Chapter 2

The world was a painful, upside-down blur. The smell of gasoline and something burning filled my nostrils, and the taste of blood was thick in my mouth. My arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, and a sharp pain shot through my ribs with every shallow breath. The spider bites on my face throbbed with a venomous heat, a sickening counterpoint to the crushing pain in my chest.

"Help," I rasped, the word barely a whisper. "Somebody, please... help me."

My phone was gone, smashed to pieces by my own son. The car's emergency system was dead. I was trapped.

Through the shattered windshield, I could see the front door of my house open. Chloe and Mark stepped onto the porch, Liam trailing behind them. They didn't rush over. They just stood there, watching.

I tried again, louder this time. "Chloe! Call 911! Please!"

Mark put a hand on Chloe' s shoulder and said something I couldn't hear. She laughed. It was a sound that cut through the night, sharp and cruel.

Liam pointed at the wreck. "Look! His car is broken! Just like his phone!"

I could hear the distant wail of a siren. A flicker of hope ignited within me. Someone must have called. A neighbor. A passerby.

But as the siren grew closer, it suddenly died down, fading into silence just a few blocks away.

Confusion mixed with my panic. What happened?

Then I saw Mark, a smug look on his face, lowering his phone. He had done something. He had called them off.

"It was just a false alarm, operator," I could almost hear him saying. "A disgruntled ex-employee causing a scene. We have it under control."

The hope inside me died, replaced by a cold, numbing despair. They weren't just going to let me die. They were actively making sure it happened.

"You can't do this!" I screamed, the effort sending a fresh wave of agony through my body. My head felt like it was going to split open. The pressure from the tumor, the crash, the venom... it was all converging into a single point of unbearable pain.

Chloe just crossed her arms, her expression bored. "He's so dramatic. Always looking for attention."

Liam giggled. "He looks funny upside down."

The casual cruelty, the complete lack of humanity, was more painful than any of my physical injuries. These were the people I had loved, the family I had dedicated my life to.

"I need a doctor!" My voice was raw, torn from my throat in a desperate plea. "The spider... it was poisonous! I'm going to die!"

Mark finally sauntered closer to the wreck, peering in at me like I was an animal in a cage. "Is that so? Well, maybe that's for the best. Saves us all a lot of trouble."

His cold, calculated words confirmed my worst fears. This was a death sentence, delivered by the man who had stolen my life.

Time began to warp. Minutes stretched into an eternity of pain and fading consciousness. I could feel the venom spreading, a creeping numbness working its way down my neck. My vision tunneled, the edges turning black.

Just as I felt myself slipping away, a new set of headlights washed over the scene. A police cruiser. It pulled up slowly, its lights flashing silently.

A uniformed officer got out, a woman with a stern face and weary eyes. She took in the scene-the mangled car, the indifferent family on the porch, and me, bleeding and trapped inside.

"What's going on here?" she demanded, her voice carrying an authority that Mark couldn't just wave away.

Mark immediately shifted into his charming, reasonable persona. "Officer, thank you for coming, but it's a private family matter. My wife's ex is a bit unstable. He did this to himself to get attention."

The officer ignored him. She walked over to my car, shining her flashlight inside. Her eyes widened when she saw the state I was in, the blood, the swelling on my face.

She pressed two fingers to my neck, checking for a pulse. "He's barely conscious, and his pulse is thready. What are those marks on his face?"

"Just a spider bite," Chloe said with a dismissive wave. "He's allergic. Always overreacting."

The officer's eyes narrowed. "This man needs an ambulance. Now." She reached for her radio.

"I already told you, it's not necessary," Mark insisted, stepping forward. "We'll take care of him. We were just about to pull him out and take him home."

"You will do no such thing," the officer snapped back. "You'll contaminate a potential crime scene. And judging by the looks of that SUV down the street with the fresh dent in its fender, I'd say this was no accident."

Mark and Chloe froze.

The officer called it in. "I have a single-vehicle rollover... looks more like a hit-and-run. Victim is trapped, requires immediate medical assistance. Possible envenomation as well."

But Mark wasn't done. He played his final card. "Officer, I am Mark Jensen of Jensen Holdings. This man is a former architect from my firm who was let go for erratic behavior. He has been harassing my fiancée. Forcing him back to a hospital will only agitate him more. We have a private care facility lined up for him."

He was trying to paint me as a crazy, obsessed ex, someone to be locked away, not saved.

Chloe chimed in, her voice now filled with fake concern. "He needs quiet. He needs a place where he won't be a danger to himself or others."

They were trying to get me out of official hands, to take me somewhere I would disappear.

The officer hesitated, caught between my obvious injuries and the powerful, persuasive story they were weaving.

Before she could decide, a paramedic van, which must have been nearby, pulled up, ignoring any cancellation order. A man in his late forties with a calm, no-nonsense demeanor jumped out. He took one look at me and immediately started barking orders to his partner.

"Get the Jaws of Life. We need to get him out now. Possible C-spine injury, multiple fractures, and look at that swelling. That's not a common spider bite."

Mark tried to intercept him. "Sir, I am handling this-"

The paramedic didn't even break stride. "Get out of my way, or I'll have you arrested for interfering with a medical emergency."

He was my unexpected ally. He saw the truth of the situation in a single glance.

As the paramedics worked with a deafening screech of cutting metal to free me, I was finally pulled from the wreckage onto a stretcher. The pain was immense, but it was overshadowed by a profound sense of relief.

But as they were loading me into the ambulance, Chloe and Mark made one last move. They stormed over, their faces masks of fury.

"You can't take him!" Chloe shrieked. "He belongs with us! We have power of attorney!"

It was a blatant lie, but it was enough to cause a moment of confusion.

In that moment of hesitation, Mark reached into the ambulance and grabbed my arm. "You're not going anywhere."

Liam, seeing his chance, ran up and kicked the stretcher. "Go away! We hate you!"

The paramedic shoved Mark back hard. "That's assault! Get back or I will press charges!"

The officer stepped between them, her hand on her sidearm. "Both of you, back on the porch. Now. Or you're coming with me."

Defeated, they retreated, their eyes burning with hatred. As the ambulance doors closed, the last thing I saw was Chloe's face, twisted in a silent promise of revenge. I had escaped, but I knew this was far from over.