Reaching the End of the Line (1)
Reaching the End of the Line (1)
The man had short black hair that was properly trimmed, making him look a bit boyish than his age. He was taller than Erica by almost a foot. When he saw Erica approaching him, a smile broke on his lips.
"Sister," he called. "I heard what had happened to you. Are you okay now?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay now; so is Ririna. Why did you suddenly come here without a notice?" Erica asked.
The man laughed and turned his eyes to Ririna and Sara. He smiled and nodded to Ririna, but his eyes flashed with mysterious intent.
"Ririna. Long time no see. How are you?"
Ririna passed the files to Sara before answering him.
"I'm good. Where have you been, Kian? Erica didn't know where you're working now, and she's really worried."
Kian scratched the back of his head and looked embarrassed.
"Well, I've been hired to work in the Eastern Provinces with rank A mission so I couldn't disclose the details to my sister," Kian explained.
"I see. I will leave the two of you to catch up then. Let's go, Sara."
Ririna turned around to walk towards her office and leave the siblings alone when suddenly Kian grabbed her arm, stopping her on her tracks. Her eyebrows arched in confusion.
"Wait, Ririna," Kian called, his hand firmly holding her arm as she looked up at him. He was enthralled by her beauty.
"I was wondering if we could also catch up soon. You know… to know each other better." His cheeks tainted with red as he waited for her response.
Ririna blinked before realizing what he meant. Slowly, she gently pushed away his hand from her arm, with her eyes filled with confidence. This wasn't the first time Kian made a move on her. She had known for years that he fancied her.
"I'm sorry, Kian. I can't. Eli and I are planning to get married soon. I hope that you will accept my decision this time and wouldn't cause trouble for the two of us," she replied before turning away from him. He could only watch as she walked away.
Ririna could still remember how Kian tried to set her up so Eli would get angry at her, only for her to find it out before it happened and severed her ties with Eli.
Kian's face changed. His usual boyish look was replaced with a dangerous aura. A deep frown set on his face.
--
Ririna slipped out of her office and went to her car. She grabbed her keys from her bag and opened the door and drove away. She drove through the city, excited to see her son and her fiance. Eli promised her earlier that they would announce their engagement during their family dinner tonight. She could already imagine how happy Skyler would be with the news.
Getting on the highway, Ririna sped up. The speedometer crept up to 60mph. The sun was setting already, and she only got half an hour to arrive at the Park's mansion. However, she could already sense something wrong. Her brakes weren't working. What's more, there was another car following her trail.
She turned the car to the right, trying to avoid the other car as it started to shoot at her. Ririna was worried she could not make it alive. Her adrenaline rushed through her veins as she took her gun from her compartment and tried to maneuver the faulty car.
Ririna turned to her left just in time to see the passenger of the other car pointing his gun in her direction. She turned the wheel to her left, smashing the side of the other car away from her. It was the only thing she could do before she was shot on her back twice. The hitman got the right timing to kill her.
As her blood started to gush from her wounds, Ririna failed to see the concrete barrier in front of her. The collision sent her car rolling off to the highway, and several screams of the bystanders were heard as they gathered on the side of the road. Her seat belt failed to protect her from the collision as it sent her body forward, smashing through the windshield.
Ririna felt that she's reaching the end of her line. She coughed once, and blood spurted from her mouth. Her body was in severe pain. She could feel her consciousness failing her. Her eyelids were getting heavier as if she was being lulled to sleep.
Her mobile phone rang, indicating that Eli was calling her. Ririna forced herself to stay awake and saw the screen of her phone broken. In spite of it, she could still clearly see the photo she had taken when she found the father and son sleeping on the couch. It was since then she decided that it was her favorite photo.
For the last time, Ririna could see her lover and her son through her broken mobile phone. She tried to take a deep breath but failed. It could only mean that one of her lungs was badly injured. She could hear several people screaming to call for help, and their voices started to fade.
Looking back at the broken screen, Ririna stared at the photo before smiling. Her memories started replaying in her mind, remembering every detail as if she was watching a movie in a theater. Her heart ached because she knew she had failed her promise to her mother and had failed to see Skyler grow up. At least she was able to reconnect her son to his father and had experienced what it meant to have a family with Eli.
The call was automatically answered after three rings.
"Ririna? Where are you?" She heard Eli's voice. He was probably still waiting for her to come. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she felt her strength and blood seeping out from her body. With all the strength remaining to her, she reached her phone and pulled it closer to her body.
"I love you… I will always love you…" she whispered on the phone before her eyelids shut, and her hand loosened its grip to her phone.
"Ririna? Ririna…"
The last she heard before the darkness consumed her was Eli's voice.