He Left Me To Die, So I’ll Ruin Him

Chapter 3

Ethan didn't move. His voice remained as casual as if he were discussing the weather.

"She's inside, thinking about what she did."

Alarm flashed across Dr. Cole's face. He strode forward. "It's below -22°F. You locked a student inside an unheated tent? She could die!" He turned on Ethan. "Mr. Hale, untie that rope and let her out now!"

Ethan looked down at the team doctor, who was several inches shorter than him.

"Dr. Cole, I'm the expedition leader hired by Northcrest Glacier Research Base, and I'm in charge of this glacier field practicum. My job is to keep university students in line when they refuse to follow rules or accept discipline. This is how I handle them. Stay out of it."

Dr. Cole shook with fury and pointed at Ethan. "This is abuse! This is murder! If something happens to her, can you take responsibility for it? Untie that rope now!"

Ethan gave a cold laugh and pulled the multi-tool from his pocket. Then, as everyone stared in shock, he flung it away.

The multi-tool sailed through the air and vanished into a deep ice crevasse in the distance.

Dr. Cole stared at him, trembling with anger. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ethan spread his hands and laughed. He pointed toward the tent flap bound tight with climbing rope and ice axes.

"Oh, Dr. Cole, I'm so sorry. My hand slipped, and the multi-tool fell into the crevasse. I guess we'll have to wait until the practicum is over and go back to the base for another tool to cut the rope. She's the one refusing to answer us or admit she was wrong. A little more time to think won't hurt." He sneered. "This is the kind of student Westbridge University produces. She's determined to make life difficult for everyone, and I'm doing you a favor by teaching her some discipline."

Madeline immediately jumped in. "Dr. Cole, please don't blame Ethan. He really did drop it by accident. Soph has always had a terrible temper at school. The second something doesn't go her way, she throws things and slams doors. She definitely heard us just now, but she still refuses to answer." She added, "She's pulling the spoiled-princess act again. She just wants to make things difficult for everybody."

Dr. Cole's face turned livid, his chest heaving. He looked at the tent entrance completely sealed by ice axes and rope, then at the bottomless crevasse. For the moment, there was no obvious way to force the door open.

All he could do was pound twice on the tent flap and shout through the canvas.

"Sophie! This is ridiculous! If you can hear me, answer! I'm contacting Northcrest right now and having a rescue team sent out to get this tent open. If you keep refusing to cooperate, I'm reporting you to Westbridge University for a major disciplinary infraction!"

The tent remained deathly silent. Only a cold draft carrying the metallic smell of blood seeped through the gap beneath the flap.

The students, already freezing after 2.5 hours in the blizzard, finally lost patience too.

"Sophie, just come out! Stop dragging all of us into this!"

"Exactly! Because of you, we're all stuck out here freezing!"

"You're so selfish. You fake being sick, then make the entire class suffer with you!"

Accusations flew from all around the supply tent.

I floated above them and watched Dr. Cole turn away angrily to contact the base. I watched classmates who had once sat beside me in lectures curse at my corpse. I watched Ethan smile coldly, utterly certain he was right.

Even as a spirit, I curled in on myself and wrapped my arms around my body.

I had once believed that if I was obedient enough, Ethan would eventually see the good in me. I had thought the medical report might earn me a shred of mercy.

Now I finally understood. To him, my life wasn't worth as much as one of Madeline's lies.

I had no tears left.

At the edge of the glacier, a local ranger approached slowly on a snowmobile. He was heading toward the supply tent to pick up fuel when he abruptly stopped.

The ranger sniffed the air. His gaze tracked across the ice to the dark-red ice crystals frozen beneath the tent flap.

"Something's wrong..."