Then he asked, “Has Xander gotten a firm hold on you?”

“Yes! He’s holding on!”

“Perfect!” Eric encouraged her.

“Now rise on my shoulders. Don’t be afraid—you’re light, and I won’t let you fall.”

“Okay!” Hadley followed his instructions and rose, slowly balancing her feet on his broad shoulders.

“Come on, let’s pull her up!”

Xander and the workers joined forces, tugging until Hadley was lifted clear.

“Eric!” Hadley instantly dropped flat on her stomach, reaching one arm back into the car.

“Hurry and climb up!”

“On my way!” Eric called, flashing a crooked grin upward.

“Just make sure you pull me hard enough!”

He was teasing, of course—he could have gotten out without her help.

“Alright! I’ll do it!” she answered with full seriousness, leaning down even farther to grab his hand.

From the side, Xander exhaled in disbelief. How could someone as sharp as Eric have ever been left behind by Hadley?

“Take my hand!”

“Got it!”

But then—

“Eric!”

Their fingertips brushed, and Hadley felt the faint graze against the center of Eric’s palm.

Just as she was about to clasp his hand, the elevator jolted again.

Eric’s hand slipped away from hers. A deafening clang tore through the shaft as the elevator lurched violently.

? ? .

Then it dropped. Straight down.

“Eric!” Hadley cried out. Her heart seemed to fall with it in panic.

“Hadley!”

From inside the car, Eric’s cry echoed back with the same desperation.

Everything happened too fast.

He had already been climbing upward. But when the elevator suddenly plunged, his body was violently hurled backward.

“Argh!”

Eric’s back struck the steel wall. The impact knocked the air from his lungs. He gritted his teeth against the pain.

But before he could brace himself, the car rattled with another violent jolt. His head snapped back, slamming against the wall again and again, each blow landing with a sickening thud.

“Argh…” he groaned as pain exploded through his skull.

The elevator kept plummeting.

And yet, through the haze, broken fragments of images flickered across his vision.

“I want to give us another chance.”

“You say I’m the only one you love—but those are just words. They mean nothing now.”

“Let’s call it off, Eric.”

.

.

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