Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
Audrey implored with urgency, “Cecilia, we don’t have the luxury of time. They’re planning to end us soon. Let’s team up to take down these guys. We can settle our own scores later.”
Audrey’s composed manner made Cecilia second-guess whether she was the scapegoat of their schemes, as Audrey had warned.
Loosening her hold, Cecilia hissed a warning, “Stay put. I’m going to check.”
Cecilia crept to the door and caught the tall man in the midst of a phone call. “Got it. Consider it done. No survivors, you can be sure of that. The crazy one won’t survive the trip, making things easier.”
Cecilia’s heart raced. Her act of madness at the psychiatric facility was a strategy to seek treatment and dodge legal repercussions.
Despite her efforts, the legal system had found her mentally fit at the time of the crime and confirmed her death sentence.
It dawned on Cecilia that she was the “crazy one” the tall man referred to. She had been thoroughly tricked. They indeed intended to kill her.
Retreating, Cecilia accidentally nudged a wooden plank, causing it to emit a loud creak.
The tall man snapped to attention. “Gotta go!” he snarled and ended the call before storming into the room.
In a frenzy, Audrey attempted to dart away, which, oddly enough, put the tall man at ease. He was more worried about Audrey escaping than Cecilia.
The tall man moved closer to Audrey and said, “Seems like you are frightened, trying to run away…”
Audrey, petrified, shouted, “Stay back! What do you think you’re doing?”
The tall man lit up a cigarette, murmuring, “Wish I had the time to stick around, but alas…”
“Thud!” A dull thump echoed through the room.
The tall man cried out as his head erupted in a spray of blood, dropping dead.
Audrey let out a breath of relief. She had noticed Cecilia lying in wait and had intentionally drawn the tall man’s attention to herself.
“Watch out, make sure there’s nobody else around…” Audrey’s warning was abruptly cut off as she noticed Cecilia grabbing a stone.
The room was filled with the sound of heavy, relentless thumping as Cecilia furiously continued to strike the tall man’s already still body.
“Ah!” Audrey shrieked, clasping her hand over her mouth.
Cecilia was in a frenzied rage, relentlessly pounding with no sign of stopping.
Just then, the heavier man burst in and announced, “Bro, the ride’s ready.”
Yet, the heavier man froze in his tracks, the tall man nowhere in sight, only to catch Cecilia by a haystack, Laughing nonsensically.
Walking in, the heavier man cursed, “Wretched hag, get out of the way. My bro…”
Suddenly, the heavier man’s words trailed off, and he dropped to the floor with a “thud.”
After a beat, the heavier man exploded, “Bro! Bro!”
But in place of the tall man, there was only a grotesque mess of flesh.
“What? Keep yelling,” Cecilia faced the heavier man with a wicked grin.
“Why aren’t you calling out to your bro now?”
The heavier man’s legs gave out, his expression the epitome of horror as he staggered back. He yelled, panic-stricken, “Stay back, you beast! Monster…”
But the next second, only cries of pain were heard.
“Ah! It hurts!” Echoes of the heavier man’s terrified scream filled the room.
In Cecilia’s mouth was a piece of bloody flesh.
The heavier man held his bleeding face, screaming in pain, “Ah!”
Cecilia burst into malicious laughter, clapping her hands. “Look who’s the monster now! Calling me a monster? You’re the real beast here!”
Her laughter spiraled into hysteria, a testament to her lost sanity.
Audrey took this chaos as her cue, quickly freeing herself and dashing toward the exit.
The commotion made Cecilia’s smirk disappear in an instant. Monster..
Once celebrated for her nice appearance, she was now just a hideous version of herself. It was all Audrey’s fault! If not for Audrey, Cornell wouldn’t have dealt with her for her doings and she wouldn’t have ended up like this.
Cecilia’s appearance had been marred to the point of being almost unrecognizable. She laid the blame wrongly at Audrey’s feet. In her eyes, it was entirely Audrey’s doing.
