Left To Die, Finally Free Chapter 07

Left To Die, Finally Free Chapter 07

They dumped me like a dead waterfront catch on the concrete at Rosa’s feet, my body limp from the daily downers she pumped into me

She stared down, unmasked triumph oozing from every word.

“Look at you. This is what side characters get for chasing my leading men. Don’t act shocked. I’m a player too, The System’s handpicked leading lady. A nobody like you never stood a chance,”

It all clicked.

In that second, I prayed she’d put a bullet in my skull right there.

I was tired.

Tired of this godforsaken mission.

I just wanted to go home.

She laughed, reading my mind like a book.

“Wanna die? Too bad. System rules are clear: every year you stay alive post–failure, your real body stays comatose. And I get every scrap of your 21 years of mission progress to lock in my win.”

She leaned in, hissing in my ear, venom sharp as a switchblade.

“Don’t blame me. These four made men won’t fall irrevocably in love with me. Not with you around. Swallow your data, and I’m home free.”

The days blurred into endless degradation.

Beatings, humiliation, and daily sedatives that left me too weak to even lift a finger, let alone end my own

life.

I begged The System to release me, over and over.

Its cold, unchanging response: Voluntary death is the only permitted exit. No system intervention allowed.

When I asked if Rosa would face punishment for harming a fellow player, it gave a hollow, noncommittal answer: Player–on–player harm is permitted if mission targets are unharmed.

Player death pre–failure ruling means real–world death.

So I endured.

Until a copperhead slithered through a crack in the compound wall.

I lay limp as it slid over my arm, its fangs sinking into my forearm.

A searing burn shot through me, and then, my numb fingers twitched.

The snake’s venom burned through the sedatives in my veins, slow but steady.

Feeling seeped back into my body, inch by inch.

Three days later, the Five Families‘ annual Commission meeting

Marco arrived with Vincent, Draven, and Luca, here to pick up Rosa for the gala

Someone mentioned me, and they decided to see me before leaving

Rosa paled instantly.

She had me dressed in a clean dress, strapped into a wheelchair, and shoved another half–dose of sedatives down my throat.

They saw my blank face, relaxed, and turned to leave.

I gathered every last scrap of strength, breathing out two ragged words: “Help… me…”

They froze, spinning back.

Rosa’s face drained of all color.

Vincent frowned, patting my head patronizingly.

‘s doing this for you. Be good, stay here.”

lifting my hand just enough

his suit cuff.

oped between us, ordering

s spilled down my face, my ve

Wait,” Marco said, lifting a ha

Why the tears? Rosa’s forgi

They turned to leave again

My sleeve slid down, exp

The orderly yanked th

Draven went rigid

“WAIT!” he re

“Why the fu

back inside.

ou out when you stop trying to kill yourself.”

urns, and the snake’s tiny fang marks.

was too late.

is compound?!”