They pocketed their phones, locked the door dead shut, and came at me, cracking their knuckles.
"You think it's over? Not that easy."
"Aaron said we're supposed to teach you a real lesson. This is what you get for stealing another man's girl!"
A bottle shattered against my head, and my vision drowned in a smear of red.
Fists and feet rained down on me. In the chaos, I dialed my emergency contact.
Ursula's voice came through fast. "Now what?"
"Ursula, help me, it hurts so much, they—"
But before I could finish, she snapped, her patience gone.
"Thomas, would you stop with the act? Aaron has a show tomorrow. I'm busy getting him to sleep. I don't have time to play along with your little drama!"
The call cut off. The screen was crushed to pieces under someone's heel.
Through the curses and the jeering, someone's foot slammed into my chest.
I thought I heard a crisp snap deep inside my ribs.
Pain, sharp as if something had punctured me clean through, swallowed me whole in an instant, and I coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
Before I lost consciousness completely, I thought I saw the door kicked open, someone rushing in...
...
To make sure nothing would disturb her while she enjoyed Aaron's concert in peace.
Ursula turned her phone off the moment she hung up.
Not until ten o'clock the next night, when Aaron finished his last song and stepped up to give his thank-you speech.
Did she finally turn it back on.
The concert had wrapped up beautifully, so it was time to make room for the wedding.
She was just about to text me, to set up going ring shopping together the next day.
But a flood of missed calls and messages poured in.
Every one of them from her assistant.
Up on stage, Aaron spoke with tender feeling.
"The reason I could go from a nobody, a housemaid's son, to holding my own concert, is because of one person who cared for me and stood by me year after year."
"Even the guitar pick I'm using tonight, she stayed up late making for me."
"Ursula, will you come up here and share this important moment with me? I have a surprise for you too."
The spotlight swung onto Ursula's face, but she didn't notice a thing.
Her eyes were locked on her phone, her face white as a ghost.
On the screen, you could feel the assistant's panic just from the words.
"Ms. Henson, please, could you pick up the phone?"
"Thomas was beaten by a mob. His titanium rib got kicked out of place and punctured his pleura, causing massive internal bleeding. He died on the way to the hospital..."
