[WARNING: This chapter contains extreme violence.]

Whoosh!

A silver car was speeding down a road heading in the opposite direction of a lighted city. The city was quite far away now. At present, they were passing through the suburbs.

It was a newly developed area. At late-night, there was little traffic on the road and there were not many pedestrians.

The atmosphere inside the car was tense. The middle aged woman behind the wheel was in a panicked state. Her hands were shaking and were full of sweat.

The face of the girl sitting shotgun was flashed with worries and anxiety. Time and again, her blue eyes went automatically to the side mirror. Her eyes were alert as she stared at the black SUV trailing them behind. She felt her heart drop when she saw the car behind them catching up with them and trying to smash into the rear of their car.

"Mom, faster!" the girl cried out, her voice filled with panic.

The mother's foot pressed hard against the accelerator and the speedometer needle surged forward

100 km/hr

..

110 km/hr

..

120 km/hr

..

130 km/hr

..

140 km/hr

The car raced ahead at lightning speed. It had been a very close shave.

This prompted the SUV behind them to increase its speed as well. A minute or so later, the SUV sped past them on the road at high speed. It pulled up a few metres ahead of their car blocking their way in front. The door of the SUV was flung open and four men stepped out of it. A single glance was enough to confirm that they were thugs.

The mother was about to put her foot on the brake. But the girl suddenly screamed out

"Mom, Take this exit"

It was at that time the mother noticed the alley on the side of the road. She made a reckless turn and the car exited the brightly lit road and swerved into the small alley. She steadied the car and picked up the speed again.

The girl's eyes were still on the side mirror as she watched the SUV turning around and continued to chase them.

After several turns, they reached a seemingly deserted road.

Adrenaline surging. Every nerve in their body was on alert and tense.

This went on for an exhausting fifteen minutes, with some narrow misses from speeding car behind. There were multiple bends along the way. The raucous sound of car tyres screeching against the ground tore through the quiet dark night.

Suddenly, the rain poured down upon them. Even with the wipers on their highest speed, it was difficult to see more than a few metres in front.

In between struggling to drive the car at high speed in the deteriorating weather, the mother noticed that the SUV was again catching up to them from the rear view mirror.

The panicked mother pushed harder on the gas pedal as the car accelerated to faster and faster speeds. In between she shifted her eyes from the road to the side mirror to look at the SUV behind them.

At that moment, she nearly missed a sharp curve. She attempted to put her foot on the brake. But it was too late.

Suddenly both women screamed as the car skidded off the road, careened down the pedestrian pavement and almost crashed into a tree.

The girl was tossed to the side of the car and her head crashed through the side windshield. Fortunately, the mother gained control of the car and stopped it just in time.

The mother was appalled seeing the horrifying gush of blood from the girl's forehead.

"Zhilan… Are you okay?"

But the girl didn't respond. She was looking straight ahead in shock. Fear surpassed any pain she felt. The instant the car stopped, they were surrounded by a group of thugs. She gathered up the courage and mumbled to her mother "Mom, Go ahead".

But before the woman could start the car, one of the men aimed a gun at them.

"You stupid bi**hes! Don't even think about escaping from here" he snorted in derision.

Both mother and daughter pair looked around in horror. There was nothing on this stretch of road. No buildings nearby and no passersby.

"Don't shoot. We want this to look like an accident. That is our assignment." Another man ordered. Just a glance, anyone could tell that he was the leader. He radiated an aura of deadly danger.

After reminding his subordinates of their real intention, he gave a meaningful look to his underling standing beside him. His companion suddenly intruded into the rear seat of the car, startling both women.

Before they could react, the intruder pulled out a knife from his pocket and held the glistening blade to the frightened girl's throat, terrifying her mother.

"No…" The mother cried out, while her hands subconsciously reached out to hold the man's hands.

"Don't move" The man warned her.

She retreated her hands and observed her daughter who was already looking weak because of blood loss.

"Please leave us. We will give you everything we have with us" With shivering hands, she grabbed her purse and gave it to the man. But the man didn't even touch it.

"Don't take us for some petty thieves" the man sneered. Without giving the woman a chance to speak, he commanded "Drive" .

The mother sat there still without knowing what to do.

"Don't test my patience" The man warned her.

Without having any other choice, she started the engine and followed the man's commands. The SUV followed them.

After several minutes, he asked her to stop the car abruptly.

He stepped out of the car and opened the front passenger seat door. Keeping the girl at knifepoint, he dragged her out of the car.

Drizzle hit her in the face. While being dragged by the man, the girl peered at the surrounding. It was too dark to see anything around. Since the headlight of the SUV was on, she could see a few feet distance in front of her. The other men in the SUV were around them.

