Chapter 20
Vanessa crouched in the corner of her family’s balcony, the cigarette between her fingers trembling, ashes falling onto her shoulders.
Faint footsteps sounded from downstairs, each step landing like a hammer on her heart-she knew the police had come for her.
The assault scheme had been exposed days ago.
The two thugs didn’t withstand questioning before confessing everything, even producing the ten dollars she had given them as “hush money” from their shoe soles.
“Vanessa! Pack quickly!” Her mother burst into the room, stuffing a cloth bundle into her hands. “Your father pulled some strings. He says you should hide at Uncle Roger’s farm in the countryside until this blows over…”
“Hide? Where can I hide?” Vanessa suddenly laughed shrilly, her eyes bloodshot. “Those useless idiots! Why couldn’t they handle one simple job?! They couldn’t even ruin her! Why, WHY?! I should have paid more for better people!”
Her father paced anxiously in the living room, periodically peering through the door crack. “Why isn’t Maxwell here yet? If he’d just put in a word, the police would have to show some respect to the military…”
At the mention of Maxwell, Vanessa’s eyes instantly darkened before igniting with venomous resentment.
She had sought him out yesterday, kneeling on the concrete floor of his military office, clutching his pant leg while sobbing hysterically, claiming Jordan had driven her to desperate measures and begging him to help for old times’ sake.
But that man had only stared at her coldly, like she was a stranger, finally saying just one sentence: “You must face the consequences of your actions.”
“He’s not coming!” Vanessa suddenly screamed hysterically. “He only cares about that bitch! I tried to destroy Jordan, so he destroyed me!”
“Keep your voice down!” Her mother covered her mouth in panic. “Make any more noise and we’re done!”
The footsteps outside grew closer, accompanied by hushed voices.
Vanessa violently pushed her mother away, grabbed the bundle and ran toward the balcony.
apartment was on the second floor, overlooking a small yard cluttered with junk. An old locust tree stood in the corner,
ches reaching the balcony edge.
“What are you doing?” her father cried out in alarm.
“I can’t be arrested!” Vanessa’s voice broke with tears but remained resolute. “If I go in, my life is over!”
She slung the bundle onto her back and climbed onto the windowsill, reaching for the tree. The rough bark scratched her hands, and her plastic sandals slipped against the tree, but she pressed on.
Downstairs, police were knocking at the door. “Is Vanessa Hayes home? We’re from the police station with a summons.”
Her father fumbled with the door, deliberately slowing down.
Vanessa managed to climb onto a branch and looked down. The dark ground below made her dizzy.
Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and jumped, expecting to land in a pile of weeds. Instead, with a loud splash, she fell into an abandoned rainwater cistern in the corner of the yard.
Water splashed high, accompanied by a putrid stench of stagnant mud.
Vanessa flailed in the water, her shoes long gone, her ankle sliced open by submerged broken glass. The water flooding into her mouth prevented her from screaming.
The cistern wasn’t deep, but its bottom was covered in slippery algae and rotting leaves. The more she struggled, the deeper she sank, icy water filling her mouth and making her vision blur.
“Vanessa!” Her mother peered over the balcony, spotting her daughter’s flailing hand. “Quick! Vanessa fell in the cistern!”
Her father rushed out barefoot, grabbing a bamboo pole from the wall. “Grab on! Quickly!”
But Vanessa had no strength left. Her hand wavered above the water briefly before sinking completely.
When the police arrived at the scene, chaos had erupted around the cistern.
Flashlight beams danced across the water’s surface, illuminating her parents’ ashen faces.
By the time they pulled Vanessa out, her body was waterlogged and pale, her lips purple, all signs of life gone.
The girl who had once dreamed of trampling her sister underfoot and climbing the social ladder through men ultimately ended her brief, twisted life in a fetid cistern in her own backyard.
