The Fiancé's Gambit

The night of our engagement party, my fiance, Elara, was dragged into the women's restroom and raped.

I heard everything from the men's room next door.

Elara's sobs were a symphony of despair, her cries for help sharp enough to pierce my eardrums.

When I finally walked out, I saw him.

The man who did it, calmly zipping up his pants and walking away with a look of sickening satisfaction on his face.

After that night, something in Elara broke. Her mind fractured, and she was lost in a world of nonsensical whispers.

Half a month later, the doctors gave up. There was no improvement, no effective treatment.

And I told Elara's family I was calling off the engagement.

In the hospital room, her brother's fist connected with my jaw.

Jude's eyes were wild, blazing with a murderous light as he grabbed me by the collar.

"You animal. Are you even human? My sister was raped, she's broken, and you you're not out there hunting down the bastard who did this to her. You're running away. You're abandoning her. What kind of a man are you?"

His shouts were deafening, spittle flying onto my face.

I didn't say a word in my defense. I just stood there, as if I accepted every accusation.

"My daughter has been a kind, gentle soul her whole life," Elara's mother, Mrs. Vance, sobbed, her words choked with tears.

"Out of all the men in the world, she chose you. How could you let her suffer like this?"

Her gaze flickered to her daughter, lying vacant and still on the hospital bed, and the grief in her eyes ignited into pure rage. She strode forward and slapped me hard across the face, twice. CRACK. CRACK.

"Kieran," she hissed,

"if you have any shred of a man left in you, you will find the monster who did this to our Elara."

Looking at her tear-streaked face, I just slowly shook my head.

"I'm calling off the engagement."

In an instant, Jude's hands were around my neck, squeezing.

"You piece of shit! You think you can just throw my sister away?"

Mrs. Vance pointed a trembling finger at me.

"Elara always said she was the luckiest girl in the world. She said she'd found a man who loved her as much as her family did. Is this your love?"

I glanced at Elara on the bed, my expression a cold, indifferent mask.

"Ma'am, what happened to Elara is a tragedy, and my heart breaks for her. But it happened. We have to accept reality."

"What reality is that?"

Jude's grip tightened.

"The reality that you think she's dirty now? Is that why you're leaving her? Is that it?"

he roared, his voice like thunder.

His eyes burned with a hatred so intense, it felt like he wanted to devour me whole.

Mrs. Vance stared at me, her body rigid.

When I gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod, something inside her snapped. She lunged at me, clawing and scratching like a wild animal.

I instinctively tried to pull back, but Jude's hands were still locked around my throat.

I couldn't move.

Her nails raked across my face, leaving searing trails of pain.

But the agony on my skin was nothing compared to the crushing weight in my chest.

She didn't stop until my face was a bloody mess.

A nurse rushed in, her eyes wide with alarm.

"Sir, should I call security? Should I call the police?"

Jude sneered,

"Yeah, you animal. You gonna call the cops on us?"

I looked at the nurse and weakly shook my head.

"But you're bleeding so much"

"Get the hell out of here!"

Jude bellowed. The nurse scurried away.

Just then, the door opened again.

Mr. Vance walked in, his face a thundercloud.

"Dad, this son of a bitch is calling off the engagement with Elara!"

Jude immediately tattled.

"He thinks she's tainted goods, so he's dumping her!"

Without a word, Mr. Vance grabbed a wooden chair, lifted it high, and brought it down across my back with ferocious force.

The impact sent me crashing to the floor, my entire body convulsing in pain.

"AH!"

A terrified scream came from the bed. It was Elara.

"Honey, it's okay, don't be scared," Mrs. Vance rushed to her side, holding her tight.

"Mom w-why is he here?"

Elara pointed at me, her eyes filled with panic and terror.

Her mother misunderstood.

"Your father is teaching this scum a lesson for what he's doing to you, darling!"

Mr. Vance lifted the chair again, ready to strike. I was in too much pain to even lift my head, completely powerless to defend myself.

"Don't"

Elara cried out, her voice sharp.

But the chair was already falling.

CRASH!

The solid wood shattered on impact.

I felt a warm, metallic taste fill my mouth as I coughed up blood.

"Dad, don't hit my fianc!"

Elara screamed, her eyes red with tears.

"He is not your fianc!"

Mr. Vance spat, his voice cold as ice. He walked over, squatted down, and grabbed my collar, his gaze a bottomless abyss.

"Do you know why I'm hitting you?"

I couldn't speak.

The pain was making me tremble uncontrollably.

"It's not because you're calling off the engagement. And it's not because you're abandoning my daughter. It's because you're not human."

He paused, letting the words hang in the air.

"I did some checking," he continued, his voice low and menacing.

"On the night of the party. When Elara was being attacked you were in the men's room. The hotel janitor saw you."

His words landed like stones.

"In other words, you almost certainly saw the man who raped Elara."

"Is is that true?"

Mrs. Vance whispered, rushing to her husband's side.

"He saw him?"

"Yes," Mr. Vance said with absolute certainty.

"He had to have seen him."

He turned his chilling gaze back to me.

"So why did you tell the police you saw nothing?"

Mrs. Vance grabbed a fistful of my hair, her face twisted with fury.

"It must have been someone we know," Mr. Vance theorized, his voice dropping to a cold whisper.

"Someone he recognized. Someone he's too scared to cross. So he kept his mouth shut. To avoid retaliation."

"Is that it?"

Mrs. Vance shrieked into my ear.

My body was a canvas of agony, and speaking was a monumental effort.

But through the pain, I forced the words out.

"I didn't see anyone."

"You're lying!"

Mr. Vance's eyes were glacial.

"The janitor said she saw you come out of the restroom. And another man left, going in the opposite direction. You one hundred percent saw the bastard! Why won't you say who it was?"

Before I could answer, Jude hauled me to my feet.

Without a single question, he started pounding his fists into my face, again and again.

Just as the world was beginning to fade to black, he finally stopped, roaring in my ear.

"Tell us, you piece of shit! Who was it?"

When I remained silent, his rage exploded.

"You won't talk, huh? Fine!"

The next thing I knew, his hands were back on my throat, squeezing with every ounce of his strength.

This wasn't a threat anymore. He was actually trying to kill me. The world began to tunnel, the air disappearing from my lungs.

"I want to fly!"

At that critical moment, Elara's strange words cut through the violence.

The Vances turned. Their blood ran cold.

Somehow, Elara had gotten out of bed and was now perched on the windowsill, her upper body already leaning out into the open air.

"Elara!"

"Honey!"

Their faces went white with terror.

They scrambled to pull her back inside.

In that moment of distraction, I found my chance. Ignoring the fire in my lungs and the agony in my body, I staggered out of the room and escaped.