Sunset Over an Empty World

At the sight of Toby at death's door, Elvira rushed over like crazy and tightly hugged him. Even as the bodyguards' batons struck her, she refused to let go.

I smiled bitterly to myself.

For someone so terrified of pain, Elvira had actually gone to such lengths for Toby.

Mr. and Mrs. Britton rushed over frantically as soon as they got wind of what was happening.

"Wallace, Elvira is still young and foolish—please forgive her just this once," they pleaded. "If you can't stand that good-for-nothing Toby, I'll personally ship him abroad. How does that sound?"

When Elvira saw Mr. Britton groveling before me, she immediately flew into a rage.

"Dad, Toby hasn't done anything wrong!" She shot me a vicious glare and hissed through gritted teeth, "Wallace, you're going to regret humiliating my parents like this for that little tramp."

Mr. and Mrs. Britton's faces went pale with terror as they trembled and looked at me.

Seeing that my phone had been smashed, I hurriedly gathered Whitney into my arms and headed for the car.

Right before leaving, I hurled one last icy barb at Elvira.

"Elvira, I won't forget this."

Elvira shot me a hateful glare in return, then dragged the whimpering Toby and her panicked parents away.

I rushed Whitney into the examination room. The doctor said she'd just suffered some pregnancy stress, and only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But in the short time it took to go out and buy chicken soup, Whitney—who should've been resting in the hospital bed—had vanished without a trace.

Just as I was frantically searching for Whitney throughout the hospital, Elvira was the first to find me.

She shoved her phone in front of me, looking smug. "Are you looking for that little tramp?"

On the screen, Whitney had a time bomb strapped to her chest. The countdown numbers on the display were ticking down, frame by frame.

00:59:59

00:59:58

00:59:57

Terrified and enraged, I began trembling violently and shouted, "Elvira, have you lost your mind?"

"Wallace, you'd better tell me where Toby is," Elvira replied with a look of disdain and her usual condescending tone. "Otherwise, Whitney and the baby she's carrying will be blown to bits because of you."

My eyes turned bloodshot as I screamed hysterically, "How would I know where Toby is?"

Elvira flew into a sudden rage. "Who else but you would lay a hand on Toby? Are you so jealous that you'd actually resort to kidnapping him?"

With that, she put the phone to her ear and commanded the person on the other end, "Speed up the time."

She thrust the screen toward me again with a smirk.

00:09:59

00:09:58

00:09:57

The incessant beeping of the bomb's countdown kept fraying my nerves.

My eyes wide with rage, I broke down sobbing and screaming, "It really wasn't me!"

But Elvira didn't believe me. She grabbed an ashtray nearby and slammed it viciously against my forehead.

"Are you that jealous of Toby?"

A sharp pain shot through my forehead, and bright red blood trickled down my cheek, blurring my vision.

For Whitney's slim chance of survival, I didn't dare fight back. I was terrified that in her rage, Elvira would hurt Whitney again.

With a thud, I dropped to my knees before Elvira.

"Elvira, I really didn't kidnap Toby. Whitney is my sister, the most important person in my life. I'm begging you, please let her go," I pleaded desperately.

But this didn't arouse Elvira's sympathy at all. She crouched down and patted my cheek.

"I don't believe you. When you kidnapped Toby, did you ever think about how important he is to me? You're not going to hand him over, are you? Then, I'll just—"

Before Elvira could finish, my bodyguard entered, dragging Toby along.

"Mr. Cochran, this guy was sneaking around at—"

Elvira shoved me aside and rushed forward to embrace Toby.

"Toby! I was so worried about you. You—"

Ignoring the sharp pain in my head, I grabbed hold of Elvira's hem and interrupted, "Where is Whitney?"

Looking at the blood streaming down my face, Elvira was about to speak when Toby suddenly kicked me away. His leather shoe ruthlessly ground against my fingertips.

"Wallace, you must be pretty pleased with yourself today. It's all your fault I'm injured so badly. Shouldn't you be apologizing to me first?"

I jerked my head up to look at Elvira, only for her to say dismissively, "Do as he says, or else."

For Whitney's sake, I gritted my teeth and prostrated myself toward Toby.

"I'm sorry."

Toby was insufferably smug.

"Then are you still willing to marry Elvira? Do you still care that I took her virginity?"

My heart clenched violently, wracked with sudden, excruciating pain.

But Whitney was still waiting for me.

The words spilled from my lips, laced with humiliation. "I don't care anymore. You two can do whatever you like."

After hearing this, Elvira smiled with satisfaction before speaking as if bestowing a favor, "That little tramp is at the Eastern Suburb Villa. Now get lost!"

I scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the hospital.

By the time I reached Whitney, the countdown on the bomb strapped to her had dwindled to just 50 seconds.

Amid Whitney's sobbing screams, I lunged forward, frantically trying to untie the ropes. But no matter what I did, the bomb wouldn't come off.

00:00:30

00:00:29

00:00:28

Consumed by despair, I broke down and called Elvira for help.

"Elvira, which wire do I cut to save Whitney?"

"I was just messing with you. That bomb is fake," Elvira snapped impatiently and hung up with a bang.

"It's real! The bomb is real! Elvira, don't hang up! Don't hang up! Elvira! El–"

The timer hit zero, and a deafening explosion tore through my body before I could even react.

The bomb on Whitney detonated in an instant.

Shockwaves rippled through my vision as I screamed, "No!"

The next second, I was sent flying by a tremendous force.

The world around me fell instantly silent. I drifted in an endless darkness, dizzy and disoriented, for what felt like an eternity.

When I finally regained consciousness, battered and bloodied, the smoke in the warehouse had long since cleared.

All I could see was Whitney's torn remains, sprawled chaotically in a pool of blood.

I scrambled over and gathered her into my arms, letting out a desperate, guttural wail.

The next moment, my phone automatically connected, and Elvira's detestable voice came through again.

"Wallace, the press conference is about to start. You promised you'd come and clarify the whole virginity thing. You'd better not go back on your word. Get over here now!"

I stared fixedly at the blood pooling beneath Whitney, the fury in my eyes blazing as if it'd burn everything to ashes.

"Fine. I'm coming right now," I said emphatically through gritted teeth.