Karl hit the cement ground with a thud, convulsing like a rag doll as a pool of dark red blood seeped from his head. The dogs in the yard barked incessantly. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Jackson ran, but the police tackled him, seized the painting, and slapped handcuffs on him.
Alicia's hands were still clinging to the window frame as she stared at Louis, the man she had been married to for three years, who had just fired a gun. She had no idea he was capable of such precision and skill. If the gun had gone off just a little faster, slower, to the left, or to the right, it could have been fatal for her.
Louis threw the gun aside, strode towards her, and took her into his arms, carefully tending to the wound on her neck. He held her tightly, rubbing her pale face with his slightly chilly fingertips, and asked in a gentle voice, "Are you scared?"
Alicia murmured, "Yes." She thought she was going to die, but she managed to survive. Her heart raced, her ears rang, and the gun, even with a suppressor, was still deafening. The whole ordeal was like a scene from a movie. She was drenched in cold sweat.
The antique painting was carefully collected by the police and placed in a protective bag, which was then put in a safe.
Alicia mechanically answered the police's questions, got into Louis's car, and still felt weak in the legs and dazed in the head. The night was pitch-black, and the narrow country road made it difficult to see. Lucas started the car and drove towards the city.
Alicia was held tightly in Louis's arms. He stroked her thin back over and over again, comforting her, "It's all right now. Don't be afraid."
His embrace was warm, and Alicia instinctively snuggled into it. Her heart was sour, bitter, and sweet all at once. He still cares for me as his wife, she thought.
Feeling her response, Louis held her even tighter, and his gentle voice sounded slightly reproachful in her ear, "Why didn't you call me when things went wrong? Your mother is so carefree. She only realized something was wrong yesterday and called me."
His throat felt tight, and he buried his chin in her hair, grabbing onto her clothes as he whispered, "What if something happens to you?"
Alicia was taken aback. At that moment, she felt that he cared more about her than she had imagined.
She lifted her arm and slowly wrapped it around his waist, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He exuded a reliable scent, which made her feel at ease. A warm current surged through her heart, and her eyes gradually turned red.
As they were halfway through the drive, Louis's phone rang. He glanced at it and hung up. Alicia had an intuition that it was Madelyn calling.
Not long after, the assistant's phone also rang. He answered it and passed it over to Louis, saying, "Miss Monroe is on the line, sir."
Louis took the phone and asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
Madelyn's sweet voice sounded anxious as she said, "Louis, have you found Alicia? Is she okay?"
"We found her," Louis answered coldly.
Madelyn sighed, "She must have been scared, right? Please stay with her for these few days and don't come to the hospital to see me."
Louis replied with a flat "mm-hmm".
Close by, Alicia heard everything clearly, and her warm heart grew cold.
"We haven't divorced yet, so he's still my husband. It's humiliating to have to rely on a third party to have my husband stay with me," Alicia thought to herself. She gently pushed away Louis's arms and sat on the seat, looking out the window with a smile on her lips and a chill in her heart. The beauty of just now was all an illusion. Yes, it was all my illusion.
As they entered the city, the bright lights and bustling crowds were a stark contrast to the dark and quiet country road they had just left behind.
Looking at the charming scenery outside the window, Alicia said to Louis, "Take me to my mom's place. Help me come up with an excuse to tell Grandma that I won't be back tonight."
Louis was silent for a moment before saying, "Okay."
As soon as she entered the house, her mom, Genevieve, hugged Alicia and cried, "Honey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Alicia said, hugging her back.
"That's good, that's good. You had me freaking out. It's all my fault, I was too careless. I didn't catch on to what your call meant until days later. Thank God Louis brought people to find you. Who knows what could've happened if he hadn't? You're my only kid. If something happened to you, I couldn't go on living," Genevieve sobbed, her fiery demeanor replaced with uncontrollable tears.
Alicia lifted her hand to wipe away her mother's tears and spoke in a soft voice, "Don't cry, Mom. I'm back and safe, right?"
The mother and daughter hugged for quite a while, and then they sat down sharing the horrible experience...
After that, nothing happened for a week until one night, Louis drank too much at a business event.
Louis's driver, Lucas, helped him back home and laid him on the couch. As he got up to grab a towel, he heard Louis mumbling with his eyes closed, "Alicia, Alicia, bring me a glass of water."
Lucas hesitated for two seconds, then took out his phone and called Alicia, saying, "Mrs. Martinez, Mr. Martinez had too much to drink and keeps calling your name."
