Chapter 2

2

The entire cabin fell dead silent, save for the distant detonations reminding everyone that death was knocking on our door.

Travis swept his cold gaze across the crowd, visibly pleased as everyone shrank back in terror.

He curled his lips in satisfaction, then turned his gaze toward me, his expression softening dramatically.

"Harper, thank you for standing up for Hailey. I always knew my fiancée was the most generous, reasonable woman in the world."

"Since you've been so good to me, I promise you this: the moment we land back home, we'll get married right away."

"From that day on, I'll treat you better than anyone else."

What a familiar promise. In my previous life, he had fed me the exact same sweet lies.

Swallowing the overwhelming nausea rising in my throat, I feigned a timid, compliant smile and nodded.

He stepped forward and placed a gentle kiss upon my forehead.

I lowered my eyelashes, completely masking the icy hatred freezing in my eyes.

Outside, explosions erupted in rapid succession, sending thick black plumes of smoke into the sky. Rebel armored trucks were already visible in the distance.

Yet Travis remained stubbornly planted at the boarding hatch, staring fixedly down the tarmac as if awaiting his personal savior.

What he didn't know was that even if Hailey arrived, this plane would never make it back home.

When he had struck the bulkhead with that maintenance hammer just moments ago, I clearly heard a faint click near the root of the left wing.

In my previous life, I had studied similar incidents in aviation safety reports.

Under severe structural vibration, a loose fastener weakened by metal fatigue was enough to tear an aircraft apart during flight.

And right now, that critical bolt had sheared off completely.

Even if we managed to take off, this aircraft would break apart before reaching ten thousand feet.

The atmosphere in the cabin grew increasingly suffocating, filled with quiet sobs and white-knuckled grips on armrests.

Several young men ground their teeth in fury, yet none dared to challenge the steel hammer in Travis's grip.

"Damn it, if we keep waiting, we're all going to be butchered!" one man finally growled under his breath.

Travis sneered, slamming the hammer against the metal frame again. "If you don't want to wait, get the hell off my plane!"

Right at that moment, the sharp clicking of high heels echoed from the boarding bridge.

"Travis! I'm here!"

Hailey came running in breathlessly, her cheeks flushed and her long hair flowing.

She was weighed down by bulging designer shopping bags, wearing fresh Chanel lipstick and full, glamorous makeup as if she were heading to a high-end gala.

Travis dropped the hammer instantly, rushing forward to wrap his arms tightly around her. "Hailey! You finally made it!"

Hailey playfully tapped his chest with a pout. "Gosh, I almost didn't make it! Good thing I run fast."

She proudly flaunted her looted designer bags. As her gaze swept across the cabin, her eyes locked onto mine, a smug, provocative smirk tugging at her lips.

Travis followed her gaze. His face stiffened for a fraction of a second before he quickly resumed his gentle tone. "Harper, Hailey is here. We can take off now."

At that moment, the man with glasses completely exploded.

"Are you kidding me?! What the hell is in all those designer bags?!"

"You risked all of our lives just so she could loot high-end cosmetics?!"

His furious roar instantly reignited the rage of every passenger on board.

Travis snatched the hammer off the floor and pointed it viciously at the man's face.

"Say one more word, and I swear I'll cave your skull in right now!"

The cabin fell dead silent again, broken only by the heavy, trembling breaths of terrified passengers.

Hailey hid behind Travis, casting a gloating smile at the crowd while intentionally rustling her luxury shopping bags.

Leaning intimately into the man's embrace, she whispered sweetly as she brushed past me, "Thanks for waiting for me, Captain Cross."

I said nothing, merely staring past her toward the tarmac where armed rebels were sprinting into view.

The moment the boarding hatch locked, a deafening hail of automatic gunfire rattled against the exterior fuselage.

"Rebels! They're on the runway!" someone shrieked in absolute terror.