1 I pulled my in-laws from the mudslide's grip, hauling them onto the speedboat. Just as I caught my breath, a deafening roar split the sky. A swarm of my husband Roger’s industrial drones was diving right for us. High above, in his helicopter, he had his arm around his young assistant, watching the show with a smirk. The drones’ propellers churned the river into a vicious vortex, threatening to swallow our small boat whole. I frantically dialed his number. “Roger, are you insane? Your parents are on this boat!” A light chuckle came through the phone. “A year ago, Lila’s parents were trapped in a flash flood. You were the rescue captain, but you saved everyone else and left them to die.” “Today,” he purred, “I’m going to let you taste what it feels like to watch your family get swallowed whole.” His assistant, Lila, squealed in delight. “You’re amazing, Roger! I want to see those old geezers dragged to the bottom of the river!” The speedboat bucked violently. My in-laws clung to me, their bodies trembling. I screamed into the phone, “Roger, look closer! It’s your mother and father on this boat!” … “Still playing these stupid games, Rhea?” he scoffed. “My parents went to the chapel at Crestview Mountain for a spiritual retreat today. I dropped them at the airport myself this morning. Maybe use your brain before you start lying?” Lila snatched the phone from him. “This is what you get, Rhea! It’s karma! You let my parents die, and now you and those two old imposters can go straight to hell and keep them company!” I wanted to have my in-laws explain, to shout their identities into the phone. But they were shivering uncontrollably, their faces caked in mud, their hair plastered to their skulls in tangled knots. In their wretched state, they were unrecognizable. “You’re both completely insane!” I roared, hanging up the phone. There was no time. Any more delay and the boat would capsize. My mother-in-law’s face was a mask of pale terror as she gripped my arm. “Rhea, what’s wrong with Roger? He wouldn’t really kill us, would he? I’m his mother!” My father-in-law, a stoic man his entire life, was just as pale. I had no time to comfort them. The slightest mistake now meant we’d all be dead. The drones were creating a powerful vortex, a whirlpool trying to suck us down. “Hold on tight!” I yelled, slamming the throttle forward. Just then, a drone swooped in low. A propeller blade sliced across my cheek. “Blood! Rhea, your face!” my mother-in-law shrieked. My father-in-law roared at the sky, “Roger, you monster! That’s your wife!” I gritted my teeth, the movement pulling at the fresh wound. Damn, that hurt. Roger’s cold laughter boomed from the helicopter’s loudspeaker. “Still got the energy to curse me? Looks like you two old fools are tired of living!” The swarm of drones slammed into us. The boat rocked so violently it almost threw us into the churning water. The river poured over the sides, and the bow of the speedboat plunged beneath the surface. As we were about to be dragged under, my mother-in-law let out a scream of pure despair. The next second, a grappling hook shot down from Roger’s helicopter, clamping firmly onto the bow. My phone rang again. It was Roger. I immediately put it on speaker. “Scared yet? Sign the document in your email right now, and maybe I’ll let you live.” What in the world could he want so badly? I pulled out my phone to check. When I opened the email, my blood ran cold. It was a waiver, admitting I had intentionally abandoned the rescue of Lila’s parents and accepting full legal responsibility for all casualties in the disaster a year ago. But the flash flood was caused by Roger's company cutting corners and violating safety codes, destabilizing the entire mountainside. Now he wanted to make me his scapegoat, and hand Lila a massive settlement in the process? If I signed this, I’d spend the rest of my life in prison. My mother-in-law leaned over, her body shaking as she read the screen. She broke down, sobbing. “That monster! How did we raise such a heartless beast?” she wailed. “He’s trying to kill his own wife, his own parents, all for that little tramp!” My father-in-law grabbed my phone and pointed it at the helicopter, his voice raw with fury. “Roger, you soulless bastard! Look at me! I’m your father! Are you going to kill your own mother and father?” “You get down here right now! I will never let my daughter-in-law sign that piece of trash!” A wave of warmth and sorrow washed over me. In three years of marriage, they had always treated me like their own daughter. But