Ella sat in her car, sipping coffee from the cup she’d just picked up at a nearby cafe. She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts as she prepared for another day of work. She had been juggling so much lately, between her promotion, her boys, and the revenge she was executing against Ethan and Tania. It was exhausting, but she couldn’t afford to stop now.
As she put her coffee down and reached for her keys, a strange scent hit her. A strong, unfamiliar perfume. She frowned, her instincts immediately on high alert. Brushing it off, she started the car and began driving toward her office. But something didn’t feel right.
As she glanced in the rearview mirror, her blood ran cold. A knife pressed against her throat, and behind her, Crystal’s cold eyes stared back at her.
“Drive,” Crystal hissed, pressing the blade closer. “And don’t stop.”
Ella’s heart raced as fear coursed through her. “Crystal, you don’t have to do this. Please, let me go,” she pleaded, trying to keep her voice steady.
“You’re a hard woman to track,” Crystal replied, her voice filled with malice. “But today’s the day I finish this. You die today, Ella.”
Ella’s mind raced, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. She had to think fast. As she continued to drive, she subtly pressed a button on her phone, activating the recording feature. She needed proof, something to expose Crystal’s plan.
“Tania put you up to this, didn’t she?” Ella asked, trying to buy time.
Crystal sneered. “Tania doesn’t need to put me up to anything. I do what I’m paid for.”
The knife dug deeper into her skin, and Ella felt a sting of pain. She couldn’t die not now. Not when her boys needed her. Taking a deep breath, she made a split-second decision. She slammed her foot on the gas, sending the car speeding down the highway.
“What the hell are you doing?” Crystal shouted, her grip tightening as the car swerved through traffic.
Ella’s heart pounded in her chest as she swerved the car, narrowly avoiding an oncoming truck. She spotted a tree in the distance and veered toward it at full speed. Crystal screamed in terror, trying to brace herself, but it was too late.
The car crashed into the tree, flipping upside down. The impact sent Crystal flying through the windshield, her body slamming against the ground. Ella, strapped in by her seatbelt, hung upside down, gasping for breath. Her head pounded, and blood trickled down her forehead, but she was alive.
She crawled out of the wreckage, clutching her phone in her hand. In the distance, she saw the smoking remains of the car, and then an explosion.
Ella stumbled away, her entire body shaking as bystanders rushed to her aid. Sirens blared in the background as the ambulance arrived. She couldn’t believe she was still breathing. Crystal, however, wasn’t so lucky.
As Ella sat on the ground, waiting for help, she glanced down at her phone. The recording was still running. She had everything she needed to expose Tania and Crystal.
The game wasn’t over yet.
Ella coughed, her lungs burning as the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. She tried to stand, her legs wobbling beneath her. The world around her seemed to spin as she struggled to stay upright. Blood dripped from a gash on her forehead, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins dulled the pain for now. The distant chatter of onlookers blurred in her ears, but one thing was crystal clear she had survived.
She looked back at the flaming wreckage, feeling a mixture of disbelief and grim satisfaction. Crystal was gone. The immediate threat had been eliminated, but the battle wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. Ella pressed her hand against her side, wincing as pain flared up. She had to stay focused. She had the proof she needed, but Tania wasn’t going to give up easily.
A hand suddenly touched her shoulder, and she flinched, spinning around. It was a paramedic, his eyes wide with concern. “Ma’am, are you alright? You need medical attention.”
Ella nodded, too exhausted to argue. She glanced down at her shaking hands and saw the blood. “I’m fine,” she lied, knowing that there was no time to sit in a hospital right now. But before she could protest further, she was guided into the back of the ambulance. As they treated her wounds, her mind raced, piecing together her next move.
The paramedic leaned in, examining the cut on her forehead. “You’re lucky to be alive,” he said, his voice calm and professional. “That was one hell of a crash.”
