The Silent Goodbye

Back at the Jules residence, Benjamin did not go through with it in the end.

Nissa cried nonstop. Midway, she even started vomiting. Whatever desire he had instantly vanished.

Hearing her retching in the bathroom, Benjamin frowned and called out, "Don't tell me you've caught something contagious. If you're sick, go get treated. Don't come back here and infect me!"

Nissa came out wrapped in a bathrobe, her face pale with embarrassment. She quickly shook her head. She could not let him know it was morning sickness, so she typed on her phone: "I ate something bad."

Benjamin glanced at her screen with disinterest and did not press the issue. Instead, he said, "Don't forget what I told you. Charlotte wants something light to eat today. Go make it now. I'll take a shower and head to the hospital after."

The moment she heard she could get away from Benjamin, Nissa turned and bolted. Her eagerness to escape made him frown in mild displeasure.

After his shower and a change of clothes, Benjamin came downstairs to find that Nissa had already packed the food.

He glanced at the meal, then narrowed his eyes. "You only made enough for one person?"

Nissa was confused. She gestured with her hands. "Wasn't the food for Charlotte?"

She assumed Benjamin would not eat her cooking anyway. After all, in the early days of their marriage, she put in great effort to make him meals, but he never touched a single one. They all ended up in the trash.

Benjamin's face darkened, but he didn't say more. Instead, he tossed her a card and told her to buy groceries from the supermarket and put in more effort for Charlotte's meals.

Then he left, carrying the hot food with him.

Once the door shut behind him, Nissa let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion. She glanced at the back of her hand. She burned herself while cooking. The skin was bright red.

She did not bother telling Benjamin. If she did, he would only mock her.

She quietly retrieved some burn ointment and gently applied it.

The truth was, she got used to taking care of herself.

Her younger sister was sick for years, and they had no other relatives. To put it bluntly, if she died one day, there might not even be anyone to bury her.

Just then, a message came through on her phone.

It was from Marcus.

She read it, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

Marcus said he deeply regretted introducing her to Benjamin. He wanted to help her leave, even offering to arrange a new life for her overseas.

More importantly, he would transfer her sister to a hospital abroad. He even promised to fully cover all of her future medical expenses.

Relief flooded Nissa's chest.

She typed out a grateful reply. At last, she had a way out.

She could finally escape this hell.

Nissa wiped away her tears and picked up the card Benjamin threw at her.

Since she would be leaving soon anyway, she figured she might as well do one last thing: Buy some groceries and fill the fridge.

After shopping at the supermarket, she missed the bus.

But since the villa was not too far, she decided to walk back.

As she walked, something started to feel off.

The streets were quiet, the night air cold. Wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves in a way that felt almost sinister.

And underneath the sound of the wind, she could hear footsteps.

Disjointed and uneven, those footsteps kept following behind her.

She glanced around, and it was darkness everywhere. The shadows stretched long across the ground, as if something were lurking.

Nissa felt a chill crawl up her spine. She quickened her pace.

But just as she turned a corner, a gang of thugs closed in on her from behind.

She froze, heart pounding, and stumbled backward a few steps.

The leader, a man with dyed blond hair, rubbed his hands together with a greasy grin. "Hey, pretty girl. How about keeping us company tonight?"

Panic surged through Nissa's mind like an alarm.

She dropped the shopping bags and turned to run.

But in the next instant, they grabbed her. Their tight, merciless hands pulling her back.

A damp cloth pressed against her face.

Within seconds, the world spun, faded, and then went black.

When Nissa woke up, her head was pounding like it was split in two.

Her memories came rushing back.

She bolted upright. Thankfully, she wasn't tied up. She immediately scrambled for her phone and sent a group SOS message to everyone in her contacts, praying that someone, anyone, would come help.

After confirming the messages went through, her eyes caught a new notification in the corner.

It was from her sister's attending physician.

Her stomach dropped.

A terrible premonition seized her as she opened the message with trembling fingers.

What met her was a short message with few words. "Complications. Urgent. Come Now."