After Ten Years of Revenge, He Built Time Machine Bring Me Back Chapter 02

After Ten Years of Revenge, He Built Time Machine Bring Me Back Chapter 02

The man’s voice sounded like a snarl rising straight out of hell, leaving Elowen trembling from head to toe.

She turned to run.

A warm, firm hand clamped tight around her neck before she could take a single step.

“Can’t hear me, huh? Deaf now?”

His breath fanned over her skin, suffocating her like a demon clinging close.

Elowen’s heart split open. The prison accident that blew out her left ear hadn’t been random at all—Silas had arranged it himself.

He felt her body shaking against his grip, and his tone turned sickly sweet, layered with malice.

“Why are you trembling? We’re former prep school peers. Can’t even greet me? This job’s mine to offer, after all. Aren’t you going to thank me?”

Elowen’s lips parted, overwhelmed by crushing despair.

She’d busted her back to earn early parole, found a quiet, obscure lounge to work at, convinced she could live hidden from his gaze forever.

She’d walked out of prison straight into his trap.

She lifted her head, eyes wide with terror. Three years had carved away all boyish softness from Silas, leaving him sharp, aristocratic, towering over her.

She stared at the boy she’d once loved more than anything.

“I served three years in prison, Silas. Let me go.”

“I’ve lost my father, gone to jail, lost hearing in one ear. Whatever debt you think I owe you is paid ten times over.”

Silas ignored every word she spoke, looping an arm around Celia’s waist. He stared down at Elowen, every line of his face twisted with cruelty.

“I went out of my way to get you steady work, and this is how you repay me? How about a transfer to the cabaret stage instead of janitorial duty? Sounds far more fitting.”

Elowen’s mouth opened and closed, unable to find a single word to reply.

“Not interested?”

No. Never.

Elowen spun on her heel.

“I quit. I’m leaving right now.”

Two large security guards blocked the exit the second she reached the doorway.

Her mind reeled at all the new horrors Silas would dream up if she stayed.

Then Silas spoke, sharp and unconcerned.

“Let her walk.”

Elowen’s relief crashed over her. Before she crossed the threshold, his low murmur drifted to her ears.

“Don’t come crawling back when you regret this.”

She stepped outside without hesitation. If it meant escaping him, she’d find another job no matter how hard it got.

But even without Silas meddling behind the scenes, employment proved impossible to track down.

She picked up odd jobs for two weeks straight, lowering her standards more each day, until she landed work at the Downtown Salvage Yard hauling scrap metal.

The foreman was gruff and unpolished.

“These metal scraps get sold for cash. Don’t crack or damage a single piece, or you pay full restitution. Wages get weighed out and paid cash daily once your shift’s done.”

The metal chunks were heavy, and Elowen’s frame slight. She hauled back and forth nonstop, careful with every load.

The pile she’d carried sat perfectly intact on the transport truck when her shift ended.

She called the foreman over to weigh her haul, only to find every piece shattered across the asphalt.

“You broke the whole load, you convict!” he roared, kicking her hard to the ground. “I never should’ve hired a felon like you.”

“Pay me back every cent this wreck’s worth!”

Elowen froze, numb with shock. The scrap had been whole minutes prior—she had no idea how it’d broken so suddenly.

A tall, broad silhouette stepped between them before she could beg for mercy.

Silas tossed a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills at the foreman’s feet.

“Ten grand. Disappear.”

The foreman grabbed the cash instantly and hurried off, grinning from ear to ear.

Elowen collapsed on the pavement, staring blankly up at Silas, drowning in hopelessness.

“You did this.”

He still wouldn’t leave her alone.

Silas knelt beside her, a cruel, lazy smile tugging his lips.

I’m not wasting my time sabotaging scrap metal foremen. That man wrecked the load himself to scam you out of money.”

Silly Elowen.

That nickname pulled her back to their teenage years. He’d tap the tip of her nose, grinning.

“Silly, stop staring at the guys on the basketball court. I’ll get jealous as your boyfriend.”

She’d giggled back then, bright and carefree.

“You’re the silly one. Beat my SAT score first if you wanna talk.”

After Margaret’s fall, when the other students locked her in a bathroom to beat her, he’d purred the same nickname with poison in his voice.

“Silly, enjoying the hell I built just for you? The law can’t touch you, so I will.”

Elowen’s mind snapped back to the salvage yard.

“Look around you. No one else will give you a single dollar to feed yourself besides me.”

His tone dripped with condescension, contrasting sharply with Elowen’s broken despair.

“Head back to The Siren Lounge. If scrubbing toilets’s all you’re good for, that’s what you’ll do. Don’t try running again—you know exactly what I’m capable of.”

Silas turned and walked away without another glance.

Elowen watched his broad retreating back, and a bitter laugh bubbled up from her chest.

She laughed until her face crumpled, and a mouthful of dark blood welled up at her lips.

Tears mixed with the crimson liquid streaming down her chin.

She tilted her head back, hollow laughter echoing out.

You’re so powerful, Silas.

How can you not see I’m already dying?