The Heiress He Left to Die

Chapter 4

Avery's POV:

The acrid smell of disinfectant flooded my nostrils.

I struggled to open my eyes. A stark white ceiling came into view.

Caleb sat at the edge of the hospital bed, the corners of his eyes tinged red.

The moment he saw I was awake, he leaned in close, his face full of guilt.

He lifted his hand to touch my face, but I instinctively turned my head away.

His hand froze in midair before he awkwardly pulled it back.

"Avery, you're finally awake. You scared me to death. How did you end up under the car?"

His tone was filled with confusion and what might have been genuine concern, though I couldn't be sure.

I stared at him expressionlessly, my voice hoarse and rough.

"What were you two doing in the car?"

It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Caleb's face flushed instantly, red creeping all the way to his ears.

His gaze darted away, refusing to meet mine.

After a long, stammering silence, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"There... there was a cockroach in the car. Sylvia and I were trying to catch it."

The moment the words left his mouth, his phone exploded with noise. It was my father calling.

His voice burst through the speaker, frantic and panicked.

"Caleb, this is bad! Sylvia's phobia has gotten worse! The doctor says she needs desensitization therapy immediately. We can't put it off any longer! It only works if the person who was there with her participates!"

After hanging up, Caleb exchanged a glance with Mrs. Whitmore, who had just arrived.

The two of them flanked me on either side and began dragging me out of the room.

The cast on my leg cracked under the strain, and pain drilled deep into the marrow of my bones.

Every jolt felt like torture.

Mrs. Whitmore spoke as we moved, her tone laced with condescension.

"We're not as cruel as those kidnappers who threw you into the crocodile pit. We'll just take you to the bullring outside town for a little while. Help Sylvia with her desensitization, that's all."

I struggled with every ounce of strength I had left, dragging my broken body behind me.

But I was too weak. My strength was no more than an ant's.

The car jolted along the road until we reached the abandoned bullring outside town.

They roughly stripped me and dressed me in a glaring red outfit.

Sylvia stood by the railing, toying with a small knife in her hands.

Her face was pale, her body trembling slightly, but a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.

There was no trace of fear in her at all.

She looked at me, her voice shaking as she put on an act of timidity.

"Avery... when I saw you fall into the crocodile pit that day, I was so scared I got sick... Only if you help me with desensitization therapy can I get better..."

Her words dripped with grievance and innocence.

As if every bit of this was somehow my fault.

I clung to the railing with both hands, my knuckles white.

My knees pressed into the cold concrete, blood seeping from my wounds and staining my pant legs.

I turned to Caleb and let go of the last shred of my dignity.

"Caleb, please... let me go..."

My voice was filled with a humility and tremor I had never known before.

Caleb looked at me, hesitation flickering in his eyes for a few seconds.

In the end, he reached out.

One by one, he pried my fingers from the railing.

His fingertips were cold as ice.

"The bulls inside are all sick ones we picked out. They're not aggressive. It'll be over soon. Just bear with it."

The words had barely left his mouth when he shoved me hard into the bullring.

Sand and dust filled the air, hitting me in the face.

On the other side of the pen, several bulls stared at me with unblinking eyes.

Each one was massive, their eyes bloodshot, foam dripping from their mouths.

Something was clearly wrong with them. They were unnervingly agitated.

The next second, the largest bull charged straight at me.

Its sharp horn slammed into my chest.

I flew through the air like a fallen leaf.

I crashed hard onto the unforgiving sand, my internal organs shifting out of place.

More bulls closed in around me.

Heavy hooves trampled over my arms, my back, my legs.

A thick, metallic sweetness surged up my throat.

I opened my mouth and spat out a mouthful of scalding blood.

My vision blurred, and the sounds around me grew distant.

Outside the railing, Mrs. Whitmore and Caleb suddenly stood and leaned forward.

Just then, Sylvia clutched her head and crouched down, groaning in apparent agony.

"My head... my head hurts so much..."

Caleb immediately turned away from me and rushed to her side.

Panic filled his face as he helped Sylvia to her feet and led her toward the exit.

The group surrounded her, their steps hurried.

No one looked back. No one spared a glance for me, lying in the blood-soaked sand.

The sound of his leather shoes faded into the distance.

Step by step, they crushed the last remnants of my hope.

I lay on the cold ground, blood seeping from my body into the earth.

The last thing I saw was their retreating figures, anxious and attentive to Sylvia.

Outside the emergency room at the hospital, Caleb handed Sylvia over to the doctors and let out a sigh of relief.

But his heart pounded inexplicably hard.

It felt as though something important had been lost forever.

He spun around abruptly and grabbed his assistant by the arm.

His voice carried a tremor he couldn't quite hide.

"Where's Avery? Which room did you take her to?"

The assistant's forehead was slick with cold sweat, his face deathly pale.

His lips trembled, and for a long time he couldn't form a complete sentence.

"Mr. Rivers... By the time we got there... Ms. Whitmore had already stopped breathing...

"Before we could even call a doctor to resuscitate her... a group of men in black showed up... and took her body..."

End of Avery's POV.