When he raised the stick again, Anya tugged on his sleeve. “Erving, stop. Please. If you keep hitting her, something terrible might happen…”
Finally, he lowered his hand. He tossed the stick aside and crouched in front of me.
“Remember this,” he warned. “If you ever hurt Anya again, I’ll make sure you lose your other hand, too.”
By the time I was taken to the hospital, my right hand was swollen twice its normal size. Every slight touch on the misaligned bones sent waves of agony.
The doctor quickly set my hand with a splint and was about to explain the follow-up treatment when Erving called, and I was whisked away.
He said Anya was too shaken to sleep and needed someone to watch over her through the night.
So the doctor left. The room fell silent again, so silent I could hear my own steady breaths.
With my uninjured left hand, I slowly pulled my bag from under the pillow. Inside were my passport and plane ticket—my only chance to escape.
My right hand throbbed with pain, each movement sending sharp jolts through my bones, but I forced myself to ignore it. Leaning on the wall for support, I pushed myself upright and took it step by step out of the hospital until eventually, I hailed a cab to the airport.
Hatred burns in my eyes. I will leave, but not so easily.
Since Erving tried to destroy my hand and even gave my photos to Anya to create art, making her famous while I bear the brunt of the infamy,
then I'll retaliate!
I called a friend and asked him to make me a human-like arm, drench it in dog blood, and send it to Erving!
Then I opened my phone, packed up all the nude photos and pictures of Erving and Anya in bed taken by the home security camera, uploaded them to my X, and set a timer to release them. When I took off and left the city, everything they had would be destroyed!
By the time I arrived, the sun was sinking, painting the sky in orange and red—a beauty so breathtaking it brought tears to my eyes.
I clutched my ticket and walked toward the gate. Before boarding, I glanced back at the city one last time.
This place had held five years of love. It had seen me rise from obscurity to stardom, where I’d earned everything I once took pride in. But more than that, it had left me scarred—full of pain I could never forget.
Soon, the boarding announcement sounded. I took a deep breath and stepped onto the plane.