Jay's POV
Cold air hit my face first.
Then the pain in my wrists.
Then the swaying.
Slow.
Back and forth.
My eyes opened.
For one second, I didn't understand what I was seeing.
Sky.
Too much sky.
Then I looked up.
Metal.
A massive crawler crane above me.
My hands were tied high, secured to the hook line.
And I was hanging.
Hanging.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
I looked down.
And I wished I hadn't.
Cliff.
Sharp rocks below.
Ocean crashing far beneath.
If I fall from here… I won't survive at all.
My breathing turned shallow.
Think.
Think.
Scan the place.
I forced myself to look around instead of down.
A flat clearing near the edge of the cliff.
Construction equipment.
A few vehicles.
And—
"Yuri."
He was tied to a pillar a few meters away.
Head down.
Still.
"Yuri!" I shouted, panic cracking through my voice. "Yuri wake up! Yuri!"
He moved slightly.
"Yuri!"
His head lifted slowly.
He blinked.
Looked around.
Tried to move.
Couldn't.
His eyes shot up to me.
"What… happened?"
Before I could answer—
A voice came from behind us.
"I finally got you."
My chest tightened.
The figure stepped out of the shadows.
Sienna.
"Why are you doing this?" I demanded. "Sienna, what is wrong with you?"
She smiled, but there was nothing warm in it.
"For revenge."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"If not for you guys," she snapped, eyes flashing, "my dad would be alive."
"We didn't do anything to your da—"
Suddenly the crane jerked.
I screamed as my body swung violently.
The rope creaked.
The wind rushed past my ears.
"HEY!" I shouted at the man operating the crane. "Gago!"
Sienna laughed softly. "Even tied up, you still talk big."
I swallowed hard.
My arms were already aching.
If I fall from here…
No. Don't think that.
Below, Yuri's voice turned sharp. "You'll pay for this."
Sienna pulled a knife from her pocket, letting the metal catch the light.
Several men stepped out around her.
She looked at them calmly.
"When her boyfriend and his friends arrive," she said, "make sure they don't survive."
They nodded.
My stomach twisted.
She sat down casually on a crate like this was a picnic.
"You know," she said, "you guys are so crazy."
Her gaze locked on me.
"You believed I was a good person. What fools."
She let out a bitter laugh.
"You spoiled everything. Especially Keifer. If he didn't lie to me, we would have been happy together. I would have finished all of you quietly."
My head snapped up.
"You fell in love with Keifer?"
"Way before you met him," she replied coldly. "I met him at Kingsground."
Yuri frowned. "You go to Kingsground?"
"Five years ago," she continued, ignoring him, "when you and Keifer were there. The girl he saved from being kidnapped…"
She smiled slowly.
"That was me."
My mind raced.
"That was you?"
"I searched for him after that," she said, her voice almost trembling for a second. "Only to find out he's with this ugly—"
"Finish that sentence," I warned.
Her eyes darkened.
"You are blinded," I said quietly. "Not just by revenge. By love."
Her jaw tightened.
"I'm not," she snapped. "Keifer is my past. Now it's just revenge."
But her voice cracked slightly.
And I saw it.
She wasn't just angry.
She was broken.
The crane shifted again slightly.
I looked up at the operator.
"Move that crane one more time and you'll see," I warned.
He smirked.
Had the audacity to tease the controls.
My stomach flipped.
I glanced up at the rope binding my wrists.
If I try removing it…
I might fall.
And never recover.
My heart pounded in my ears.
No.
No, no.
Don't be stupid.
Help is coming.
It has to be.
I shook my head slightly, whispering to myself.
"Just wait. Just wait."
The wind howled over the cliff.
Below me was nothing but rocks and death.
Above me was steel and rope.
And somewhere out there—
Keifer.
End of Chapter.