Chapter 4
Kelvin snorted and hung up the phone without a second thought.
"He and Tanya are definitely working together. See? He's dragging us back to the escape room again," he said.
Kelvin didn't pause for a second. He bandaged up Celine's wound in no time.
Celine said with a faint smile, "I'm fine. I'm not that much of a wimp."
She sat on the edge of the bed in Kelvin's arms and, with practiced ease, opened the jewelry box on the headboard.
Inside were all the pieces my mother used to wear when she was alive.
Celine's eyes gleamed with greed, while Kelvin just shot it a quick, indifferent look.
"You like it? Just take it. The Garners have plenty," Kelvin said.
Who gave him the right to make decisions for me?
I was so mad I could tear him to pieces.
Celine kicked the cloth off her foot and let it drop carelessly to the floor, where it rolled around, gathering dust.
I reached out, but my hand just grasped at nothing. Not even my tears could reach it. All of it was futile.
Celine was clinging to Kelvin, almost hanging off him.
Kelvin kept frowning. "Did Tanya not get my text this morning? I told her we had to shoot the promo video..."
Celine forced a laugh, her expression stiff. "Maybe Tanya's just trying to get attention."
I frowned, just listening quietly to their conversation, and couldn't help but feel suspicious.
I never got any text!
I thought Kelvin would at least sound a little sorry when he said that.
At the very least, I thought he actually cared about me.
But after hearing what Celine said, he just gave a cold laugh. "Yeah, I guess so."
Suddenly, a friend request popped up on Celine's phone.
Celine exclaimed, "The director! The Escape Room Show director just added me! They want to film in our escape room!"
Kelvin smiled gently and softly stroked her forehead.
Celine grabbed his arm and gave it a little shake.
"Will you come with me to the show, please?" she asked.
Kelvin smiled and gave her forehead a playful tap.
"Alright. I'll push my meeting back a day," he said.
Seriously? He actually postponed his meeting.
Back when I accidentally got pregnant and had to get an abortion because my health was so bad, Kelvin wouldn't even cancel his meeting for me.
I tried to remember what he said.
It was something like, "Every minute I'm making tens of thousands of dollars. How could you ever pay me back?"
That day, I was so weak I couldn't even move from my bed, and the rain outside was relentless.
Thunder kept rumbling, and I was left all alone, pale and fragile, lying there in that hospital bed...
The Escape Room Show shot up in popularity with Celine and Kelvin on board.
Lucas, my childhood friend, was also invited as a guest this time. He was a prodigy who skipped several grades, so his joining the show really got people talking.
But maybe Celine really did just forget about me. For her own selfish desires, she hid my corpse inside one of the escape-room props, a pitch-black coffin.
Days passed, and my corpse began to give off a faint, haunting stench that just wouldn't go away.
Days passed, and my body carried a faint, lingering stench.
Seeing this same old scene play out, I couldn't help but laugh to myself.
Lucas wasn't scared of anything. He just kept poking around the escape room, searching every nook and cranny.
Kelvin watched it all with that icy look. Celine, unaware of the danger, always managed to show off how clever she was, right when it counted.
[These two are seriously ship material! A CEO and a genius girl. Unstoppable duo!]
[Lucas is working this escape room like he's a detective. So hot! So pro!]
[Wait, do they know each other or what? Why are they beefing all of a sudden?]
Lucas spotted my broken bracelet wedged in the corner between the cabinet and the wall. "Isn't this Tanya's? She's probably still somewhere in here," he said.
He held the beads in his hands, but Kelvin knocked them right out of his grip.
Kelvin scoffed. "Drop the act. Everyone knows you two were childhood friends. How can you prove you didn't sneak it in yourself?"
Lucas didn't waste time arguing. While everyone else was busy punching in codes, Lucas crouched down, scanning the floor for clues in the dim room.
In no time, he spotted some barely visible drag marks.
Right on cue, the next escape room unlocked with a click.
Lucas pushed through the crowd and was the first to step inside, but Kelvin grabbed his arm.
"It's Celine's first time doing an escape room. Don't mess things up for her," Kelvin said.
Lucas was so pissed he could've slapped Kelvin right then and there, in front of everyone.
He yanked his arm free and strode forward, but Celine sneakily stuck out her foot and caught him off guard, making him stumble.
Caught off balance, Lucas stumbled and crashed right into the prop coffin. The other guests all froze, eyes wide with fear, staring at where he'd landed.
They were all bracing for some creepy scare actors to jump out, but what they didn't expect was someone even scarier than any actor.
It was Lucas.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, he shoved the coffin lid open with a single, powerful push.
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
Someone was actually inside.
Worse, it was my corpse.
The live stream got cut off instantly.
My body was removed by the emergency team that rushed in, and taken away for a full investigation.
All the guests had to follow and be interviewed by the police.