Chapter 17
Chapter 17
FLORENCE’S POV
Everything happened in an instant.
The scream. The snap of the rope. The sheer terror In Annalise’s eyes.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
The camera tumbled from my hands as I lunged forward, gpping Annalise’s wrist with both hands. Her weite yanked me forward, my knees slamming onto the wooden plank.
“Hold on!” I gasped, my grip tightening around her..
Her fingers dug into my arm, shaking violently. “I–I can
“Yes, you can,” I gritted out. “Just hold on to me!”
Her legs swung wildly below, nothing but open air and distant pavement beneath her. My stomach twisted, and instantly, everything turned dark.
Suddenly, I was no longer looking at Annalise… it was Jade
Jade, screaming and thrashing. My mind tried to catch up with what my eyes were seeing Memories flooded back from eight years ago when I’d reached my hand out to Jade. And just as I could feel Annalise grip my hand, I could feel my hand grip Jade’s wrist.
I scrunched my eyes, praying for the vision to go away, but the memory felt carved into my brain. I felt Jade pry my hand loose with her other hand as I begged her to hold on. With one quick motion, she pushed my hand away and fell.
“Oh my god…” I whispered as I came back to my senses and saw Annalise.
Reality set in, and I prepared myself to pull her up when a strong pair of hands suddenly grabbed Annalise’s other
arm.
Raiden.
Together, we hauled her back onto the bridge, collapsing in a heap. Annalise was gasping, her body trembling
I barely had time to register my own shaking hands when my eyes caught something.
The yellow safety rope.
The one I was s
to wear.
I swallowed hard, my pulse roaring in my ears. Nothing was making sense. Up on the sky bridge, miles above people, my world started to tilt. I held on to the railing for balance and tried to focus my eyes on something… anything. But my eyes rested on… Jade.
She had already gotten down somehow. And she had been watching the whole crisis unfold from down there.
And suddenly, I knew.
Jade tried to kill me.
Once the park staff safely got us back down, we were ushered into a quiet lounge and given tea and blankets to
Chapter 17
+25 BONUS
calm down slight overkill, I thought, but I wasn’t going to rgue. It was the least they could do.
Clarke looked serious for once instead of sporting his usual grin. “This is unacceptable,” he told the safety officer of the sky bridge. “How did you let this get past you?”
“Sir, 1-
“No excuses, you’re fired,”
“Let’s take a second here, Clarke…” his father stepped in,he park just opened, firing an employee isn’t a good look.”
Clarke thought about it for a second. For the Whitehills, reputation was everything.
“How many people saw the girl fall?” Clarke asked one of the staff.
“She has a name…” I said. “Annalise.”
“Annalise…” he repeated as if he was doing me a favor. “How many people saw Annalise fall?”
“The sky bridge is a bit further away from the main park, se nobody,” the officer said.
“I want a full investigation…” Clarke said. “And I want to personally see all the footage from the bridge. Everybody’s voices turned into noise at that point. I replayed the events of that night eight years ago in my head like I was watching a new movie. This memory had been buried deep within me for so long that it felt fascinating to go through it.
“Hey…”
I blinked myself back to reality to see Mason kneeling before me. His face showed… concern?
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I” I looked into his eyes. “Mason, I remember everything.
His eyes widened at that.
“What do you remember?” he asked.
I exhaled shakily. “That night. I tried to save Jade. I had gotten a grip on her wrist, but she pushed me away from her…”
I expected him to call me crazy. Tell me I was just shaken up after Annalise’s accident. But instead of shock, anger, or condescension, I saw…. hesitation.
“Flo… why would anybody throw their life away like that?” he asked, “Why would she want to jump off a cliff?”
“I don’t know… how would I know why it happened? I just know that it did.”
“Flo
“Mason…” I pleaded with him to see my side of the story. “If Annalise hadn’t swapped safety gear with me today, I would be the one who
I gestured toward the discarded yellow rope Clarke was holding in his hand while he spoke to the officer. Mason’s jaw tensed, but his skepticism remained.
“That could’ve been a coincidence, Flo.”
“How many coincidences will it take before you stop making excuses for her?”
Chapter 17
Before he could answer, a sharp, choked sob rang out.
Jade,
125 BONUS
She had been standing silently at the corner of the lounge, so wearing a blanket for some reason. As if she was the one who fell. She covered her mouth with her hand and furned away from us, still sobbing. A split second later, she threw the doors open and ran into the amusement park, getting lost in the crowd.
Mason sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We’ll talk ater,” he muttered before going after her.
I watched him go, my chest tight with something I couldn’name.
Left alone, 1 nursed my herbal tea, once again playing the events In my mind. This time, I was interrupted by Howard Whitehill.
“Florence.”
1 looked up at him. Mason had his eyes. A cold, piercing gaze that made anybody feel inadequate. I had always been afraid of Mr. Whitehill as a child. He was a no–nonsense disciplinarian. Anytime we were at his house playing games, Mason would regularly shush us so we wouldn’t disturb his work.
Mason always walked on eggshells around him. And so did Perhaps Jade was the only one who didn’t care.
“Yes, Mr. Whitehill,” I mustered up a smile for my father–in–law.
“You know that Jade would never do this,” he said. Then, more gently, he added, “Be a good wife and let this go. Don’t dwell on it and ruin things.”
“Of course, sir,” I said. That was easier than arguing with him.
“Get better soon,” he said and walked away, hands in his pockets.
My gaze fell on the safety gear again–the bright yellow that Annalise insisted on wearing because it matched her outfit. Beside it was my pink gear, Jade’s black gear, and Mason’s brown one. Raiden was still wearing his blue one. The only one missing was an orange set.
And then… I remembered.
When we were choosing equipment at the entrance, Jade had pointed at the orange set and said, “Mason hates. that color!”
I didn’t think much of it then. But now?
The only one left after that had been the yellow one. And like a fool, I actually took it. I fell for it. Even after everything, I cared about Mason’s feelings.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
She planned it.
But I had no proof.
Yet.
Chapter 10.
