Chapter 8
The wind howled fiercely, and Rowena stood at the edge of the cliff in a white dress, swaying perilously. The sea breeze lifted her skirt, making her appear as fragile as glass.
"Rowena!" Clarence, Irving, and Luther shouted in panic. "Come back!"
Rowena turned to look back, tears streaming down her face. "Clarence, Irving, Luther, Nicholas, I can't bear to leave you, but Karina won't accept me. Since I'm dying anyway, why not end it here? This way, I won't be in her way anymore."
The four men immediately turned their furious gazes toward Karina.
"Karina!" Nicholas shoved her forward. "Say something! Convince Rowena to come back!"
Karina simply watched the scene unfold in silence.
"Do you have to drive Rowena to her death before you're satisfied?" Clarence roared.
Seeing her remain silent, Rowena sobbed even harder. Suddenly, she turned and leaped resolutely toward the cliff.
"Rowena!"
All four men lunged forward at the same time, grabbing her wrist at the very last moment.
After they pulled her back to safety, Rowena threw herself into Nicholas' arms, weeping uncontrollably.
"We're here. You're safe now," Nicholas said in an unbelievably tender voice as he held Rowena tightly in his arms.
"Don't be afraid," her three brothers said, gently patting her back. "We won't let anything happen to you."
Rowena sobbed in Nicholas' embrace. But moments later, she suddenly began struggling again. "No, let me go! Let me die! Karina will never tolerate me."
As she spoke, she tried to rush back toward the cliff. The four men hurriedly stopped her.
"Enough!" Luther turned and glared furiously at Karina. "Look at what you've driven her to!"
Irving held Rowena's trembling shoulders and said tenderly, "Don't be afraid. As long as we're here, no one can drive you away."
Karina watched the scene calmly with a cold smile.
She knew Rowena all too well. Her twin sister always used suicide to win sympathy, and they always fell for it.
"You there—hang Karina over the cliff so that she could think hard about what she's done wrong, "Clarence ordered coldly. "
From an angle hidden from the others, Rowena flashed Karina a triumphant smile. The look she gave her clearly said, "Karina, you'll never win against me."
One of the bodyguards immediately stepped forward. He bound Karina with a coarse rope and suspended her over the cliff's edge. The rope dug deeply into her skin, yet she didn't even flinch.
Before Nicholas left, he glanced back at her. The strange calm in Karina's eyes made his chest tighten inexplicably. But just then, Rowena conveniently "fainted".
He frantically scooped her into his arms and left without looking back.
Only Karina remained on the cliff.
The wind howled, and the rope swayed in the gusts, rubbing against her already torn wrists. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, but she was bound so tightly she couldn't check it.
Karina began to twist her wrists with all her strength, loosening the rope bit by bit. Blood dripped down the rope, but she seemed to feel no pain.
Finally, once the rope had loosened enough, she flipped herself over with a surge of effort. Then, she grabbed onto a protruding rock at the cliff's edge and pulled herself up inch by inch.
By the time she reached the top, her hands were a bloody mess.
Trembling, she pulled out her phone. The screen displayed a message.
"Ms. Fleming, your uninhabited island transfer is now complete. You may move in at any time."
Looking at the rope still swaying in the wind at the cliff's edge, Karina suddenly smiled. Since she was going to leave, she might as well make them think she was dead.
She could never win against Rowena. But then again, Rowena hadn't considered that the living could never compete with the dead.
With that thought in mind, Karina hung her jacket on a branch at the cliff's edge. She then cut the rope and tossed it into the abyss below. Her jacket fluttered in the wind, looking exactly like the final trace of someone who had fallen from the cliff.
"Goodbye," she whispered.
It wasn't a farewell to the others, but to her past self, the one who had foolishly loved them all.
After hailing a cab, Karina left without looking back.
This time, she would keep all her love for herself.
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