what you wanted? If so, you can release Kiara now.”
Hearing this, I froze. My gaze drifted involuntarily to the spot where blood poured relentlessly from his wound.
Under such excruciating agony, I'd assumed he'd prioritize his own survival, so he'd asked me to take him to the hospital. Unexpectedly, his first concern was still that woman.
“Ahhh, Ah Jacob, help me!”
Kiara's terrified cries pierced through the window. Jacob didn't spare me another glance. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he opened the car door.
The agony made the veins on his neck bulge. Yet he charged forward without hesitation. Stumbling and staggering, he raced toward Kiara at the cliff's edge just as he had before.
