Revenge Contract

Chapter 0004

Tiptoeing through the dimly lit corridor searching for Zayn, I strained to catch the sound of voices. My sister’s tone floated from the room ahead, sharp and laced with something that made my stomach knot. I pressed my heel carefully against the tiles, every step a battle to keep my presence hidden.

Just as I reached the doorway, her words froze me in place.

"You have feelings for me? I already know you made it so obvious," Her voice dripped with venomous amusement. I pressed myself to the edge of the frame, heart hammering, desperate to see who she spoke to.

"Only a dense fool like my sister wouldn't realize," she continued, her laughter brittle. The words sliced through me like shattered glass.

"I thought it was just a phase and overlooked your cute crush. But how dare you?'' She stepped closer, her heels clicking like gunshots.

"How any of you and Emma are so similar? Why do you both not know your place?" her voice rang out with anger, each word a sharp dagger cutting through the air with every word echoing through the room.

"You desire the things you can't have and create a mess_" Her tirade cut short as her eyes caught mine at the entrance. For a moment, silence suffocated the room.

"Emma," My husband’s lips parted, his face stricken with panic. He had no strength to form excuses. My sister stormed out, rage blazing in her wake, certain that I had orchestrated her downfall to ruin her company. Zayn lurched as if to follow her, but stopped, trapped in his own guilt.

"It's not true, right?" He pursed from going after her after my words. "There is no way you would do this to me right?"

"Has anyone ever told you it's rude to listen to other people's conversation?" His voice thundered, breaking the fragile silence.

"I meant to tell you today," he whispered then, almost too softly, and slid an envelope into my hands.

With trembling fingers, I unfolded the paper. My world collapsed in an instant. A divorce letter—cold, neat, merciless. My breath caught, my body numb as the reason behind it seared itself into my mind.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to comprehend the sudden unraveling of our life together.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

“Sorry?” My voice cracked, trembling with disbelief. “Why did you marry me at all, Zayn? So you could be with Elena? Was I just a placeholder?”

He shook his head, but his next words shattered me. "Because I pitied you."

"What?" The word escaped me in a strangled whisper.

"You worked hard to win your parent's favor," he slid his hand into his pocket. "And you were happy with whatever they gave you. You were like myself, like me, you were a pitiful soul."

Tears fill my eyes but I rub them off. I was tired of crying. Tired of chasing after a man that didn't want me.

"How dare you take pity on me? You have no idea how hard I work for my life, who gave you the right to pity me? Who gave you the right?" My fists beat against his chest, fury overtaking grief

"Am sorry, Emma."

"Stop it!" My scream cracked through the room as I dropped the letter.

My heart leaped into my throat as I caught the sight of the police through the corner of the room. Panic surged through my veins, and without a second thought, I dashed away. Adrenaline coursed through my body, urging me to flee as fast as I could.

Every footstep felt like thunder, echoing in the confines of my mind. I knew I had to escape, otherwise I would rot inside the jail. My only chance is to reach my car and disappear into my car before they catch me.

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as I gripped the steering wheel with trembling hands. The weight of betrayal pressed down on my chest like a ton of bricks, each breath a struggle against the suffocating reality of my situation. How could my mother and Zayn do this to me?

I had always believed in family, in loyalty, but now those ideals felt like nothing more than shattered illusions. My own mother had thrown me to the wolves to protect her precious daughter's company, leaving me to face the consequences of her lies alone.

But now, as I sat alone in my car, the world around me felt empty and void of any hope. Where could I go? I had no plan, no destination in mind. I was just running, running away from the pain, the betrayal, the crushing weight of it all.

My phone began to ring, I hesitated before answering it after seeing it my mother.

"Mother," my voice wavered, betraying the turmoil raging within me.

“How are you, Emma?" her voice washed over me like a bittersweet tide.

"Mother, why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything wrong," I asked, unable to keep the edge out of my voice.

"Now is not the time to be emotional. If words get out to the public, we don't know what will happen," there is a pregnant pause on the other end of the line, filled with the weight of unspoken truths.

"You should repay my kindness with this. I took you in when you were a homeless orphan," I closed my eyes, willing the tears to stop, but they floured unabated, a relentless torrent of pain.

There was another pause, this one heavier than the last, before she finally spoke again.

"I'm sorry for the harsh words. Who else can I ask for help? You're the only one, Emma," her words cut through me like a knife, reopening wounds I had thought long healed.

Hearing this makes fresh hot tears stream down my face, each one a tiny explosion of emotion that I can contain. My lips trembling and sore, felt swollen from the countless times I had bitten them, trying to stifle the sound of my grief.

"The attorney will settle the rest. If you promise to return the money and reflect you won't even get probation. And I'll pay the fine for you."

Her words struck like a physical blow, leaving me reeling, unable to respond. I blinked rapidly trying to clear my eyes enough to see the road.

"Emma, please? We're family, after all.”

But I wasn’t fooled anymore. That word was nothing but chains.

I can't believe she had turned my own words against me, twisting them into weapons.

I tried to blink away the tears, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My lip throbbed where I had bitten down hard, trying to stifle my sobs. The taste of blood was sharp on my tongue, mingling with the salt of my tears.

Without realizing it, I had approached an intersection. The traffic light had turned red, but my distracted mind didn’t register the change. It wasn’t until I was almost in the middle of the intersection that I noticed the red light. Panic surged through me, and I instinctively turned the wheel to the left, desperate to avoid running the light.

In that split second, everything happened too fast and too slow all at once. The blaring horn of a lorry filled my ears, and I glanced to my side just in time to see its massive form barreling toward me. There was no time to react. The impact was violent, a thunderous crash that reverberated through my entire body. The car crumpled around me, metal screeching and glass shattering.

Pain exploded in my head, and the world spun into a dizzying blur of lights and darkness. My last coherent thought was a desperate, fractured plea: “Please, no…”

Then everything went black.