72 Hours to Die

I swallowed the Plan B pill dry, meeting Julian's glare of raw disgust. He had no idea that just minutes ago, I was a mangled corpse.

The Grim Reaper had only granted me a final threeday countdown on this earth.

Looking at the man who had personally destroyed my unborn baby, a faint smile actually touched my lips.

His finger jabbed inches from my face as he spat out how utterly shameless I was. A soft knock echoed from the heavy mahogany door.

It was his perfect fiancée—the one who always played the innocent victim. I quietly stepped aside. My seventytwo hours started now.

Chapter 1 I had just swallowed the Plan B when Julian woke up. His dark eyes were filled with undisguised disgust. "Nora, you make me sick.

Did you throw away every ounce of your dignity just to crawl into my bed? Pulling a stunt like this at your age. You're a disgrace to your dead parents." I didn't defend myself.

I just let out a flat, "Yeah. I'm sorry, Julian.

I promise this is the last time." A mocking smirk twisted his lips. "If you were actually sorry, you wouldn't have pulled such a trashy move in the first place." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'll stay away from you from now on." I quickly pulled on an oversized tshirt, covering up the suggestive red marks he had personally left all over my skin last night.

Knowing my death was imminent, I no longer craved Julian's affection.

His gaze was laced with pure sarcasm. "It's a damn shame you didn't go into acting, Nora." I stayed silent, staring down at the floorboards to hide the redness stinging my eyes.

His eyes caught the crushed empty box of the Plan B pill near the foot of the bed. He swung his legs over the edge, snatched it off the floor, and stared at the label.

A flash of surprise crossed his face before it vanished behind his usual icy mask. "You took Plan B?" I let out a dry laugh. "What, did you expect me to get knocked up after a onenight stand?" Julian crushed the cardboard in his fist and hurled it into the trash can. "If you ever got pregnant with my child, I'd end its life with my own two hands.

At least you had the sense to swallow that pill, Nora." In my past life, he had done exactly that. A sharp ache tightened my chest at the thought of the baby.

That was why this time, I was cutting the ties between us myself. He had always been this ruthless with me.

A soft, feminine voice filtered through the door—Valerie. "Julian, are you in there?

It's time to take me to the hospital." The hostility in Julian's eyes evaporated instantly, melting into absolute tenderness. "Give me a second, I'm getting dressed." He was always gentle with Valerie.

Any patience he ever had for me was long gone.

Outside, Valerie's voice took on a sweet, almost pouty tone. "Julian, where did Nora go?" Julian snapped his expensive custom leather belt shut and scoffed, "Who cares what gutters she's crawling in.

It'd be better if she just died out there." Valerie cooed, playing the peacemaker. "Nora's still young. It's normal for her to be a little rebellious.

Don't be so hard on her." The doorknob rattled. "Julian, I'm coming in." Julian quickly stepped out, blocking the doorway so she couldn't see past him.

Before pulling the door shut, he threw me one last warning glare. I dug my nails into my palms to distract from the hollow pain tearing through my chest, forcing a bitter smile.

Back in my room, I realized I only had three days left. Three days to say goodbye to everything.

I stuffed all the designer bags and custom jewelry Julian had bought for me over the years into a heavyduty black trash bag.

Without a shred of hesitation, I lugged it to the incinerator in the mansion's backyard and dumped it all in. The roaring flames devoured the leather and velvet, reducing it to ash.

A harsh voice broke through the crackling flames behind me. "What the hell are you doing?

Are you burning things?" He stormed forward and yanked the incinerator's heavy iron hatch open.

Defying the blistering heat, Julian reached his hand toward the flames, his voice actually trembling. "Why are you burning it all?" The orange glow illuminated my deadpan expression. "Because it was rotting." Julian's jaw tightened in anger. "Even if they're ruined, you didn't have to torch them.

They're memories." Before he could finish his sentence, his phone buzzed. It was Valerie, calling him away again.

Between Valerie and me, Julian would always choose her without a second thought. That evening, I returned to the family estate.

Julian's grandfather—a ruthless billionaire who held immense power—had been my late parents' closest friend. After I became an orphan, he stepped in as my legal guardian.

Chapter 2 "Nora, my dear." The billionaire's voice softened as I walked in. "Did Julian bully you again?

I'll have his head for this." My throat tightened, swallowing back the ashlike bitterness. "Julian treats me well.

But Grandpa, I want to move out of the estate." He frowned, bewildered. "Why?

If someone upset you, tell me." I dug my nails into my palms to stop my hands from shaking. "No one upset me. I just think I'm grown up now.

It's time I stepped out into the real world." He saw right through my brave front.

He slammed his goldinlaid cane against the marble floor. "I'm having that bastard Julian dragged back here right now!" Instead of throwing a crying fit like I used to, I calmly blocked his path. "Please, don't call him.

Don't force his hand." I met his angry gaze without flinching. "I don't love Julian anymore. I just want to leave.

Can I?" I gave a small, calm nod. "Thank you." The moment I stepped out of the estate's heavy iron gates, Julian was storming toward me.

He grabbed my wrist with a bruising grip, his voice dripping with venom. "You've got some nerve, Nora!

