In my past life, I'd gone in inch by inch, rope tied around Quinn's waist, testing every step. We only dared chip away tiny amounts at a time, always bracing with wooden stakes.
And Jade now? She was a gambler who'd lost her mind.
She forced Quinn to grab explosives and a pickaxe and head straight for what looked most like a "gold mine entrance." In reality, it was an abandoned limestone cave with rock layers that had long since destabilized.
"Dig! Dig until you drop!"
Jade stood at the cave mouth, still clutching my photo. She tore it to shreds.
Quinn was drunk, but a hunter's instincts screamed danger.
"Woman, something's wrong here… the rocks are crumbling…"
"Shut up! Evelyn got rich in Seaview City! Are we supposed to beg while sitting on a gold mine? Dig!"
She kicked him square in the back.
Rage flared through Quinn. Fueled by alcohol, he swung the pickaxe down hard.
Rumble—
Not the sound of gold.
The sound of a mountain collapsing.
The rock ceiling caved in like crumbling tofu.
In that split second, Jade saw Quinn lunge toward her and shove her toward the entrance.
It wasn't love.
Pure survival instinct—finding something to brace against, using it to launch himself out.
Too late.