Chapter 129

"Andrew Lucas, let me go!" Susan struggled violently, her slender wrists fragile in the man's grip.

She knew her time was running out. She had to fulfill her final wish soon. Daniel and Bella Quinn's coffins were still exposed in the wilderness, and Ethan Sullivan's ashes lay alone in Willow Lane.

"Going to find Ethan?" Andrew sneered, tightening his hold. "Don't even think about it!"

Susan tumbled off the hospital bed, her knees hitting the floor hard. She gritted her teeth and tried to push herself up, but he yanked her back.

"Get off me!" she screamed hysterically, her nails leaving bloody scratches on his arm.

Andrew threw her onto the bed and pinned her down. His kiss was punishing, rough against her lips.

"You're mine!" he growled, his fingers digging into her shoulders.

Susan suddenly stopped resisting. Her eyes were empty as she stared at the ceiling. "Touch me again, and I'll slit my wrists again." Her voice was feather-light, but it froze Andrew in place.

"You wouldn't dare!" He grabbed her chin in fury.

Susan gave him a bleak smile. "Try me."

His pupils contracted violently. The memory of her pale face in the ER, the ghastly wound on her wrist, flashed through his mind. Rage and fear tore at his chest, finally erupting in a low snarl. "You're not allowed to love him!"

"That's not your call." She shoved him away and stumbled toward the door.

The icy wind howled through the corridor, snowflakes swirling inside. Her thin hospital gown flapped wildly, but she felt no cold.

"Stop!" Andrew caught up and roughly wrapped his coat around her. His voice dropped suddenly. "Forget him... Let's start over."

Susan walked into the blizzard without looking back.

In the cemetery, the shattered coffin was buried under snow. Susan knelt in the frozen mud, digging with her bare hands. Her nails broke, blood mixing with dirt, but she seemed numb to the pain.

"Daniel... Mommy's here..." she whispered, piecing the coffin fragments back together.

Snowflakes melted on her trembling lashes, falling like tears. Behind her, a shadow crept closer...