Chapter 236

My heart raced as I watched Bruce stop shoveling, his eyes scanning the barren landscape with a hint of suspicion. He then threw down the shovel, his movements filled with an unsettling urgency that sent a shiver down my spine.

"What are you doing, Bruce?" I questioned. A bright light illuminated his twisted features and hope fluttered in my chest. I tried to turn and see who had arrived, but their high beams were blinding.

"We're being followed," Bruce snapped, his tone laced with agitation as he scanned the horizon. The panic in his eyes unnerved me.

Before I could grasp the situation, a deafening gunshot pierced the air, sending shockwaves through me. My eyes widened in horror as the bullet ricocheted near a car that had stopped behind us, a warning shot aimed in our direction.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bruce yanked me out of the car, his grip on my arm like a vice. The cold steel of the gun pressed against my temple, sending a surge of terror coursing through me. I swallowed hard, trying to steady my trembling body.

"Step away from your vehicle!" Bruce's voice echoed across the barren land, the desperation and rage palpable in his tone.

My heart sank as I scanned the area, wondering who he’d been shouting at. The car in front of us was still running, though the passenger door was left open. Fear clutched at me, knowing that this confrontation had escalated to a dangerous level.

Relief washed over me as Timothy emerged from his car. But my hopes were dashed as Bruce's threats filled the air, drowning out any sense of relief.

"You should've stayed away, Timothy!" Bruce's voice rang out, his gaze fixed on us with an unsettling intensity.

My breaths came in shallow gasps as Bruce's words sank in. I looked at him, and he met my gaze with a cold glare.

"I knew you told him to come," Bruce snarled, his grip on me tightening. "You must really think I’m stupid. You were practically crawling out of your skin when you kissed me!”

Panic surged through me, my mind racing with the terrifying possibilities. I struggled to maintain a façade of calmness, even as dread gripped me tighter.

“But you decided to bring your boyfriend along.” His words echoed like a death knell. "So I guess I got lucky. I get to kill two birds with one stone."

Tears welled up in my eyes, a mix of fear and desperation flooding my senses. I tried to appeal to any ounce of humanity left in Bruce, pleading silently for him to reconsider.

"Please, Bruce," I begged, my voice trembling. "There's no need for this. Let us go."

But his expression remained hardened, devoid of any mercy. He pushed the gun harder against my temple, the metal chilling my skin. The terror coursing through me was suffocating, my thoughts consumed by the grim reality of the situation.

I stole a fleeting glance at Timothy, my eyes silently pleading for him to find a way to save us. But the gravity of the situation hung heavy in the air, the sense of impending doom closing in around us.

As Bruce's threats grew more menacing, I prayed fervently for a miracle, for some stroke of luck to rescue us from this terrifying predicament. But with each passing moment, the realization sank in—our fate rested in the hands of a man consumed by rage and vengeance.

I stood frozen, shock gripping me as Timothy pulled out a gun, confronting Bruce with a steely determination that seemed to unnerve him. Bruce's facade of control faltered momentarily, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face.

"Guess you really aren’t as clean as you pretend to be, Timothy," Bruce sneered, his voice laced with a hint of unease. His grip on me tightened, and I could feel fear crawling up my spine.

"Timothy, please, just go!" I cried out, my voice trembling with desperation. I couldn't bear the thought of him risking his life for me.

"He wants me, not you! Let him live, Bruce," I pleaded, my voice cracking with fear and desperation. But Bruce's cold gaze remained fixed on us, a twisted smirk on his lips.

I wanted to scream more, to make them stop, but fear rooted me to the spot. I swallowed hard, my throat dry as I watched the confrontation unfold before me. Bruce, with his rugged features contorted into a cruel smirk, taunted Timothy mercilessly.

"You think she'd ever love you, Timothy? After what you did? She still hates your guts after the shit you did, and you know it," Bruce sneered.

Timothy's jaw clenched, his knuckles whitening around the grip of his gun. His eyes, normally warm and filled with a gentle kindness, were now clouded with hurt and rage. "Shut up, Bruce! You don't know anything about Evie and me."

But Bruce wasn't finished. He reveled in the power he held in that moment, knowing he could provoke a reaction. "She'll never look at you the way you want. She's too wrapped up in the past. Face it, Tim, you're nothing to her."

I couldn't bear it. The pain etched across Timothy's face tore at my heart, the weight of his hurt crashing down on me like a landslide. Tears blurred my vision as I met Timothy’s eyes, my voice trembling with desperation.

"No, that's not true! Timothy, I... I think I love you," I confessed, my voice barely above a whisper.

Timothy's gaze snapped to mine, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief. His gun wavered slightly, his resolve weakening in the face of my admission.

“You what?” His voice was so faint, the words barely registered to me. His eyes softened, and it seemed like a small smile was ready to emerge.

But Bruce, fueled by a venomous rage, reacted with ferocity.

"You little liar!" he spat, his eyes blazing with fury. "She doesn't love you! She's just scared! You think she could ever care for someone like you after what you did, Timothy? You're delusional!"

His words stung, but more painful was the way Timothy's trust in me wavered. I reached out, trying to bridge the distance between us, to convey the truth in my eyes. "Timothy, please, you have to believe me. I do love you," I pleaded, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Evie…” Timothy started to smile faintly. “I-”

"Enough!” Bruce howled, his fingers trembling over the trigger. “Fine. Since you love each other so much, it would be pretty poetic for you two to die together, don't you think?"

Timothy's resolve solidified, his grip on the gun tightening. "The only poetic thing here would be you getting a bullet to the head, asshole," he declared.

The tension in the air was suffocating, every passing moment amplifying the dread that coursed through me.

"Please, Timothy, just leave," I begged, tears streaming down my face. My heart ached at the thought of losing him to this madness. "Bruce, please don't do this. Let him go."

But Bruce's resolve seemed unyielding. He remained fixated on his twisted vision of an inevitable end, a sinister determination gleaming in his eyes.

"I’m not leaving you, Evie," Timothy vowed.

Bruce's lips curled into a menacing smile as he accepted Timothy's challenge. The sound of their voices overlapped in the charged atmosphere, drowning out everything else.

The moment stretched, suspended in time, until it shattered into chaos.

Gunshots rang out in rapid succession, the sound jarring and deafening. I watched in sheer horror as Timothy and Bruce fired their weapons almost simultaneously, the deafening noise echoing through the desolate surroundings.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as my heart hammered in my chest, the terror gripping me like a vise. Fear and anguish enveloped me as I witnessed the dangerous duel unfolding before my eyes.

In that split second, everything blurred into a nightmarish scene, and my screams tore through the air. "No!"