Chapter 8
288 Vouchers
Chapter 8
The nurse looked down at her condescendingly, “Miss Shirley, if I save you, who will save me? I’m just an ordinary person.”
She freed her pant leg from Rita’s grasp and turned to leave.
Rita struggled, “I just need to borrow your phone, please. I promise you won’t get involved.”
After two seconds of hesitation, the nurse handed over her phone.
Rita thanked her repeatedly and dialed a familiar number.
The call connected only after ringing to the end.
Though knowing he couldn’t see, she bowed deeply, whispering repeated apologies like a groveling supplicant.
Her voice scraped the very dust beneath her feet.
A shrill laugh suddenly pierced through the receiver: “Seems life inside isn’t treating you well…”
Before the sentence finished, Alexander’s voice echoed faintly in the background: “Rita, who is it?”
“Ah, the wedding planner needs us to finalize details. Let’s hurry.”
The line went dead with a dial tone.
Her last flicker of hope extinguished.
Rita numbly returned the phone, murmuring thanks.
“Don’t worry, I won’t run. I’ll go back to my room quietly.”
Mid–sentence, she spun toward the corridor’s end window.
As she leaned halfway out, a terrified shout ripped through the air: “Don’t jump!”
Watching her teetering figure, Sean Jackson’s brow furrowed, his breath catching mid–rhythm.
Rita turned, staring blankly at Sean.
A man’s guilt toward a woman remains an unstoppable weapon.
Opportunities vanish in moments.
Now was the perfect moment.
“Sean Jackson…”
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Chapter 8
288 Vouchers
She whispered his name, tears streaming unchecked.
“Rita… let me take you away,”
Sean extended his hand, promising: “No one will hurt you again. Trust me.”
He stepped forward instinctively. Rita jerked backward: “Stay back.”
Sean froze, eyes bloodshot. “Come down, please. Anywhere you want, I’ll take you…”
“Sean, you were my first. My first love. Those years with you, I loved you completely.”
“I’m grateful for everything you gave me. So even knowing I was just a replacement, a plaything… I never hated you.”
“Nobody ever treated me as kindly as you did. Those years… I was truly happy, though it was just a dream…”
“Rita, it wasn’t like that, let me explain…”
She shook her head gently, tears falling on cue: “Thank you, Sean. But I pray to never cross paths with you… or him… in this lifetime.”
With her final word, she leaped decisively from the ledge.
Sean lunged forward, his voice shredding as he screamed her name.
During the plummet, Rita laughed bitterly.
Wind exploded in her ears. Icy river water flooded her nostrils. Like a stone cast into an abyss, darkness swallowed her instantly.
Currents slammed her against a smooth boulder. Scorching pain seared her back, yet cleared the fog from her mind.
She recalled the words the nurse secretly typed on her phone–follow the current, after three bends lies the reeds.
Her limbs long numb from cold, she gritted her teeth and surged forward with the current’s force.
After what felt like eternity, her lungs burned as if about to burst. Struggling to lift her head, she glimpsed swaying dark shadows through blurred vision-
Reeds!
Nguyenmmoning her last ounce of strength, she clawed at the muddy bank and dragged her leaden body into the
reeds.
Footsteps suddenly pounded behind her, then hands gripped her shoulders.
Shirley held her breath.
Until a familiar voice rasped in her ear: “Damn, how did that lunatic woman do this to you?
If not for your SOS, I’d never have found this godforsaken place.”
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Chapter 8
Listening to Barbara’s rambling complaints, Rita finally exhaled in relief.
That call to Alexander had been mere misdirection–she’d actually seized the chance to signal Barbara.
She’d trusted Barbara’s sharp mind to connect the dots.
But she hadn’t expected Barbara to arrive so swiftly.
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“Rita wants to break me into madness. Fine–let’s turn the tables. I’ll gift her a grand spectacle: my ‘suicide‘ after un- bearable humiliation should delight her.”
Barbara arched an eyebrow: “Relax, everything’s set.”
A man approached. “Rita, search parties are combing the area. We procured a corpse matching your description from the morgue–details meticulously handled. Even if recovered, no one will suspect.”
Rita met Barbara’s gaze, awed by her precision.
“Promised you a big play, didn’t I? Handpicked this corpse weeks ago. Guaranteed–your own father wouldn’t recog- nize it.
Move now, or it’s too late.”
Rita embraced her friend, whispering gratitude.
“Rita, new ID and flight tickets await. I’ll escort you to the airport immediately.”
Accepting the documents, Rita entered an unmarked car.
Moonlight filtered through reeds, illuminating her battered face and eyes blazing with intensity.
From this moment, she was free.
Alexander, Sean…
May we never meet again.
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