Lara Arlington stood up, spreading her arms as if to bid farewell to the world.
Beneath the vast night sky, her silhouette looked so small and insignificant.
"Lara!"
"You're not even afraid of death, so why are you so afraid of a little humiliation?"
An angry shout echoed through the darkness. Her body stiffened, and she slowly turned around. "Aurelia..."
Aurelia Ravenshire stood in the night breeze, the city's neon lights reflecting in her eyes.
*
At 2:30 AM.
Vivienne Lexton and Bianca Whitmore rushed to Commerce Century Tower.
The mall on the lower seven floors had already closed, so they had to take the hotel elevator from the underground parking garage to the top floor. But the elevator stopped abruptly at the thirtieth floor, and the hotel staff informed them that the top three floors were temporarily closed to the public.
If it was closed, how did Aurelia and Lara get up there?
The hotel staff were adamant. Realizing the girls weren't hotel guests, they called security to kick them out.
Vivienne shot Bianca a look, and Bianca instantly went into full meltdown mode, pointing at the staff and screaming.
"Try laying a finger on me! I'll have my mom destroy you all!"
"Do you even know who my mom is? Talia Ravenshire, the Queen of Stormhollow! Do you know who my grandpa is? The ultimate boss of Stormhollow, Caspian Ravenshire!"
The sheer weight of those two names left the hotel staff dumbfounded. In Athelvia, even a toddler knew the shadow president, Old Mr. Ravenshire, let alone these guys.
While everyone was paralyzed by shock, Vivienne snatched the master keycard right out of the supervisor's hand, darted into the elevator, swiped the card, and hit the close button in one fluid motion, leaving a stunned Bianca stranded outside.
Bianca finally realized she'd been played. Vivienne never intended to bring her along.
Furious, she turned and grabbed the supervisor. "Give me a card!"
The supervisor, unsure of her actual status and terrified of offending her, replied cautiously, "Miss, you just saw it with your own eyes. Your friend took the only card I had."
"Don't mess with me. There has to be a backup card!"
"I don't have it on me; it's in the manager's office. The elevator was malfunctioning today and just got fixed. I was on my way to lock down the floor when you showed up."
She blinked, and inexplicably, tears suddenly spilled from her eyes like a broken string of pearls.
Surprised, she raised a hand to gently wipe them away.
"Yes, I could," Aurelia choked out, her eyes shining with sudden, dazzling determination. "If someone tried to break my spirit, I wouldn't stop fighting until one of us was dead."
"..."
Lara stared at her quietly, not reacting for a long time.
Aurelia hesitated for a moment, then took a slow step closer.
"Lara, turn back. You can only fix this if you stay alive." She reached out her hand, offering Lara a lifeline.
Just then, Vivienne pushed open the rooftop door...
Against the backdrop of a starry night, she watched a girl passionately offer a second chance to the person she used to be in the last story.
- [Stay alive, and we will be brave together.]
...

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