Chapter 224
“Lindsay, Yves, you have to believe me! If we stay here, we’re all going to die! That Jessica is a psycho! She killed everyone on the ship. I saw that man’s ghost, he told me everything!”
It was clear now. Cheryl hadn’t just been scared; she had experienced something terrible, something they knew nothing about.
Cheryl clutched her head, her voice cracking with despair as hot tears streamed down her face. “You said you were in the cockpit the whole time, but I checked for you over and over, and every single time, only Jessica was there. I knew she was behind it, so I hid in a closet out of fear. But you have no memory of any of it! Do you understand the kind of terror I’m feeling? If I stay here one more second, I’m going to lose my mind.”
“Yves, I’m begging you, please just send a car to take me back. We’ve known each other for so many years. This is the first time I’ve ever asked you for anything.”
As she spoke, she started to drop to her knees, but Lindsay quickly caught her. “Cheryl, calm down first. We believe you. We know you’re in pain, but the situation now is…”
Before Lindsay could finish, Cheryl clapped her hands over her ears, refusing to listen.
“I don’t want to hear it! I just want to leave!”
“Cheryl…”
“If you won’t help me, I’ll go by myself. I am not staying in this godforsaken place any longer!” Cheryl looked like she had lost her mind, her eyes bloodshot and wild.
She bolted out of the room.
Yves and Lindsay, fearing for her safety, ran after her.
Cheryl didn’t take the elevator. She fled down the stairs, fueled by a terror that gave her an unprecedented burst of speed. Yves and Lindsay couldn’t keep up, and even the investigators stationed at the hotel entrance couldn’t stop her as she burst past them.
After a quick word with the task force, Yves and Lindsay were allowed to give chase, though agents were sent to follow them, suspecting they might be trying to flee.
Yves and Lindsay split up to search for Cheryl.
Lindsay ran until she was breathless and exhausted. Just as she was about to stop and rest, she saw Cheryl dash past her.
Forgetting her fatigue, Lindsay took off after her. She didn’t notice the truck speeding toward her from behind.
Just as she was about to reach
Cheryl, the truck slammed into her. Her body was thrown into the air like a paper doll, spinning once before crashing heavily onto the pavement. In that instant, blood splattered, filling the air with its metallic scent.
The scene shifted. She saw Yves, just like all those years ago, running toward her,
his face a mask of anguish as he pulled her into his arms, whispering of his love for
her.
With her last ounce of strength,
Lindsay looked around. She realized
then that she was still in her past life Everything she had just experienced the cruise the survival, the hope-had been nothing more than a fleeting, deathbed dream. Cóntent
She let out a faint, ironic smile. How naive she had been. When you die, you die. There is no second chance.
Dimly, she thought she saw Jessica. And perhaps Cheryl, too.
Lindsay died.
Yves, unable to live without her, took his own life.
Cheryl came to handle their affairs. She saw Yves holding Lindsay’s body tightly in his arms. She shook her head and sighed. “Yves, what is this thing called love?”
She didn’t understand it, and she didn’t want to.
After settling their affairs, Cheryl prepared to leave. But just before getting into her car, some impulse made her glance in a particular. directo A familiar face came into view. The woman smiled at her, but Cheryl paid it no mind, started the
car, and drove away.
Watching the car disappear, Jessica whispered to herself, “Assessment failed.
Returning to the origin.”