Chapter 8 A Clean Break
1111 Words
The first time Ethan called, there was only a monotonous busy tone. The second time, the third time, and every time after, all the way to the ninth, the call remained completely unanswered.
Jocelyn watched from the sidelines with her arms crossed, a victorious smirk playing on her lips.
Ethan's heart sank with every passing second.
On the tenth try, the call was finally picked up.
He practically roared into the receiver, "Sister, come save me! Jocelyn drugged me..."
The word "sister" was their secret code.
Mindy and Ethan had agreed that as long as he called her sister, she would know the situation was dire and rush over to save him as fast as possible.
But the voice coming through the receiver wasn't the frantic panic he expected. Instead, it was Julian's voice, barely containing his excitement. "Babe, you're really pregnant? That's amazing!"
Immediately following that was Mindy's tearful, whiny voice. "Yeah, the medical report just came to my phone. Honey, I almost tripped earlier. Thank God I'm okay."
"With your condition right now, what about our wedding?" Julian's voice carried a hint of cautious probing.
Mindy's voice sounded almost eager. "It will proceed exactly as scheduled, of course."
"Oops, my finger slipped and hit a button. Gotta hang up now," Julian said. After his slightly smug voice rang out, the call was disconnected.
The busy dial tone echoed like a rusty, dull blade, hacking away at the very last shred of hope Ethan held onto.
Jocelyn let out a scoffing laugh, picked up her own phone, and dialed Mindy's number.
Mindy picked up instantly, replying impatiently, "Jocelyn, I already gave you the guy. Don't bother me again!"
Jocelyn turned the speakerphone all the way up and smiled. "Oh? So I can do whatever I want with him?"
"Even if you play him to death, don't bother me!" Mindy roared, but her voice cut short as Julian let out a sharp gasp in the background. "Julian! Julian, what's wrong?"
The phone was hung up with a sharp click.
When Jocelyn's clammy hand stroked his cheek, Ethan violently jerked his head away, shivering with absolute disgust.
"Did you hear that? I suppose you can finally let go of your pathetic little delusions now," she warned.
Ethan grabbed his own phone and dialed again.
A single thought consumed his mind, repeating like a desperate prayer. 'Mindy, please. Pick up the phone.'
But only the cold, automated voice answered, "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable."
Ethan's heart plummeted.
Mindy turned her phone off.
Staring at the darkened screen, Ethan laughed as tears streamed down his face. 'So this is the love Mindy spoke of. While I am struggling on the edge of hell, she is celebrating the arrival of a new life with another man.'
In a daze, he seemed to see the Mindy who had rescued him from a pack of wild dogs when he was seven.
The young girl's eyes had shone as bright as stars as she shoved a few piping hot, buttery biscuits into his hands. "Eat up. Once you beat them all up, I'll take you home."
In the blink of an eye, he was sixteen. She chased away all the girls who had a crush on him, her eyes fierce and rebellious. "Where do you get the nerve to go after my man?"
The scene shifted abruptly. The woman who said she would love him forever was handing a diamond ring to another man.
Suddenly, all his resistance crumbled, leaving him utterly defenseless.
The heat inside his body surged upwards, making even Jocelyn's calculating face look inexplicably intoxicating.
He bit down hard on his arm, the sharp pain bringing a sliver of clarity back to his mind.
Jocelyn held a stopwatch.
The clear countdown rang out. "Ten. Nine... One."
The doors burst open with a resounding bang.
Men in black stormed in and knocked Jocelyn out with a single punch.
Following the dim light, Ethan looked over. Leading the pack was a tall, slim woman.
As she stepped closer, he could finally make out her stunning features.
She gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Her voice sounded distant, echoing in his fading consciousness. "Ethan, I'm your fiancée. Your sister sent me to bring you home. Ethan? Ethan, are you okay?"
"Boss, if that drug doesn't leave his system soon, it's going to cause permanent nerve damage," a subordinate stammered with urgency.
Ethan felt a cold object being pressed into his hand.
The woman in front of him was still coaxing him softly, "Ethan, I'm your fiancée. We're going to get married as soon as we get back. Right now, I'm here to save you."
He felt like he was about to be melted by the heatwave, unable to hear anything clearly anymore. Instinctively, he reached out and hugged the woman in front of him.
Everything else followed in a frantic rush. In the final second before darkness claimed him entirely, Ethan thought, 'Mindy, we can never go back.'
When he groggily woke up again, Ethan realized the scenery on both sides was speeding backward.
He belatedly realized he was being carried forward.
Seeing him open his eyes, the woman beside him turned to look at him and pressed a remote control into his palm. "Ethan, press this, and you'll have absolutely nothing to do with anything here ever again."
Ethan stared blankly at the remote. Encouraged by her gaze, he pressed down the button.
The woman let out a low chuckle. "Done."
She took the remote back, tossed it aside casually, and gently patted his head. "Don't worry. Everything you need has been packed. Your phone has already been mailed to that person."
The woman paused. "It contains everything she needs to know."
Ethan nodded. He had too many questions, but even breathing sent sharp pains down his throat, so he had to let it go.
What he didn't know was that the moment his thumb pressed down, two massive explosions ripped through the night. The fire tore through the Jones family's lair. The second explosion swallowed the villa that he and Mindy used to call home.
And the private jet bound for Athana—on the exclusive flight route Mindy had arranged specifically for him—crashed into the deep ocean exactly ten minutes later.
Supported by the woman, Ethan boarded the private jet. The moment he settled carefully into his seat, her gentle voice murmured against his ear, "Get some rest. We're going home right now."
He slowly closed his eyes. 'Mindy, whoever you marry or build a family with from now on, it has absolutely nothing to do with me anymore.'
- Writer
