Chapter 285: Chapter 285
Chapter 285
Isabelle turned back immediately the second Ethan’s scream shattered the roar of the storm. She didn't hesitate for a single second, dropping straight to her knees in the thick, freezing mud beside his collapsed body. Blood was already pooling into the slick earth around his right leg, staining the wet grass dark red. She threw her arms under his shoulders, digging her shoes into the slippery slope as she tried with everything in her to drag his heavy frame toward the wooden footbridge just twenty feet away.
"Get up, Ethan! Please, you have to get up!" she sobbed, her voice cracking as rain streamed down her face, mixing with her hot tears. She pulled with all her strength, her body trembling from the sheer weight and exhaustion, but Ethan could barely keep his eyes open as pain surged through his body.
Harsh white beams of tactical flashlights broke through the treeline above them, illuminating the wet riverbank in blinding glare. Heavy footsteps thundered down the slope, accompanied by the sharp clicks of rifle chambers locking into place. Sam’s armed guards were pouring out of the woods, fanning out in a wide arc to surround the riverbank and cut off every possible escape route.
Ethan looked up through his blurred vision, seeing the flashlights closing in and hearing the harsh shouts of the men above. He knew the brutal reality of their situation. His leg was completely useless, blood pouring from the wound, and Isabelle was destroying her only chance of survival trying to move a man who couldn't walk. If she stayed on this side of the bank for another ten seconds, they would both be dragged back to Sam’s estate—or shot dead right on the mud.
With a sudden, violent surge of raw adrenaline, Ethan shoved his hands against Isabelle's chest, pushing her backward toward the wooden railing of the narrow footbridge.
"Ethan, no!" she cried out, her boots slipping on the muddy wooden planks as she stumbled back.
Ethan grabbed a thick wooden branch lying in the mud beside him, using it to haul himself up onto one knee. As the lead guard reached the bottom of the slope with his taser extended, Ethan lunged forward from the ground, swinging the heavy branch with all the force left in his body. The wood struck the guard hard across his wrist, knocking the weapon straight into the churning river current below. The guard cursed loudly, lunging forward to tackle Ethan flat onto his back in the mud, but Ethan held onto the man’s tactical vest with both hands, pinning him down to buy Isabelle precious seconds.
He lifted his head toward her, his face covered in rain, blood, and dirt, his eyes burning with pure desperation as he screamed over the deafening roar of the wind and rushing water.
"Go Isabelle! Don't stay behind, please just go! I will always love you, I'd die for you—just leave!"
Isabelle stood frozen on the footbridge, her hand pressed tight against the inside pocket of her jacket where the black flash drive was tucked away. Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks as she watched him fight off the guards from the ground, his body completely spent, yet still trying to shield her with his own chest.
"Ethan!" she screamed out one last time, every muscle in her body screaming at her to turn back and die beside him.
"Go!" Ethan roared through the storm, his voice breaking as two more guards swarmed over him, forcing his arms behind his back and pinning his head into the mud.
Isabelle squeezed her eyes shut for a agonizing fraction of a second, pulled the flash drive tighter against her ribs, and turned on her heel. She sprinted across the slippery footbridge as fast as her legs could carry her, not daring to look back as Sam’s men swarmed over Ethan at the river’s edge, watching him disappear into the dark chaos as she vanished into the black shadows of the far forest.