⌐╦─ Goodbye

That day Chicago was dark and heavy with gray clouds. It was a miserable, gloomy afternoon, the kind where it feels like night was already falling.

Serafina sat on the very edge of the terrace of a towering building, her legs dangling over the side into the empty, terrifying void. The wind up here was violent, whipping her dark hair sharply across her face, but she did not flinch. Below her, the bustling city streets and cars looked like tiny, insignificant dots. A single slip would mean falling to her death, but her body remained perfectly still.

In her right hand, she held a burning cigarette between her trembling fingers. She lifted it to her lips and inhaled deeply, letting the harsh smoke burn her throat and calm the frantic racing of her heart.

She leaned back, resting her weight on a left hand that was completely coated in thick crimson blood. The blood was starting to dry on her skin, feeling tight and uncomfortable, but a few fresh drops still managed to drip from her fingertips, falling into the massive crimson pool below.

It was not her own blood.

It belonged to the man lying a few feet behind her on the concrete floor. He was dead, stretched out on his back in a large, spreading puddle of dark red. His expensive tailored suit was ruined, soaked through with the evidence of his final moments. His eyes stared blankly up at the sky—wide and frozen, yet carrying a strange sense of calmness.

Tears flowed steadily from Serafina's eyes, running down her pale, cold cheeks. She was crying, but she was not sobbing or trembling out of fear. Her breathing was perfectly even, and her expression was completely blank. Her mind was entirely under control, even if her body couldn't help but weep.

Looking down at her bloody hand, a cold, hollow void opened up in her chest. He was gone, the world was spinning out of control, and she was left standing in the wreckage.

Suddenly, a loud, heavy thud echoed across the terrace, vibrating through the concrete beneath her.

Thump.

The thick steel gate leading to the roof shook violently.

Thump.

Serafina did not even turn around to look. She knew exactly who was on the other side – Men she had known since childhood, soldiers who had sworn oaths to protect her, now banging on the door like rabid wolves.

The syndicate had sent their strongest enforcers to break down the door she had locked. They were hitting the metal frame with a rhythmic, heavy force that echoed like a countdown. The metal was already starting to bend and warp under the pressure.

They didn't want the truth. They had already judged her, sentenced her, and now they wanted blood for blood.

They wanted to get to her.

Thump.

A sudden, strong gust of wind swept across the roof. It caught the cigarette between Serafina's fingers and ripped it from her hand before she could take one last drag. She watched the small, glowing ember tumble into the empty space beneath her, spinning helplessly until it vanished from sight. It felt a lot like her own life—completely out of her own hands, drifting into the dark.

Before the silence could return, a loud, roaring sound filled the air, deafening and close.

A police helicopter dropped down from the heavy clouds, hovering just twenty feet above the terrace. A powerful white searchlight snapped on, blinding the roof in a harsh light.

The wind from the helicopter's spinning blades was intense, kicking up dust, gravel, and debris everywhere, stinging Serafina's skin. Heavily armed police officers stood at the open doors of the aircraft, aiming their rifles straight at her chest, their lasers cutting through the gloom.

"Serafina!" a loud voice boomed through the helicopter's megaphone, crackling with authority. "Step away from the ledge! Put your hands up and surrender! You have nowhere left to run!"

Serafina squinted against the bright, blinding searchlight, her tear-stained eyes stinging. She looked at the police officers and the deadly barrels of their guns. Then she turned her head slightly to look back at the steel gate, which was about to burst open from the heavy, relentless blows. In a matter of seconds, her family would be through that door, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill her themselves. She was completely trapped between the police in the air and her family on the ground.

Anyone else would have fallen to their knees and begged for mercy. But Serafina didn't know how to beg.

Instead of panicking, she let out a slow, shaky breath and reached down with her clean right hand.

Underneath her long, dark trench coat, she was already wearing a heavy, military-grade climbing harness. It was wrapped tightly around her waist and thighs. With a quick, loud click, her steady fingers snapped a heavy steel carabiner onto a strong, high-tension cable. The cable ran discreetly along the side of the building's main architectural pillar, anchored deeply into the bedrock below.

She looked up at the helicopter, making direct eye contact with the lead sniper, and then looked back at the cracking, breaking door.

A small, faint smile appeared on her lips. The police thought they had caught a broken murder suspect, and her family thought they had cornered their rebellious new heir. They all thought they owned her destiny.

They were both wrong.

"Goodbye," she whispered into the howling wind.

Serafina did not hesitate for a fraction of a second. She did not look down at the dizzying drop below. She simply leaned back, pushed off the concrete ledge with the soles of her boots, and jumped backward off the 140-story building.

The wind rushed past her ears in a deafening, roaring scream. The roof, the helicopter, the flashing red and blue lights, and the shouting police officers instantly shot upward, disappearing from view as she plummeted rapidly down into the freezing gray fog.

Part of her desperately wanted to stay, to mourn, to say a proper goodbye to the man whose life now stained her hands. But there was no time for grief. If she stayed, the truth would die with her.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***