Burning your things this afternoon was just an act, wasn't it?" He sneered, leaning in close. "You're so desperate to lock me down that you ran straight to the old man.

You know he dotes on you, and now you're using him to force me into marrying you.

Are you happy now?" My wrist throbbed violently under his grip, the sharp pain forcing tears to sting the corners of my eyes. "I didn't say anything to him." Julian scoffed. "You didn't?

Then how the hell does he know?" I fought with everything I had to wrench my arm free. "I said I don't know!

Can't you understand English?" His muscular arm locked around me like an iron vise, pulling me flush against his chest.

He loomed over me, his heavy, ragged breathing ghosting across my face, radiating an overwhelming, predatory dominance that demanded absolute submission.

Right in the middle of our struggle, his phone rang. A panicked voice shrieked through the speaker. "Julian! Valerie found out about you and Nora! She slit her wrists!

She tried to kill herself!" He stared at me like I was a rotting piece of trash. The look twisted into my ribs like a serrated blade.

He spoke frantically into the receiver, "Okay, I'm on my way. Just wait for me!

Look what you've done, Nora!" He snarled. "If anything happens to Valerie, I will destroy you." He shoved me aside and sprinted for his car.

I stood frozen in the driveway, the cold night wind hitting the wet tear tracks already slicing down my cheeks. Julian didn't come back all night.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that Valerie updated her Instagram story: "Only the truly loved get custom designs from Mr.

Julian." The attached photo showed her resting her head on Julian's broad shoulder, flaunting a massive, pigeoneggsized pink diamond on her ring finger.

The diamond glared back at me through the screen, searing my retinas. My chest seized, lungs burning as they struggled to pull in air. My thumb hovered over the screen.

I doubletapped to like the post, and then locked my phone. That was it.

If this were the old me, I would have thrown a massive fit, screaming like a lunatic until he answered my calls. But now? There was zero point. The next day was Valerie's birthday.

When I stepped out the front door, the entire villa was drowned in an ocean of white roses. Valerie's favorite.

The buzzing gossip of the estate staff drifted down the hallway. "She's so lucky! Mr. Julian is definitely proposing to Valerie tonight." "It's literally out of a movie.

You saved my life… So I'll dedicate the rest of mine to you. That's totally Mr. Julian and Valerie!" Every word felt like a physical punch to the gut.

I was the one who had dragged him out of the wreckage that night. But when I told Julian the truth, he just called me a pathological liar consumed by jealousy.

I couldn't stomach another second of it. Just as I pivoted to walk away, a sweet voice called out.

Valerie, draped in a custom haute couture gown, stopped me dead in my tracks. "Nora? Where are you going?" Chapter 3 Everyone's eyes locked onto me.

Julian, wearing a tailored suit that perfectly matched Valerie's gown, stood beside her like the pictureperfect couple. A woman nearby let out a sharp laugh. "I know her.

She's the freeloader who only got into the estate because her parents begged for it.

I heard her mother was just a shameless homewrecker." Another chimed in. "So she's from that kind of trashy background.

No wonder she has absolutely no shame." I had only ever told Julian about my family. I trusted him with my life, and he turned around and fed my secrets to the wolves.

I spun on my heel, fiercely swiping a stray tear from my cheek, and walked away. A few moments later, heavy footsteps caught up to me. "It's Valerie's birthday.

Can you stop acting like a spoiled brat for one night?" Julian demanded, grabbing my arm.

I stared right back at him. "No." I yanked my arm away. "I trusted you with my family's secrets, Julian, and you just broadcasted them to everyone!" His jaw tightened, his gaze momentarily shifting away before snapping back to me. "I didn't tell anyone.

I have no idea where they heard that." His grip tightened again. "But you don't just storm out. It's Valerie's birthday." He completely forgot that yesterday was my birthday.

I dug my nails into my palms, forcing a sharp intake of breath to counter the violent throbbing in my chest. "I never wanted to be here in the first place.

Do you get that?" A mocking smirk twisted his lips. "I know you're just trying to ruin her night." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping. "Valerie almost killed herself because of you, and all she wanted was for you to attend her party.

Nora, do you have a single ounce of empathy?" My throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper. "You're accusing me without even asking for my side?" I rasped. "Is it that I lack empathy, or are you just completely blinded by her?" Julian let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Blinded?

Look at everything you've done. Tell me exactly where I'm misunderstanding you." A bonedeep exhaustion washed over me. I had never felt so utterly drained.

Valerie strutted over, holding a slice of exquisite red velvet cake. She leaned in, her voice dropping to a vicious whisper meant only for me. "Eat up.

It's a flavor you could never afford in your miserable life." The overwhelming scent of the icing hit me, and my stomach violently lurched.

Valerie let out a sharp gasp, stumbling backward to press herself into Julian's chest. "Nora, what's wrong?" Julian glared at me with pure disgust. "Do you have zero manners, Nora?

She was just trying to be nice!" Human food was completely incompatible with my decaying body. Julian lost his temper.

He snatched the plate and smashed the cake onto the pristine floor. "You're a buzzkill." After the crowd finally dispersed, a violent coughing fit wracked my chest.

