The Maybach sped dangerously along the pitch-black mountain road. The air in the car felt thick and suffocating.
Herminia rubbed her bruised, red wrists. She glared at the man beside her. "You are a lunatic."
Bradley ripped his tie off and threw it on the floor. He turned to her, eyes blazing. "You threw away your dignity for that pathetic actor?"
Herminia let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Ignacio is a thousand times better than a cheating piece of garbage like you."
Those words made Bradley snap. He lunged across the seat, grabbed her shoulders, and pinned her hard against the cold window. He squeezed her jaw, his face inches from hers. "As long as I don't sign that paper, you'll die as Mrs. Elliott."
Herminia lifted her chin, refusing to show a single ounce of fear. "I'll see you in court tomorrow."
Just as the tension hit a breaking point, Bradley's phone rang loudly. He pulled it out, annoyed. The name "Kristal" flashed on the screen.
He was about to decline, but he caught the look of absolute disgust in Herminia's eyes. Driven by dark, spiteful impulse, he hit accept.
Instantly, Kristal's hysterical crying blasted through the car's Bluetooth speakers.
"Bradley! The power went out in the apartment! Someone's banging on the door! I'm so scared!"
The muscles in Bradley's arms tensed immediately. His furious tone vanished, replaced by urgent panic. "Are you hurt? Did they get inside?"
Herminia listened to his gentle, worried voice. Her stomach churned violently. The nausea was unbearable.
"Please come back and save me," Kristal sobbed. "I only have you!"
"I'm on my way. Lock the bedroom door," Bradley promised softly.
He hung up and turned to the driver. "Turn the car around. Back to Manhattan. Now."
The driver looked in the rearview mirror, face pale and sweating. "Sir, this mountain pass is incredibly narrow. Reversing out of here will take too much time and it's extremely dangerous in the dark—"
Bradley cut him off with a glare and turned to Herminia. His eyes were completely cold.
"Get out of the car," he ordered. "I'll send another car for you after I make sure Kristal is safe."
Herminia stared at him. The middle of the night. Freezing autumn wind. A desolate mountain road with wild animals nearby.
"You're leaving me in the middle of nowhere for a phone call from that woman?" Her voice dropped to a whisper.
Bradley looked annoyed. "Kristal is in actual danger. Every second counts. I don't have time to argue with you. Just step out so the driver can maneuver safely. Stop being unreasonable."
That sentence cut the last thin thread holding her to him.
Herminia suddenly laughed out loud.
She didn't say another word. She reached over, pulled the handle, and kicked the heavy door open. Freezing wind instantly filled the car. She stepped out into pitch-black darkness. She didn't look back once.
A sharp, strange pain pierced Bradley's chest. He forced it down.
"Turn the damn car around!" he yelled.
The Maybach struggled to reverse into the narrow dirt path, tires spinning, before finally turning around and speeding away. The red taillights disappeared around the bend.
The mountain fell into dead, terrifying silence.
Herminia stood alone on the freezing asphalt, pulling her thin jacket tighter. Her body was freezing, and her heart felt like a lump of solid ice.
