The Storm Begins with a Whisper

The day before she left the country, Emma went to the church surrounded by giant trees.

Ever since the miscarriage, she had nightmares every night about a baby covered in blood crying out to her. She reached out to a priest to lay the baby's spirit to rest.

But when she got to the church, she saw a tall man kneeling right in the front. She recognized his silhouette immediately.

Someone started, "Didn't you hear? Mr. Coleman's soulmate is terminally ill. He walked all the way up from the base of the mountain to get a blessing for her."

The next person added, "The final stretch is so dangerous that he almost fell right off the cliff. He almost didn't make it."

The murmurs of other people in the church reached Emma.

Emma froze in her tracks. She could see the bandage on Wesley's arm, and blood was already soaking through.

She remembered he didn't believe in God. He never set foot in churches and refused to have any religious icons at home.

He won a rosary from a church at Plefvine at the company party, but he just quickly handed it to his assistant, Skyler Wright.

Even when she wanted to visit Helena's grave, he just stubbed out his cigarette and muttered dismissively, "She's gone. Putting flowers on a grave is just for the living to feel better."

But right now, he was on the cold floor before the altar, groveling like a true believer.

Emma sneered. A wave of bitter irony washed over her.

It turned out that Wesley wasn't an atheist. He just never cared enough to beg for a miracle before.

…

By the time Emma left the church, it was almost sunset. A cool wind blew through the valley, so she wrapped her coat closer.

She was heading down the stone steps when a dark figure darted out from the trees right in front of her.

Everything happened in a flash. Before she could even cry for help, the person covered her face, and she was knocked out cold.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting against a large tree. A few paramedics were frantically rushing a stretcher toward the cliff's edge. "Hurry. The victim is down there."

Emma staggered to her feet. Before she could make sense of anything, a tall figure walked up to her, his presence cold and abrupt.

Wesley snapped, "When you threatened Sandra, I thought it was just anger talking, Emma. I didn't think you would actually push her off a cliff."

He had her by the throat, slamming her back against the tree behind her. "It's a miracle Sandra survived that fall because of the rocks. Otherwise, I would have made you pay with your life."

Her breath caught in her throat. When she met his furious glare, everything suddenly clicked in her mind.

She choked out her words. "I didn't do it."

Wesley's tone was sharp enough to draw blood. "Don't even try to deny it. You and Sandra were both here, and now she's at the bottom of the cliff. How in the world is this just a coincidence, Emma?"

Emma clawed at Wesley's hand, struggling to breathe. Just as she was about to suffocate, Skyler rushed over, panting heavily. "We got her, Mr. Coleman. She's safe."

Hearing that, Wesley immediately let go of Emma and took off running toward Sandra. Emma doubled over, coughing hard.

With blurry vision, she saw Sandra on the stretcher, grabbing Wesley's sleeve. Her face was pale as she murmured, "I'm so scared, Wesley."

Wesley squeezed Sandra's hand and said firmly, "I'm here now. No one is going to hurt you."

He carefully helped her into the ambulance, then turned and said something to Skyler.

The next moment, Skyler came back to Emma, clamping a hand on her arm. "Forgive my offense, Ms. Emma."

Without missing a beat, he dragged her to the edge of the cliff and shoved her over. The feeling of freefall ended abruptly when she landed hard on a rock. The impact sent a brutal pain through her bones.

Looking over the edge, he said coldly, "Mr. Coleman said you went too far this time. This is your punishment. Now you get to feel what Ms. Sandra felt."

The sound of footsteps faded, and she was left by herself.

Her whole body was in agony. She tried climbing up a few times, gritting her teeth through the pain. But she just couldn't make it.

Emma curled up on the cold rocks, feeling completely overwhelmed by despair. She wanted to confront Wesley. Why would she try to kill Sandra when she was already dying?

Deep down, she knew the truth, and it was even colder than the freezing mountain wind.

In Wesley's eyes, she would never measure up to Sandra, and he would never believe a word she said.

…

With no cell service up in the mountains, Emma knew she couldn't just wait around to be rescued. She forced herself to get up.

Her nails dug into the cracks in the rock, her palms scraping raw. She fell over and over, but she kept pulling herself back up.

She pushed through failure after failure, leaving her battered and bloodied. In the end, she finally climbed back up.

With the gondola closed for the night, Emma had to drag her beaten-up body all the way down the mountain. By the time she got home, the sun was starting to come up.

She barely managed to clean her wounds before collapsing into bed and passing out.

She was still groggy when the door flew open. The next thing she knew, she was yanked out of bed and thrown onto the cold floor.