An Liyue's knees buckled as she collapsed to the ground.
Three seconds...
Two...
One...
To An Liyue's horror nothing happened.
Time just simply passed and she didn't go along with it...
Her gaze lifted slowly and met the chief butler's which showed nothing but pity and disappointment.
And besides him was Han Raviel.
That same prescence and calmness that was quite suffocating.
An Liyue's head along with her world was spinning.
What ...happened!
She was supposed to be gone in a twinkling of an eye...so what... happened!.
" I told you... " Came Han Raviel's voice. " there might not be a next time. "
And then, his voice turned deeper, void of any emotion. " Get her "
Two burly men stepped forward.
With each scene that accompanied the other, An liyue felt more and more like a farm animal ready for slaughter or rather worst.
She was immediately carried by the men like a feather, maybe she actually was, as everything that screamed life in her was being drained out of her.
An liyue was carried to the cliff, the same place they had arrived by helicopter yesterday.
Scared shitless, An liyue gave herself hope with the thought that, ' no matter the pain... It will all end. At least it will end in death... Right? '
" Just so you know... " Han Raviel spoke leisurely " in case you were wondering, the flower was quite harmless, it was only disguised to look like the poisonous one, however, I assumed you wouldn't recognize it... but you did and... foolishly fell for it "
"!!!"
So that was it!
Heh! At least she was sure the flower was truly what she thought it was, and wasn't actually gravely mistaken.
She wished she had not taken her instinct of someone watching her for granted.
But now wasn't the time for making wishes.
And neither the time for regrets as Han Raviel's voice rang out lazily, " Since... Falling off buildings seems to be your fantasy, you might as well regard this as fulfilment... " A chilling smile curved at his lips, " throw her in "
An Liyue shut her eyes closed " finally...I'm free "she said to herself as she was thrown off the cliff.
The wind screamed past her ears as she fell, the world tilted as everything blurred out.
In less than fifteen seconds, An Liyue sank deep into the water.
The cold water engulfing her as she sank deeper, rapidly.
Bubbles escaped her lips one after the other.
And soon after taking in much water her body stopped responding and gave in finally.
And at that exact moment just as her consciousness slipped, two men swam in and carried her out in no time.
Again! Press!
Hands pressed down on her chest bringing air back to her lungs.
And after some seconds, the An liyue, who thought she had finally died coughed as water spilled out from her mouth.
She blinked a few times, trying to adjust to her surroundings as steadied her breathing.
So far, she only saw trees and then when she turned to the side it was water flowing peacefully.
A mild smile spread in her lips in relief.
I made it...
So this... Is what the afterlife looks like...
Quite peaceful and natural.
However, she had barely gotten time to take in the view let alone feel relieved when chaos ensued immediately as An liyue heard a recognizable name from her side, " Lord Han... "
At this moment, An liyue felt like she was involuntarily auditioning for a horror movie.
D-did he follow her to the afterlife?
Or does another of him still exist in the afterlife?
An Liyue's mind was in disarray.
She turned her head weakly towards the voice...and there he was.
Han Raviel, Standing there, staring Straight at her with that devilish smile on his lips.
Her head throbbed as she read his lips, " Again! take her back to the top "
There was nothing left to be shattered in her anymore, so she just simply lay there.
Realization dawning on her.
She wasn't dead.
He didn't want to kill her... He simply just... tortured her.
' Again ' his word repeated in her head.
He was actually going to do it again, throw her from the top, let her get drowned and force her back to life.
Heh! What could be worse.
Crying was no longer an option as the tears refused to come, she just simply wondered deeply how her life took this turn.
However, the phrase ' there is light at the end of the tunnel ' suddenly read in her head not because she had faith but rather because she had heard it.
Standing beside Han Raviel was the chief butler, he had a deeply saddened expression on his face as he pleaded with Han Raviel.
" Lord Han... " He began with his head lowered. " I must say... I have never opposed your decisions... never. however, just this- this once Lord Han... this once I plead... "
Han Raviel was quiet for a moment and without turning to face him he finally said, " indeed you have never once made any request to me... So why now? What makes this time different...chief butler? "
As his gaze slowly lifted to meet his An liyue, his heart ached.
It sure did.
He couldn't tell exactly why but he didn't want to see the lady in front of him in a sorrowful state. He felt...obliged...to help her.
" Lord Han... "
" Take her back " Raviel interrupted, already turning away as he walked towards the helicopter waiting nearby.
Take her back.
No one was sure what that meant.
Did he mean she was going to be thrown off the cliff again?... probability was seventy percent.
Or, did he actually heed to Mr Xu's pleads?... knowing him, the probability was thirty percent.
Heh! How naive of her to think of light at the end of the tunnel.
Next thing she knew her soulless body was being carried away again.
And in no time, they were back at the cliff, the edge that led to Han Raviel's mansion.
Definitely, no one would guess he lived there, plus it was only reachable by helicopters.
And just then, the unexpected happened...