Roger just laughed. “You senile old bastard, you still think you can impersonate my father? You must be desperate to live, huh? My father is a Thorne. You think he’d be a filthy, mud-caked beggar like you? Rhea, I’m warning you, don’t push me! Sign it! My patience is running out!” Several drones revved their engines, their sharp propellers spinning towards us. One of them sliced into my father-in-law’s arm, opening a gash so deep I could see bone. “Have you made up your mind? If not, I can just send you all to hell to think it over!” “Richard!” my mother-in-law screamed, scrambling to press her hands against his bleeding wound. I stared up at Roger’s drone fleet, my gaze like ice. “Roger, you really think you’ve won, don’t you?” He snorted. “Still acting tough when you’re about to die? Your lives are in my hands!” I slowly shook my head. “You’re just a puppet, letting someone pull your strings while you convince yourself you’re avenging a lost love.” “What are you talking about?” “I’m saying you’re going to regret this. Very soon.” Lila’s shrill voice cut in. “Roger, darling, don’t listen to her lies! She’s just trying to stall for time! Kill her! Kill her now!” That was all it took. Roger’s patience snapped. “Fine! You want to do this the hard way? Then do it!” Dozens of drones simultaneously extended sharp, metallic prods. These were industrial-grade machines; a single one could punch right through our hull. I reached into my emergency pack and pulled out an object. BANG! A flare shot into the sky. Roger erupted in laughter. “A flare gun? Hahahahaha… Rhea, did the river water rot your brain? I’ve jammed every signal in this area. You could shoot a hole in the sky and no one would come to save you!” The wind howled, whipping the waves into a frenzy. My in-laws closed their eyes, their faces etched with despair. I watched the flare reach its apex and explode in a shower of sparks. “Roger,” I said, my voice calm, “do you have any idea what level of jammer is built into this flare gun?” He paused, confused. Before he could ask what I meant, his entire drone fleet went haywire. One by one, the drones faltered, then dropped from the sky like stones, sinking into the murky depths. The triumphant laughter from the helicopter died. “What happened? Roger, what’s wrong with your drones?” Lila cried. I quickly unhooked the grappling claw and gunned the engine, steering the damaged speedboat towards the shore. But Roger was enraged. He piloted the helicopter lower, pressing down on us. “You think it’s over, Rhea?” The grappling hook shot towards us again. My face paled. I grabbed my in-laws, trying to get them away. “Jump! We have to jump!” If we didn’t get out now, the helicopter’s rotors would shred us to pieces. My father-in-law shoved my mother-in-law towards me. “Rhea, get your mother out of here! I’ll hold him off!” “Richard!” she screamed. But it was too late. The metal claw shot out, impaling my father-in-law through his already wounded arm, and hoisted him into the air. He screamed in agony as blood poured down his side, staining his clothes a deep crimson. “Still talking tough, old man? Weren’t you the one who said you’d rather die than sign? Let’s see how tough you really are!” Roger swung the crane arm back and forth, dangling his father mercilessly through the air. My mother-in-law fainted from the shock, collapsing into my arms. They never should have been here. They only came to this disaster zone to clean up a mess Roger had made, and now they were being hunted down by angry victims and their own son. “Roger, stop it!” I screamed. “You’re going to kill him!” “Oh, so now you’re begging?” Roger’s laughter was manic. “Sign the document! Or I’ll drop this old bastard in the river and let him drown!” “Fine, fine, I’ll sign! I’m signing it now!” I didn’t hesitate. I opened the email on my phone and uploaded my digital signature. My father-in-law’s voice was a weak rasp. “You… you little monster… I’m your father…” After Roger received the confirmation email, his laughter turned cruel and final. “Old man, I’m done with you. And since you’re all so ungrateful, you can go down and keep Lila’s parents company!” He released the crane. My father-in-law’s body plummeted into the churning brown water and vanished. “No!” “Dad!” I lunged forward, trying to grab him, but my hands closed on nothing but muddy water. “Go on and cry, Rhea. Why aren’t you crying?” Roger taunted. “Is this how you watched Lila’s parents die? Just standing there, cold as ice?” Lila’s voice was laced with a sick excitement. “Get