Alicia pursed her lips and said nothing.
Genevieve overheard and said, "Go take care of him. You're still his wife until the divorce is final. Don't make things more tense."
Alicia replied with a soft "mm-hmm" and told Lucas, "I'll be there soon."
"Thanks," Lucas said, hanging up and pouring Louis a glass of water, then helping him drink it.
As he sipped, the doorbell rang. Lucas put down the glass and got up to answer the door, finding Madelyn outside in a white dress with a bouquet of flowers.
"Sorry, Miss. Monroe, Mr. Martinez had too much to drink. He's in no state to entertain anyone," Lucas apologized.
Madelyn smiled, "No worries, I'll take care of him."
She walked in and placed the flowers on the shoe rack. "You can go, I've got it covered," she told Lucas.
Lucas looked hesitant. "I just called Mrs. Martinez. She's on her way."
Madelyn smiled, "It's cool, I know Alicia. She's easygoing and won't mind."
Lucas hesitated for a moment. "Okay, then."
He took the car keys and left.
Madelyn walked over to the couch, picked up a cup of tea, and helped Louis drink some water.
Louis slowly opened his eyes and caught a familiar scent of perfume. He looked at Madelyn, and his eyes flashed with a hint of confusion. He sat up and asked, "What're you doing here?"
Madelyn batted her eyelashes and smiled seductively, "I missed you so much, I had to come. You don't mind, do you, Louis?"
Louis frowned, "I'm too drunk to entertain you, go home."
Madelyn's eyes turned red and she cried, "Louis, you still haven't forgiven me. I told you, my mom sent that breakup text three years ago. She sent me overseas and had me watched 24/7, not letting me contact you. You know how much I suffered during those three years? I thought of you every day, went nuts wanting you, but I couldn't see you. I was tortured into severe depression..."
She covered her face and cried.
"I forgave you, really," Louis said irritably, but his voice was gentle. "Stop crying."
Madelyn looked at him with teary eyes, pitiful and resentful, "Then why are you pushing me away?"
"I haven't divorced yet, it's late at night, it's not appropriate for you to be here." He pinched his leg hard with his hand, trying to use the pain to wake up his senses.
Madelyn caught this detail and slowly leaned towards him, her soft arms climbing onto his shoulder like vines, and her cheeks gazing at him with a spring-like smile. Her voice was very soft, "I don't mind."
Louis turned sideways and avoided her, "I do mind."
Madelyn's eyes flashed with disappointment, her outstretched hand froze in mid-air, and it took her a while to retract it.
Suddenly, the two of them fell into a suffocating silence, filling the entire room. Madelyn couldn't stand the silence and looked around the room, finally landing on the painting on the wall and saying, "Is that a real Van Gogh?"
"No, it's a copy made by Alicia."
"Really? She painted it so well, I thought it was real," Madelyn said softly. "I didn't expect Alicia to be such a good painter. She's really an amazing woman."
Louis's dark eyes softened, "Indeed, she's very capable."
"But Louis, you're even better than her. In my eyes, you're always the most outstanding man." Madelyn's eyes sparkled with adoration as she stared at him.
Louis's thick lashes drooped slightly, and a thin frost formed in his eyes. He suddenly thought, "In Alicia's heart, the most outstanding man must be her Chuck."
Suddenly, Madelyn heard very light footsteps outside the door. She remembered what Lucas had told her, and knew that Alicia was at the door. Eyes rolling, Madelyn came up with a quick idea.
She stood up and went to take Louis' arm, her voice seductive and enticing, "Louis, let me help you take a shower. After you fall asleep, I'll leave."
"I don't need your help," Louis said, pushing her away.
"It's okay, don't be shy," Madelyn insisted.
"I really don't need it, you can go now!" he said, his tone becoming irritable.
Hearing the sound of the door being unlocked, Madelyn made up her mind and let out a cry, pretending to fall and landing on him, her hands instinctively wrapping around his waist and her mouth moving towards his. Louis grabbed her neck, trying to move her head away, but Madelyn clung to him like a snake, and he was too weak from drinking too much to push her away.
As soon as Alicia entered the room, she saw Madelyn and Louis embracing and kissing each other intimately. The same hands that had once gently caressed her waist were now holding Madelyn's neck in a loving embrace!
Alicia felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and her heart felt as if it had frozen in half!