The Crash
RONNY’S POV
The glow from the monitor lit up my office, casting a pale sheen across the glass desk. I sat leaned forward, elbows pressed into my thighs, eyes locked on the screen. The footage looped again, grainy yet clear enough to keep my chest knotted with the weight of everything I’d been trying to ignore.
The silence in the room was sharp. Only the faint hum of the computer and the steady tick of the wall clock broke through it. I should’ve turned the damn thing off. Should’ve forced myself to walk out, to leave the ghosts behind—but instead, I sat there, jaw clenched so tightly it ached, replaying the same few seconds again and again.
And then—
The sharp buzz of my phone cut through the air.
I didn’t even glance at the screen. My hand shot out, grabbing it, answering before the second ring finished.
“Yeah?” My voice was rough, hoarse from silence.
What came through wasn’t what I expected.
“Ronny—” Her voice cracked, broken, drenched in panic. Liliana.
My entire body went still. My lungs locked, like the air had been punched out of me.
“Liliana?” I shot up so fast the chair crashed backward against the floor. “What’s going on?”
Her breathing was ragged, uneven. “The car—it won’t stop—it won’t stop—”
My blood iced. I was already moving, yanking the office door open, phone pressed tight to my ear. My heart slammed against my ribs like a fucking war drum.
“What do you mean it won’t stop?” My boots thundered down the hallway as I barked into the receiver.
“The brakes!” she sobbed, words choking between breaths. “I was driving home—Ronny, the brakes won’t work—I’ve been going in circles—I can’t—”
“Shit.” My hand clenched the phone so hard I thought it would crack. “Where are you? Tell me where you are.”
Her voice splintered into raw terror. “I almost hit a car—oh God—” A scream tore from her throat, piercing through the line.
“Liliana!” I bolted through the lobby, ignoring the startled glances, pushing past anyone in my path. My chest burned, every nerve firing with the need to get to her. “Listen to me. You’re not going to crash. You hear me? You’re not—”
“I’m going to end up like her!” she cried, voice shaking so violently it shredded something deep inside me. “Like my mother—I’m going to—”
“No!” My roar echoed through the stairwell as I shoved open the exit, taking the steps three at a time. “Don’t you say that. Don’t you dare—”
The sound of tires screeching bled through the phone, loud, chaotic. I winced, gripping the railing before bursting into the garage. The echo of my footsteps bounced against the walls, sharp, furious.
“Liliana!” I barked. “Talk to me. Stay with me.”
Her voice came back, smaller now, drenched in tears. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
The words gutted me. Completely, utterly gutted me.
“Hey—” My throat tightened. My hand fumbled for the car keys, heart clawing against my chest. “I’m here. You hear me? I’m right here.”
The next sound wasn’t her.
It was the deafening crunch of metal, a scream choked off mid-breath, and then—silence.
“Liliana!” My voice cracked as I dove into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut, hands trembling as they gripped the wheel. “Liliana! Answer me!”
Nothing.
Only the hollow sound of my own breathing, jagged and wild, my pulse roaring in my ears like a fucking tidal wave.
“Fuck!” I slammed my palm against the dashboard, my vision blurring with fury and terror. “Liliana!”
But there was nothing. Just dead air.
And my heart, beating so violently it felt like it might tear out of my chest.
I didn’t even realize I was driving until the world outside blurred into streaks of light and shadow, my hands locked around the wheel, my foot crushing the gas.
Her voice echoed in my head, over and over, shredding every ounce of composure I had left.
I just wanted to hear your voice.
The desperation. The terror. The way she’d said it like it was the last thing she’d ever get.
No.
No fucking way.
She wasn’t going to leave me. Not like this.
I gritted my teeth, forcing air into my lungs, my grip white-knuckled on the steering wheel. My chest heaved, sweat dampening the back of my neck. Every red light blurred into nothing, every horn blared behind me as I tore through streets without a second thought.
She needed me.
And if anything happened to her—
I shook my head violently, refusing to let the thought form. I couldn’t think it. I wouldn’t.
“Hold on, Liliana,” I muttered, voice ragged, cracking in the dark confines of the car. “Hold on for me.”
But all I had was silence.
Just silence.
And the crushing sound of my heart tearing itself apart.
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