With an overwhelming feeling of urgency, I accelerated towards the washroom, driven by the desire to enhance my outward appearance to at least a modest degree. My reflection caught my attention. My sleep-deprived state was apparent in my disheveled appearance, with my unruly dark hair and the presence of weary, dark shadows beneath my eyes. My skin resembled an arid desert. It was embarrassing to see myself in such a mess. As I sprayed cold water on my face, the mascara dripped down my cleavage and soiled the top of my ivory dress.Once I thoroughly removed every trace of makeup from my face and delicately brushed my hair, I elegantly gathered them together, fashioning a sleek and secure ponytail. My exposed collarbones and shoulders were prominently on display. I rummaged through the medicine cabinet for mouthwash to help remove the rotten stink of alcohol emanating from my breath, and I applied a substantial amount of lotion all over my olive-colored skin.I rolled my shoulders back

Descending the staircase, I felt uneasy, my mind consumed by worry for Mrs. Cha. My concern lingered over whether or not she was aware of what had taken place the previous night. Perhaps she knew and was too frightened to come back to the suite to get me.All I wanted was to give her a hug and make sure she was doing okay. I gently pushed open the door to the housekeeping chamber. No one was around; apparently, Mrs.Cha had gone home after her shift to tend to her ailing husband.I took my bag and rummaged through it, looking for my phone.My phone screen was flooded with a staggering 52 missed calls and several messages, the majority of them from none other than Arlo. It was unthinkable for me to have a civil conversation with him after catching him cheating on me last night.The silence in the room was broken by the shrill ring of my phone. I glanced at the screen and saw the name "Arlo" flashing back at me. I hesitated, my finger hovering over the word "decline" on the screen as the

As he dragged me into the alley devoid of afternoon sunlight, the reality around me seemed to dissolve into a frenetic whirlwind of confusion and chaos. My heart thumped in my chest, its rhythm matching the frantic pace of my thoughts. What had happened? How had everything spiraled into such disarray?I tried to make sense of the madness that enveloped me, desperately searching for any semblance of order. The more I tried to grasp at the fragments of my surroundings, the more his grip tightened around my wrist. We ventured deeper into the labyrinthine alleyway, deep into the thick shroud of darkness. The air was heavy with an unsettling stillness.It was in this eerie setting that my eyes fell upon a face that sent a shiver down my spine—a face I had desperately hoped never to encounter again. It was Arlo.His presence was a terrible apparition from my past, a lurking darkness that threatened to engulf everything I had tried so hard to leave behind.

As the first rays of sunlight peeked through the delicate fabric of the curtains, a warm and gentle glow began to fill the hospital room. As the haze of unconsciousness began to dissipate, I found myself gradually reawakening to a world of sensations.The first thing that caught my attention was a throbbing, relentless ache arising from my broken ankle, a painful remembrance of the injury I had sustained. It seemed as though every movement, every shift of my body, only served to intensify the discomfort. But that was not all. There was another lingering discomfort, a dull twinge that resonated from the depths of my foot. It reminded me of the bullet that had found its way into my flesh, requiring a surgical intervention to remove it. Though the physical evidence of the bullet's presence was gone, its recollection lingered, embedded into my consciousness like a haunting ghost.As I lay there, my mind slowly piecing together the fragments of my surroundings, I couldn't h

I was on the verge of being swallowed by the ocean of painful recollections.  In that moment of raw vulnerability, Mr. Colton's mere presence became my saving grace, a lifeline that beckoned me to relinquish the weight of my long-standing torment. "Mr. Colton," I began, my voice quivering like a leaf in the wind, "there's something I need to show you." I reached beneath my pillows, retrieving the threatening note from Arlo that I had hidden beneath my pillows.I handed it out to Mr.Colton. His gaze shifted from me to the note as he accepted it, his expression becoming more solemn.The veins on the side of his forehead throbbed noticeably, and his jaw clenched with noticeable anxiousness. His eye was fixed on the message scrawled across the page. "Is this message from Arlo?" he questioned, his face flushed with rage.As Mr.Colton took his name, I was utterly caught off guard. I had no inkling of how much or how little Mr. Colton w