Ella managed a weak smile. “Luck doesn’t have much to do with it,” she murmured, her mind still fixated on what had just happened. She clutched her phone tighter. The recording was her lifeline now. If anything went wrong, if Tania made another move, this was her only leverage.
As the ambulance sped toward the hospital, Ella’s phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced down and saw Derek’s name flashing on the screen. With a shaky hand, she answered.
“Ella, where the hell are you?” Derek’s voice was filled with panic. “I just saw a report about a car crash near the highway. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ella replied, though her voice was hoarse and ragged. “Crystal tried to kill me. It didn’t go well for her.”
Derek swore on the other end of the line. “I told you she was dangerous! Tania’s getting desperate. We need to move faster. What’s our next step?”
Ella looked out the window of the ambulance as they passed the hospital entrance. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. “I have a recording. Proof that Tania ordered the hit. We can use it to bring her down, Derek. But we have to be smart about this. She still has allies, and we can’t risk letting her slip away.”
There was a long pause on the other end. “Alright,” Derek finally said. “Get patched up, and we’ll meet. I’m calling in some favors. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Ella nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “Be careful. Tania’s not going to go down without a fight.”
As the call ended, Ella’s gaze flickered back to the darkened screen of her phone. She was exhausted, every muscle in her body aching, but she wasn’t done yet. This wasn’t just about survival anymore it was about justice. Tania had played with their lives for too long, and now it was time to end this.
Hours later, Ella sat in a hospital bed, her head wrapped in bandages and her body aching from the crash. The doctors had insisted she stay overnight for observation, though Ella hated the idea of being cooped up in a hospital while so much was happening outside. She had tried to leave earlier, but the pain in her ribs had made it impossible.
As she lay there, trying to rest, her thoughts kept returning to the wreckage, the sound of the explosion still ringing in her ears. She had faced death before, but something about this encounter felt different. It was too close closer than she wanted to admit. The truth was, she wasn’t just fighting Tania anymore. She was fighting time, fighting to protect Leo and Liam, fighting to keep her world from collapsing completely.
Ella stared at the screen, torn between emotions. Ethan’s concern felt genuine, but she couldn’t ignore the complicated history between them. He had been a part of her past, and while she had once loved him, their relationship had been fractured beyond repair. But now, with everything spiraling out of control, she wasn’t sure how to feel.
Her phone buzzed it was Ethan calling “hello she answered” ” Ella are you ok, I saw the news are you alright he asked worried for her safety, ” I’m ok Ethan, Ella replied, I’ll talk to you later she said disconnecting the call.”
The response was short, but she wasn’t ready to dive into that mess yet. Not when Tania was still lurking, ready to strike again. Ella closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the pillow, even as her mind refused to stop spinning. Sleep eluded her, replaced by plans and strategies for what was to come.
Later that evening, Derek arrived at the hospital. He slipped into Ella’s room quietly, making sure not to draw any attention. “You look like hell,” he remarked, his usual dry humor tempered by genuine concern.
“I’ve had worse,” Ella muttered, attempting a smile but wincing as the pain flared in her ribs.
Derek pulled up a chair next to her bed, lowering his voice. “I’ve put some things in motion. I’ve spoken to a few people in law enforcement who might be willing to listen if we give them the recording. But we have to act fast. If Tania catches wind of this, she’ll disappear. Or worse.”
Ella nodded, appreciating Derek’s efforts. “We’ll get her. This ends soon.”
Derek’s expression grew serious as he leaned closer. “Be ready, Ella. Once we make our move, there’s no going back. Tania’s desperate. She’ll fight like hell.”
“I’m ready,” Ella said, her voice steady despite the turmoil within her. “Let’s finish this.”
As Derek left the room, Ella lay back, feeling the weight of what was coming. Tania’s world was falling apart, but that didn’t mean she would go quietly. Ella knew that the final confrontation was near, and she couldn’t afford to lose.
For her boys, for her life, for everything she had fought to protect Tania had to be stopped.