Mandy gave a bitter smile. “Some things, once you do them, there’s no going back.”
She drew a shaky breath, her wind-tossed hair framing a face set with unwavering resolve. In her eyes, there was a finality—a fearless determination that seemed to put her own life far beneath the weight of what she was about to do.
Suddenly, Mandy raised the knife in her hand. The blade caught the sunlight, gleaming cold and sharp.
For a split second, time seemed to freeze. Not a soul breathed.
Mandy moved to slash the man’s throat, but at that very moment, a police officer fired his gun.
The gunshot cut through the air with a deafening crack.
In an instant, a bullet pierced Mandy’s forehead.
Blood erupted from her brow, streaking her already pale face in a vivid, chilling red.
“No—!” Liam’s cry ripped through the silence, raw and broken.
He stood frozen, eyes wide in disbelief, staring at Mandy’s crumpling form.
It was as if the world itself had stopped, a deathly hush blanketing everything.
Mandy felt a searing heat explode in her skull.
Her vision swam behind a crimson haze; the world around her warped and blurred.
Her body rocked on unsteady legs, consciousness fading—but sheer force of will kept her upright for a moment longer.
With the last of her strength, she drove the knife deep into the man’s neck.
The blade sliced into flesh, and warm blood spurted, splattering her face and clothes, mixing with her own.
Perfect.
The man who hurt Claire’s daughter was dead. Their beloved son would grow up alone—an orphan.
That was true justice.
Now, even in death, she had no regrets.
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