Blaming Audrey entirely, Cecilia sprung forward, yanked Audrey back by her hair, and hurled her across the room.
Thankfully, Audrey hit a haystack, not the hard floor, but the throw still dazed her.
“Thought you could escape, huh?” Cecilia taunted, moving closer with a terrifying glint in her eyes. Her madness was palpable.
Cecilia’s deranged state and effect of the drug granted her an extraordinary force and agility, rendering her nearly unstoppable.
Audrey worked to keep her voice steady and said, “Cecilia, killing me now is just what they want.”
“You think I can’t see through you?” Cecilia’s eyes narrowed, “You’re just spewing nonsense to get away, right?”
Audrey said yes inwardly. She said to Cecilia, “Did you ever stop to think who might want us both out of the picture?”
This question seemed to hit Cecilia hard. It was something Cecilia hadn’t thought about.
As Audrey leaned back subtly on the floor, she continued, seeking to gain time, “Shouldn’t we at least know who’s behind this before the end? Got any ideas who it might be?”
Cecilia mulled over Audrey’s question, her thoughts in disarray, feeling like her mind was under attack.
Audrey insinuated, “Do you think Katie orchestrated your rescue?”
The look on Cecilia’s face said it all.
Cecilia never really knew Katie up close, but the pieces fell into place. Her savior was on Katie’s payroll. Despite donning with a mask, Cecilia recognized her savior as precisely the one who had slipped her drugs in that dimly lit alley.
Audrey knew her guess was spot-on. “Katie’s behind this, right? She’s not out to save you. She wants to hurt me while throwing you under the bus!”
Cecilia lost her cool. “That’s ridiculous! You’re just trying to confuse me!”
Cecilia refused to believe the truth. She never had issues with Katie.
Even though Katie was once engaged to Cornell, Katie had always been nice to her. Plus, Katie was the one who brought clients for her back when she couldn’t get any near to Cornell.
“Why do you think Katie went out of her way to save you? What’s in it for her?” Audrey’s voice was sharp with accusation. “Remember what those guys said? Katie’s playing you as her pawn. She’s got a knack for pulling strings from the shadows, never touching the dirt herself!”
Cecilia’s face showed a flicker of doubt as she weighed Audrey’s point, which held some truth.
Audrey’s true motive wasn’t to convince Cecilia. She was just buying time. Trying to negotiate with someone as unpredictable as Cecilia was a gamble. After all, Cecilia had already ended two lives without a second thought.
As Cecilia’s attention wavered, Audrey edged toward the exit and, seizing her moment, sprinted out. She wedged a stick she’d found into the door handle, jamming it shut.
Cecilia’s reaction was immediate, her fists pounding against the barrier.
Audrey knew the makeshift lock was temporary. Spinning around, she noticed a black SUV by the entrance. She pulled the door open and started searching, her hands finding the keys in the glove box.
As Audrey slid the key into the ignition, she flinched at the sound of the door giving way.
A livid Cecilia was barreling toward the SUV.
With a start, Audrey noticed the car had a stick shift. It had been ages since she’d handled one. Trusting her instincts, Audrey fired up the engine, stepped on the clutch and brake, slipped it into gear, and let go of the handbrake.
But the SUV jolted!
Regaining her composure, Audrey realized her mistake with the pedals.
With the brake released, she finally got the car rolling smoothly.
Suddenly, there was a thunderous crash from above!
Cecilia, thwarted by the locked doors, had scrambled up to the roof rack and was now atop the SUV. The sunroof was her only barrier.
Audrey barely had a moment of relief before Cecilia’s wild, red eyes fixed on a brick, and she began to hammer at the sunroof.
At that instant, Cecilia seemed like a creature from a nightmare.
Then, without warning, the car’s system booted up.
Just then, chilling laughter echoed inside, sending shivers down Audrey’s spine.
Audrey scanned the interior. Apart from the chaos unfolding above, the car was empty.
The car’s speakers crackled to life. “Hello, how are you?”