Exit Code: Their Betrayal

Chapter 4 Survival Instincts

Arthur proposed the stable trip after the “unfortunate incident” at the gala.

“Some fresh air will clear your head, Eve.”

I agreed because the system had ordered me to be there at noon. Clara was waiting beside the white fence in a cream riding outfit.

“What a coincidence!” she called.

Arthur treated her presence as a pleasant surprise. He pointed me toward an oak bench under a willow while he, Leo and Clara went to choose a pony.

“You look tired, darling. Rest here.”

I sat where the system needed me. At the paddock, Arthur lifted Leo onto the fence. Clara rested a hand on Arthur's arm as she pointed out a mare, and Leo laughed between them.

*“Final coordinate calibration in progress. Maintain position.”*

I didn’t move.

One of the stable hands screamed. Wood cracked at the far end of the field, and a black stallion burst through its enclosure gate. It ran straight toward the willow.

Its eyes were wide with terror. Panic and muscle carried it across the open field after it smashed through the enclosure gate.

People shouted and cleared the field. I gripped the edge of the bench and looked at Arthur.

He stood two strides from me. Clara was ten feet farther away.

Arthur ran to Clara and put himself between her and the horse.

And Leo, my son, the boy whose nightmares I had chased away for years, shrieked, his small voice piercing the chaos. “Daddy, protect Auntie Clara!”

Neither of them called my name.

The stallion was almost on top of me when a groom tackled me off the bench. We hit the grass as the horse passed. My arm scraped along a splintered fence rail, cutting from wrist to elbow.

I landed hard. The cut burned, and pain reached my shoulder before I could push myself up.

By the time I sat up, the stallion had been corralled. Blood ran down my arm and spotted the grass.

The shouting stopped once the stallion was corralled. For a moment, the field went quiet.

Across the field, Arthur held two fingers to Clara's throat to check her pulse. Leo had his face buried against her white riding pants. Arthur looked over only after Clara nodded to him.

“Evelyn!” he bellowed, stalking toward me. “What is wrong with you? Why didn’t you move? You know Clara’s heart can’t take a shock like this!”

He stopped over me while I pressed my palm to the cut.

I looked from his contorted face to the system’s countdown clock, now hovering silently in my vision.

**[00:05:00]**

Five minutes left in this world.

I started laughing. Arthur took a step back.

I stood and pulled off the suede jacket he had bought me. The Sterling family crest was stitched into its lapel. I dropped it in the trash bin beside the bench.

“Evelyn? What are you doing?” Arthur demanded, his anger shifting to confusion. “Evelyn!”

I walked toward the main gate. Arthur shouted again, and Leo joined him. I kept walking.

The system spoke in my head.

**“Erasure protocol initiated. Exit commencing.”**