the old hag too, Roger! Finish her off!” My mother-in-law stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She looked around, confused. “Rhea, where’s your father?” She followed my gaze to the turbulent surface of the river and understood everything. Roger was closing in again. I had no choice but to drag her towards the shore. The downdraft from the helicopter’s rotors was so strong it nearly pinned us to the ground. I pushed her with all my might. “Mom, run! Go!” Roger had lost all control. “Game over, Rhea.” A chill ran down my spine. I looked back. He was leaning out of the cockpit, a modified nail gun in his hand. The barrel was pointed straight at us. Lila clapped her hands. “Let them feel what it’s like to have their bones shattered! Make it so Rhea can’t even crawl away!” My scalp prickled with fear. “Mom, faster!” The rocky slope of the riverbank was just ahead. If we could just climb up, find some cover… BANG! An explosion of pain in my right knee. I collapsed into the mud, unable to stand. My leg was soaked in blood, a gory hole where I could see splintered bone. “Rhea!” My mother-in-law, who had just reached the top of the slope, turned and saw me fall. Without a second thought, she scrambled back down towards me. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I screamed through the pain, “Mom, don’t come back! Run! Go find Julian! Only Julian can stop him!” Julian was Roger’s uncle, the true head of the Thorne family. If he found out what Roger had done, that he’d murdered his own father, Roger’s life would be over. “I’m not leaving you!” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “I can’t leave you alone! If we’re going to die, we’ll die together!” But she was a woman who had lived a life of comfort, not hardship. She didn’t have the strength to drag me. After a few desperate attempts, we were both sinking deeper into the mud. With a final, desperate look, she steeled herself and turned, scrambling back up the slope. “Wait for me, Rhea! You have to stay alive!” I had saved so many people in my life—from fires, from collapsed buildings, from floods. But today, I couldn’t even save myself. I pushed myself up slightly, wanting to watch her get a little farther away. But the helicopter shifted, its sights now set on the small, struggling figure on the slope. Roger raised the nail gun, taking aim at his own mother. Panic seized me. “Roger, look! That’s your mother! Your own mother!” A sneer echoed from the loudspeaker. “Rhea, are you still trying that pathetic lie?” Lila’s sickly sweet voice followed. “She’s trying to trick you, darling. Your mother is so elegant and refined. How could she possibly be that old hag rolling around in the mud?” “You’re right. My mother is sipping tea in the chapel at Crestview right now. Rhea, your time is up.” “Roger, no! If you want to kill someone, kill me!” I screamed. My mother-in-law froze on the slope, her body rigid as she looked back at me. The next second, her body was ripped apart by a volley of nails. My mind went blank. The helicopter descended, using its claw to pick up her body and drop it in the mud in front of me. I stared into her wide-open eyes, still filled with worry for me. Even in death, she was thinking of her daughter-in-law. “Nice and quiet now, isn’t it, Rhea? Enjoy the little gift I prepared for you,” Roger said. “Two old corpses. A perfect match for you.” Lila cheered. “You did it, Roger! Now those two old bastards have paid for their sins!” The helicopter landed, and Roger walked towards me, nail gun in hand. I looked at him—the man I had once loved with all my heart. Now, a demon who had just murdered his own parents. He smiled. “So pitiful. Our heroic Captain Rhea is about to meet her maker.” Lila egged him on. “Hurry up, Roger! I want to see her head explode!” I lay in the mud, the agony in my knee turning into a dull, spreading numbness. My mother-in-law’s body was right beside me. I reached out, took her cold hand, and gave it one last squeeze. “If I survive this, Roger,” I whispered, my voice a low rasp, “I will grind your bones to dust.” His laughter grew wilder. “Is that your last word? Good. I’ll send you on your way.” He raised the nail gun, aiming for my head. Just as his finger tightened on the trigger, a new sound filled the air—the thundering beat of more than a dozen helicopter rotors. They hovered above us, each one emblazoned with the Thorne family crest. Roger’s face went white as he watched a man leap from the lead helicopter.
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