Accidental Marriage with the CEO: Unwanted Bride
Chapter 35: A stranger

Chapter 35: A stranger

She curled into herself where she sat, arms wrapped around her knees, breathing heavily into her cupped palms in a futile attempt to stay awake, stay alive. Her breath came out in shallow clouds, vanishing as fast as her body heat. The cold pierced through her layers, slicing straight into bone.

She was trapped inside a deep freezer, a place meant to preserve meat, to halt decay and rot. But the air... it carried a different scent. Not quite blood, not quite metallic, but sharp and wrong. She didn’t know enough to place it. Maybe it was animal blood. Maybe something worse.

She blinked slowly, her lashes stiff with frost, and glanced around. No sign of her bag. Panic surged. She forced herself upright, limbs aching, each step like wading through ice water. Her teeth chattered as she staggered across the freezer, hugging herself tightly to keep her resolve from cracking.

’I just need my phone,’ she thought desperately. If Michelle had sent those men to kill her. There wouldn’t be a door left unlocked. Every exit was sealed for a reason.

Still, she searched, her eyes darting to every corner. No gaps. No handles. The walls were solid, unnaturally fortified, too sealed, too soundproof. This wasn’t just for storing meat. This place was made to hide something. Or someone.

Her breath hitched. Her trembling hands clawed through her hair, frustration boiling over as her hope began to fray. No bag. No phone. No way out. The cold was starting to win, creeping into her fingers, numbing her legs. She dropped back down to the ground and curled up again, blowing warm air into her palms, though nothing felt warm anymore. Her limbs stiffened. Her chest ached with every slow inhale. She couldn’t even feel her own breath.

She was freezing to death.

Tears stung her eyes, but they froze before they could fall. Her vision blurred, darkness inching into her peripheral vision, until a sudden, faint beep cut through the silence.

It wasn’t loud. But it was enough.

Her heart jolted. Her eyes widened. That sound, she knew it. A notification. Then it hit her. The inner pocket.

She had tucked her phone into the inside pocket of her jacket before getting out of the car.

With a trembling breath, she summoned every ounce of strength left in her. She exhaled sharply and pressed her numb palms close to her mouth, hoping to awaken any sense of movement. After two more tries, her fingers twitched. She groaned through clenched teeth and forced her left hand to move, inch by inch, into the jacket’s inner pocket.

She fished the phone out with effort, the screen lighting up in her shaking hands.

A spam notification.

It didn’t matter.

With a breathless sob, she navigated through the screen, her thumb slipping. She made it to her contacts, heart pounding as she pressed Zara’s name. The call rang once... twice...

Then voicemail.

She slumped against the wall, eyes wide in disbelief. Zara never put her phone on voicemail, unless she was seriously unavailable. Still, she was the only person Patricia could think of. Family wouldn’t answer, even if she called a hundred times. She didn’t even have her mother’s number anymore, because of too much resentment, too much distance.

A wave of despair swept through her, heavy and cruel.

Then a thought surfaced. One she didn’t want to acknowledge. One she couldn’t ignore.

Roman.

He had made it clear not to ever call him, and to only text him no matter what. But texting wasn’t an option anymore. And she was dying.

Her thumb hovered over his name. The man who had told her to keep her distance. Who might not even pick up. But something deep inside her whispered...Try. Even if he yelled. Even if he hated her for it. If there was a chance... any chance... of surviving this freezer, she had to take it.

Shivering violently, she pressed the call button.

And waited.

She dialed his number, but no one picked up. Refusing to give in, she tried again...five more times. Each call rang unanswered, chipping away at her last strand of hope. Her vision blurred with tears as she texted Roman, praying he might at least see it.

He did.

A minute passed. Seen. No reply.

She scoffed bitterly and collapsed to the ground, letting out a hollow laugh that echoed around the frozen chamber. How foolish of me, she thought. Of course, he was just another person who wanted her gone, right after his family. Why would he save her?

Her sight began to fade, the edges of the world around her dissolving into a white blur. Her body had gone stiff; her hands were ice. Lying helplessly on the floor, she let her mind drift, reliving her most precious memories as she quietly prepared for death. She never imagined her end would come like this, so cold, so cruel. But maybe this was better than dying at the hands of her family.

She pictured the smug grin that would stretch across her stepmother’s face when she saw the body. Her real mother would probably breathe a sigh of relief...finally rid of the "useless" daughter. But Zara...

Zara would break. She might lose control, spiral, do something reckless. Patricia’s heart clenched at the thought. If there was ever a next life, she hoped to come back as Zara’s daughter. Or sister. Anything that would keep them close.

Her heartbeat slowed, fading like a distant drumbeat. She could feel her soul slipping.

Then suddenly, her phone rang.

The sound jolted her back. A faint smile ghosted across her lips as she forced her heavy head to tilt toward the screen. Through the blur, one name lit up.

Syres.

A single tear slid down her cheek. It was almost laughable, a stranger. Someone she hadn’t even acknowledged, and yet here he was, answering her silent cry for help.

With the last bit of strength she had left, she pressed the accept button and whispered, "Save me."

Her voice was raspy, almost unrecognizable, ravaged by the cold that had spread through her body.

"Where are you?!" Syres’s voice thundered from the speaker.

But she couldn’t answer.

She had no more strength and darkness claimed her.

...

The next morning, Zara exited the location of her overnight shoot, her body aching and fingers numb. She climbed into her car and slammed the door shut, releasing a frustrated sigh before punching the steering wheel. Her glare was sharp enough to kill.

She had worked all night in freezing weather without even a proper meal. If it weren’t for her love for photography, she would have left that agency a long time ago. But she knew how hard it would be to find something better.

Muttering to herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her notifications. Her mood worsened as she saw the flood of missed calls and messages.

Then her heart skipped.

Five missed calls from Patricia.

Zara frowned. Patricia almost never called repeatedly unless something was really wrong. Just as she was about to return the call, her phone lit up again, this time with an unknown number.

She hesitated... then answered.

"If I am speaking to Miss Zara, please come to Lane 2, Gregola Estate. Miss Patricia is currently being treated here," a firm voice informed her.

The composure Zara had been desperately holding onto shattered in an instant.

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