Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
Lily was still fuming from the call her chest heaving from the sheer rage John always managed to spark in her.
And yet… a creeping dread was settling into her bones
Maybe it was because she was still worried sick about James, but as her rideshare neared the mountain road, she thought she spotted James’ car in the distance.
She remembered something-James had called Ashton earlier when they were grilling barbecue.
He had asked him to take care of something important and told him not to worry about picking him up- that night.
Ashton, coincidentally, had run into some friends and taken another car back to the city, leaving James car behind at the resort.
James was supposed to drive it home.
And now, right before her eyes-
A massive truck came barreling down the opposite lane and slammed into James’ black luxury car
Before she could react, several more trucks and black sedans sped in from the side road-neatly trapping the vehicle from every direction except the edge of the mountainside.
“James!”
Lily’s heart stopped cold.
She knew.
The monsters behind the Charmer had finally made their move.
Her hand fumbled to unlock her phone. She was trying to call the police.
But before she could dial the number
James’ car veered off the road and plunged over the edge.
Just a few meters below the riverside road was a rushing current a long, turbulent river.
The men surrounding James’ car clearly hadn’t expected him to be so reckless, to actually drive straight off the edge like he had nothing left to lose.
He had destroyed their playgroumil, their golden goose. Their hatred ran deep. They didn’t just want him dead-they needed proof. A body.
Soon, they jumped out of their cars and scrambled along the riverbank, disappearing into the darkness to check whether he had survived.
“Sir, about a mile ahead, there’s a small path that leads down to the river, Can you please drive me there? I’ll pay you an extra ten thousand.”
Now that she’d calmed down a little, Lily turned urgently to the rideshare driver.
She knew she couldn’t head down to the river from where James had gone over-those men were dangerous. If she ran into them, she wouldn’t be saving anyone. She’d be marching straight to her death.
She only had one chance.
She had to gamble.
Gamble that James had somehow survived the crash. That he’d escaped from the car and was floating downstream with the current.
If she could cut ahead and intercept him, maybe she could pull him to shore. Help him escape. Help him live.
She knew the odds were close to zero. Surviving a plunge like that, escaping a submerged car-it was almost impossible.
But she had no other choice.
If she went straight toward the wreck, she’d be walking right into the lion’s den. Completely pointless. A waste of life.
So she had to believe in that tiny, desperate hope.
That there was still a sliver of a path left for him.
“Sir, I’ll give you a hundred thousand if you want. Please, I’m begging you.”
She was afraid the driver would refuse.
“No need to pay me,” the man replied softly.
His voice was heavy with sympathy and helplessness.
“I’m not a cold man,” he said. “But once you have a family, once people depend on you… you get scared. I have a daughter. She’s only eight. I can’t risk driving all the way down there. But I can take you to that small path”
Lily’s heart sank.
She was desperate to get down to the river. Hearing his refusal made her anxious and frustrated
But she understood,
Those men didn’t value human life. It made sense that the driver didn’t want to get caught in their crosshairs-and drag his family down with him.
She quickly scanned the ride code and added an extra thousand as a tip. “Okay. Just take me to that path.”
As they drove, she called the police, then Ashton and Ivan.
By the time she was off the phone, the car was pulling up at the narrow mountain path.
She didn’t waste a second.
She jumped out, ready to sprint downhill-when the driver called out, “Miss!”
He rushed over and handed her a lighter sealed in a waterproof bag.
“Your friend’s car got hit by a truck, then went over a cliff into the river… chances are.” He trailed off.
He couldn’t bring himself to crush her hope completely.
So instead, he said, “There’s a mountain across the river. Nobody lives there anymore, but there used to be a small village behind it. I went there when I was a kid-middle school, I think. We camped, messed around. I even spent a night in a cave. I don’t know if you’ll find it, but… maybe you’ll get lucky. The signal’s bad out there. If you and your friend make it into that cave… well, on a night this cold, you might need that lighter.”
“Thank you.” Lily said sincerely, taking the bag and nodding to him before turning and bolting down the path
She knew the cave he was talking about.
Her grandfather used to live in that village.
There were never many people there to begin with-most of the young had moved away to find work or settle in the city. The elders had long passed. The village was practically deserted now.
She had spent a lot of time there as a kid-climbing trees, running wild across the hills. Back then, she had explored those mountains inside and out. Of course she remembered that cave.
She also knew exactly what would happen next.
Once those lunatics realized James wasn’t in the car, they would scour the riverbank, chasing him downstream.
But in the mountains, there was barely any signal. Ashton and the others wouldn’t be able to find her easily.
She didn’t have the strength to carry James back to the city on her own
If they wanted to survive, they needed to hide.
That cave… it was their best shot.
It was freezing tonight. If James had been in the river even a few minutes, he’d be soaked and freezing The lighter the driver gave her-God, it might be a lifesaver.
Lily didn’t stop. She ran like her life depended on it, pushing herself to the limit.
In no time, she reached the edge of the river.
Not far ahead, a bridge spanned the river.
Lily knew, if James hadn’t made it out of the car, crossing or not crossing the bridge didn’t matter.
But if he had escaped, if he’d survived the crash, there was no way he would’ve climbed ashore right where the ambush happened. One man against a dozen-especially if he was injured-he’d never come out alive
Most likely, he would’ve either swum downstream or gotten carried away by the current.
And the riverbank on the opposite side was lower, with mountain ranges right behind it-dense, Torested, perfect for hiding. Whether it was luck or strategy, if he was alive, he’d definitely head that way
In the distance, she could see flickering lights moving toward this side of the river.
Clearly, the attackers hadn’t found James in the car. They were already fanning our downstream to search for him.
That sliver of hope she had clung to-maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t in vain.
Her eyes burned.
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