Chapter 480: Episode 478: I miss my babies

She pulled her eyes away from the tall glass window in the bedroom.

Breaking the thick glass and jumping from way up here would be too messy. It would just end everything forever without giving her soul a chance to slip through the cracks. She needed a different way.

Her mind was playing tricks on her, but to her, it made perfect sense. When she was locked in the dark basement, the bad man had used electricity to hurt her. That horrible, burning shock had almost felt like it was pulling her out of her body.

Extreme pain. Extreme trauma. That was the secret key. If she got hurt bad enough, the shock might just pop her right back into her real world.

And even if it didn’t work... even if she just died... maybe that was okay too. Maybe dying here meant she would wake up over there. Like waking up from a really bad dream.

She would open her eyes, and her babies would be right there. She had nothing to lose. Living in a fancy apartment without her kids wasn’t a real life anyway. It was just breathing.

She walked quietly over to the bedroom door. She pushed the door open just a tiny crack.

Down the hallway, in the huge living room, the men were fighting. They weren’t fighting with their fists, but their voices were loud and full of anger. They were drowning in their own heavy guilt, entirely distracted by their own mistakes.

"We should have told her the truth on the first day!" Torian yelled, his voice thick with pain. "We let her think she was going home!"

"If I told her the truth in the hospital, her heart would have stopped!" Zarek yelled back, pacing across the rug. "The doctor said the shock would kill her! I was trying to save her life!"

"Well, look at her now!" Kaelen snapped loudly. "She is locked in a dark room. She is completely broken. Are you happy now, Zarek? Did we save her, or did we just ruin her?"

They were so busy blaming each other that they didn’t hear Roxy’s bare feet stepping onto the smooth hallway floor. She didn’t feel angry at them anymore. She just felt sorry for them. But she couldn’t stay here.

She walked like a ghost past the hallway corner, staying hidden in the shadows. She reached the front door of the penthouse. She used her hairpin to cross the wires. Another soft click. She pulled the door open and slipped out into the private elevator hallway.

She got in the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. The ride down was fast and completely quiet. When the doors opened, she didn’t go through the main lobby where the scary security guards were standing. Instead, she followed the bright red signs for the emergency stairs and pushed through the fire exit door.

The door opened, and Roxy stepped out into the loud, busy city.

The noise was crazy. Car horns honked loudly, people shouted on their phones, and the smell of exhaust and street food filled the air. It was bright and crowded. Everyone was moving fast, completely ignoring the pale woman in the soft, expensive lounge clothes walking out of the side alley.

Roxy walked down the busy sidewalk. The rough concrete felt strange and cold under her bare feet, but she didn’t care. She barely even felt it. She was completely numb to the real world.

Her mind was entirely focused on one single thing: getting back to her kids.

She kept thinking about the plan. A near-death shock. Something big and violent to tear the world open and let her slip through. If it didn’t work, she would just die. And if she died, she wouldn’t have to feel this awful, crushing pain in her chest anymore. It was a win-win situation. Either she went back to her babies, or she got to stop hurting. She was completely ready to do this.

Back up in the penthouse, the loud arguing in the living room suddenly stopped. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Zarek rubbed his face with his hands. He felt a weird, cold shiver go down his spine. His magic might be gone, but the deep, invisible feeling that connected him to his wife was still there. And right now, that feeling was completely empty.

"Where is she?" Zarek whispered, his eyes going wide.

He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned and ran down the hallway. He grabbed the handle of the master bedroom door.

The room was completely dark and empty.

"Roxy!" Zarek yelled, his voice cracking with pure panic.

The other five men came running into the room. They looked at the empty bed. They looked at the open bathroom door.

"She’s gone," Syris gasped, his face turning totally white.

"Get to the elevators! Now!" Kaelen shouted.

The six men scrambled. They pushed past each other, running toward the front door like their lives depended on it. Absolute panic took over. Their hearts were pounding so hard they could hear it in their own ears. They had brought her to this world to keep her safe, and they had just let her wander out into the dangerous, massive city all by herself, completely heartbroken and not thinking straight.

Down on the street, Roxy had reached a massive, busy intersection.

It was a huge road with six wide lanes of traffic. The cars were moving very fast. The traffic light for the cars was green, which meant the little walking sign for people was red. A group of people stood on the sidewalk right next to her, waiting patiently for the light to change so they could cross safely.

Roxy didn’t wait.

She stood right on the edge of the curb. Her toes were hanging over the drop. She looked down the long road. Coming fast in the lane right next to the sidewalk was a massive, heavy delivery truck. It was huge, made of thick metal, and it was moving way too fast to stop suddenly.

This was it. This was the big shock she needed.

The truck was getting closer. The engine was roaring loud. The driver saw her standing too close to the edge and honked the horn. It was a loud, angry blast that made the people next to her cover their ears.

Roxy didn’t feel scared. She just felt a deep, overwhelming need to see her babies again. She wanted to hold little Fedor. She wanted to kiss Tyara’s nose. She wanted to hold her newborn girl so badly it hurt.

She took a deep breath. She closed her green eyes.

And then, she stepped right off the curb, directly into the path of the speeding truck.