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky followed by a roar of thunder. For a moment she saw the surrounding area. There'd been no sign of a single human being other than them in the area. She saw the path ended with a cliff ahead.

They were on the slope of the cliff. Rain water flowed down the slope carrying the mud and it was tough for her to walk on the slippery slope.

The frightened mother scrambled out of the driver's seat and followed them.

All of a sudden, the man leading the thugs stopped dead in his tracks and turned around along with his group.

He stood there staring at the mother with his bloodshot eyes. Then his gaze shifted to the daughter and he started laughing maniacally.

The mother's heart thumped hard against her ribs, and she retreated quite a few steps back. The heartbroken mother pleaded and cried "Pl..Please just let my daughter g..go!" Her voice stuttered.

"Oh.. You want to save your daughter?" the man asked mockingly.

"Okay, We will give you a chance to keep your daughter safe." The man said calmly tilting his head. Just when the mother felt a slight hope, the man continued, "I will make a bargain with you."

"Ba..bargain?", the mother stammered.

"We won't kill your daughter if…." he paused dramatically. His lips curled into a sinister smile and he continued "If you kill yourself."

The mother froze into a statue, her back stiffened. She stood there, numb and shuddering, staring at the sadistically grinning man. The tears freely streamed down her face.

As if content by her expression, his eyes glinted in satisfaction.

"If you won't kill yourself, then I'll finish your daughter right infront of you."

The mother looked at the pale girl. She was looking weak and strands of her wet hair covered her face.

The frail girl was covered in blood. But she was still listening to the conversation between her mother and the gangster. She felt an icy chill crawl up her spine the moment she heard the man's demand.

"Why are you doing this?" she yelled at the man.

The man was slightly astonished watching the sudden outburst of the young girl.

"Oh, sweetheart, one of you has to die tonight. I don't care which one", He told her in a sarcastic tone of voice and then turned to look at her mother. "But if you want your daughter to live, you have to do this"

The mother opened and closed her mouth not knowing what to say, what to do.

"There is no time to argue and there is no use even if you beg and grovel", the man said coldly.

"Get in the car and drive straight ahead", he pointed to the edge of the cliff.

When the mother stood there shaking uncontrollably, the man turned his head to his underling who was holding the girl.

Upon receiving the message from his boss, the man pressed the blade of the knife against the bare soft skin of the girl's throat, piercing her soft skin a little, resulting in a few droplets of blood to trickle down her skin.

The mother was so scared that she couldn't think straight.

"No, please don't do that!" the mother begged while crying. She realized that her pleadings were of no use. The only way to save her daughter was to kill herself.

"Will you leave my daughter without any harm, if I do whatever you need me to do?", the mother asked with a tinge of hope.

"Without a doubt, I won't harm your precious daughter. But... if you screw up, I will personally shoot your little girl", the man said with a sinister smile on his face.

"Now, Hurry up, don't force us to use force against you!" He demanded.

The mother glanced at her daughter. Then, in almost frantic haste, she moved around the car to the driver's side and climbed onto the seat.

When the girl saw this, she was hit with an ominous feeling.

"Mom, no! Please, don't do this" she screamed out loud.

"Stop screaming or I'll strangle you," The man holding her hissed in her ear, his eyes burning with anger.

"How could you do this?" the girl yelled.

"Please… Please tell my mom to stop…. Please. I beg you", the girl was screaming, crying, and begging everyone to stop her mother. But her frantic cries and pleas fell on deaf ears.

She frantically struggled to get free from the man's grasp, but he wouldn't let go of her. He gripped her wrists tighter.

The mother straightened out the wheel. She clenched her eyes shut and fought back her tears. But she couldn't. She glanced at her daughter for one last time, tears flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks. Still, she gave her daughter a smile of reassurance.

The girl's struggle became more and more intense and she screamed again and again.

"I can't live without you, mom. Don't leave me" The girl screamed again, louder this time.

The mother closed her eyes, took a deep breath and pushed the gas pedal hard against the floor and the car surged forward instantly.

The girl's heart skidded to a stop and her throat clenched in terror.

In utter horror, she watched the car falling off the cliff. Her mother's dreadful last screams echoing off the cliffs and tore through the night. Soon a splash sound was heard as the car hit the water in the river below the cliff.

Her mother resolutely chose to end her life for her! Her mother ended her life right in front of her! Was there anything worse for a daughter to face?

Tears blurred her vision as she watched the events unfold. Her world began to spin. Her knees buckled and she fell lifelessly to the dirty ground. All went black after a few seconds. Her eyes fluttered closed.

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