Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 368: Die Already

For a moment, my heart felt like it had stopped beating entirely.

Was Harlan really dead?

Even though we had clashed before and exchanged a few sharp words, I trusted Carter’s judgment. Carter never surrounded himself with weak or cruel men. The friends he chose were people he believed in, men he respected enough to stand beside him. That alone was enough for me to believe Harlan wasn’t a bad person.

He might be arrogant. Loud. Even a little reckless.

But not someone who deserved to die like this.

No matter what kind of complicated relationship he had with Riley, I didn’t want him to die here.

Not like this.

The crash behind us had been deafening. For a few seconds afterward, a loud ringing filled my ears, drowning out everything else. It was as if the world had suddenly been wrapped in thick cotton, muting every sound around me.

Even the roar of the engine felt distant.

I didn’t know what waited ahead of us.

But I knew one thing clearly.

There were still two lives sitting behind me in this car.

Whitney.

And Riley.

I couldn’t stop.

My only choice was to press the accelerator harder and keep driving.

Harlan had said there were three more intersections ahead.

Just hold on.

There was no turning back now. The only direction left was forward.

As the car sped down the road, the scenery outside blurred into streaks of color. Buildings, streetlights, and passing signs flashed by in a chaotic rush. The wind howled faintly against the windows, and the engine groaned under the pressure of the speed.

A strange feeling washed over me. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

It was almost like I had been pulled back into the past.

Back to that freezing night.

The night when snow fell endlessly from the dark sky.

In my memory, I was stumbling forward along the edge of the river. My hands were pressed against my wound, trying desperately to stop the blood that kept pouring out of me.

But it wouldn’t stop.

Every step felt heavier than the last. My legs trembled beneath me, and my strength slipped away little by little with every breath.

Behind me, Silas’s footsteps echoed through the snow.

Slow.

Relentless.

I could still remember the sound of the icy water splashing against my dress as I struggled forward. Snowflakes landed in my hair, melting slowly against my skin before sliding down my face like tears.

The white wedding dress I had worn that night had been soaked with blood.

Bright red against pure white.

The color had spread slowly across the fabric, blooming like a cruel flower.

I had wanted to escape so badly.

Truly.

But I couldn’t.

No matter how hard I tried, my body wouldn’t move fast enough.

My legs felt like they were made of stone.

Even now, a voice inside my mind kept urging me forward.

Chloe, hurry.

Faster.

Run.

Don’t stop.

I snapped back to the present.

My foot slammed harder on the gas pedal as the engine roared louder beneath us. At the same time, I hit my own thigh with my hand, forcing my numb leg to stay steady on the pedal.

"Move," I muttered under my breath.

"Don’t freeze on me now."

Riley was still holding her phone tightly in her hand. Her fingers had turned pale from gripping it so hard. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke into it.

"Har... Harlan? Are you still there?"

She waited, but there was no reply at first.

The silence on the other end stretched painfully long.

"Harlan, say something."

Her voice became even shakier.

"If you’re dead, we won’t even need to divorce. I’ll just become a widow in one step."

Whitney turned to look at her in disbelief.

Riley kept talking as if she were thinking out loud, completely ignoring the danger surrounding us.

"I should’ve asked what kind of tombstone you liked. I never thought you’d die before me. If that happens, all your assets will belong to me."

A furious shout suddenly exploded from the phone.

"You b*tch! Stop dreaming!"

Riley jumped in surprise.

"You’re mine when you’re alive and mine when you’re dead! Divorce? Don’t even think about it in this lifetime!"

Riley’s eyes instantly lit up.

"Hey! You’re still alive?"

The panic on her face faded almost immediately. A strange calmness returned to her expression as she listened to him breathing through the phone.

Then Harlan’s voice came again, slightly breathless.

"Janice... do you believe in light?"

His question sounded strange in the middle of such chaos.

But as his words fell, something suddenly appeared in my rearview mirror.

A black Cullinan burst out from the swirling dust behind us.

The vehicle looked like it had just survived a battlefield. Its once spotless surface was now covered in dirt, dust, and deep scratches. One side of the body was dented badly, and the front bumper had clearly taken a brutal hit.

One of the headlights hung half-broken.

But it was still moving.

Still chasing after us.

Still refusing to fall behind.

He was alive.

A quiet breath escaped my chest before I even realized it.

The tension in my shoulders loosened slightly.

If someone had died because of our family’s conflict, I would never have been able to forgive myself.

Harlan’s voice returned through the phone, filled with a strange mix of pride and excitement.

"Did you see that?"

"Isn’t your husband handsome?"

Riley immediately shifted onto her knees on the seat. She leaned forward, her hands pressing against the leather cushion as she stared through the rear window.

"Are you crazy?" she shouted back into the phone.

"The right headlight is completely destroyed! And the bumper too! Do you have any idea how much it costs to fix that car?"

There was a pause.

Then Harlan groaned in frustration.

"Janice, stop looking at the car."

"Look at me."

Even through the phone, I could practically feel the irritation pouring out of him.

Despite everything happening around us—the speeding car, the danger, the tension in the air—Riley’s focus was completely somewhere else.

And strangely enough, for the first time since the chase began, the suffocating tension inside the car eased just a little.