Warm, metallictasting blood trickled uncontrollably from the corner of my mouth. Returning to the living world gave me exactly three days. I only had one day left.

I rushed to find Grandpa to say my final goodbye. "Grandpa." His weathered face lit up with a warm smile. "Nora, you're here." "Grandpa, in a couple of days, I'm going somewhere far away." A shadow of sadness crossed his eyes. "Will you come back to visit?" I wrapped my arms around his frail shoulders. "Of course I will.

Wherever you are, that's my home." He patted my hand gently. "Good. As long as you come back." After leaving his study, I headed straight to my room to pack my remaining things.

The heavy wooden door crashed open against the wall. "Nora! What the hell are you trying to pull?" Julian stood in the doorway, chest heaving.

I froze, genuinely bewildered. "What are you talking about? I don't understand!" He scoffed, grabbed my arm in a vice grip, and dragged me out into the hallway.

The commotion drew the head butler out. The older man stepped in front of us. "Mr.

Julian, where are you taking her?" Julian shot him a lethal glare. "Get out of my way." Seeing the raw, volatile fury radiating from his boss, the butler silently stepped aside.

Julian forcefully shoved me into the back of his SUV.

I pounded my fists frantically against the tinted glass. "Julian, where are you taking me?!" He pinned my thrashing legs down with one heavy hand, staring straight ahead in absolute silence.

Chapter 4 He didn't let go of my arm until we were standing in the middle of the hospital corridor. "Look at what you've done." He shoved me slightly, his jaw tight. "The whole city knows about our dirty little secret now.

People are whispering behind Valerie's back. She's in the hospital because of you. Are you finally satisfied?" Valerie approached us, looking incredibly frail in her hospital gown.

She placed a gentle hand on his chest. "Julian, that's enough. Nora is still young.

Don't be so harsh." She shot me a weak, forgiving look. "I believe Nora didn't do it on purpose." I stood my ground. "I didn't tell anyone, Julian." His dark eyes flashed with rising anger. "Do you have even half of Valerie's grace?

You don't even compare to her." It was all just my own pathetic delusion. To Julian, Valerie was a goddess on a pedestal, and I was just the dirt beneath his designer shoes.

A hollow, selfdeprecating laugh escaped my throat.

I stopped fighting. "You're absolutely right." I turned to walk away, but his hand snapped around my wrist like a steel trap. "What kind of stunt are you trying to pull now?" I shook my head, my face devoid of emotion. "Nothing.

I'm going back to pack my things." Julian let out a harsh scoff and violently threw my hand aside. "Just to teach you a lesson, Valerie and I are making it official.

We're getting engaged tomorrow." Hearing the word "engaged" drop from his own lips felt like a physical blow to the stomach. "Engaged?

That's great." I forced the corners of my mouth up into a rigid smile. "That's really great.

Congratulations." "During tomorrow's luxurious engagement banquet, you will sit in the estate's dark, underground wine cellar and do some serious reflecting." He sneered. "And don't even think about running to the old man to save you.

I already had him flown out to the Hamptons." I stared at him in utter disbelief, my chest tightening. "The wine cellar?" I had severe claustrophobia.

Being locked in the pitch black would trigger a massive panic attack.

Valerie leaned heavily against Julian, acting like a stiff breeze could knock her over. "Nora, we're doing this for your own good.

It's just for one night." A pair of massive bodyguards ziptied my wrists and brutally shoved me down the stone steps into the underground cellar.

The head butler stepped forward, his voice tight with worry. "Mr. Julian, please let her go. She didn't mean any harm.

She knows she made a mistake." I knew Julian was ruthless with me, but I never expected him to be this coldblooded. Julian glared down the steps, entirely unconvinced. "Her?

Know she made a mistake?" Valerie's overly sweet voice drifted down into the dark. "Just tough it out for one night, Nora.

When you come out, your future sisterinlaw will make it up to you.

Thank you for stepping aside for Julian and me." I managed to grab the cuff of Julian's tailored pants, an uncontrollable tremor wrecking my frame as the impending darkness loomed. "I was wrong!

Julian, please, you have to believe I didn't tell anyone!" My voice cracked. "I swear I will completely disappear from your world first thing tomorrow morning, and never appear in front of you again!" Julian shook me off like a piece of trash.

He stared down at me with chilling apathy. "Your tears are worthless to me. You're completely toxic.

Stay down there and think about what you've done." A choked sob ripped from my throat as I blindly reached up to grab his leg again. "No, please.

Julian, I'm terrified." He didn't even flinch. He pried my fingers off his trousers one by one with mechanical precision.

My muscles gave out, and I collapsed onto the freezing concrete floor. This was my last day on earth. I couldn't spend it locked in the dark.

I needed to see my parents' graves and Grandpa. "Please, just let me go see my parents one last time!

I'll come right back and let you lock me in!" Julian's expression remained as hard as granite. He spoke with agonizing slowness. "No. You are going to sit there quietly.

I'll let you out when the engagement party is over tomorrow." Absolute despair clawed at my throat. "Julian, I don't have a tomorrow!

I won't get to see them!" He let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "You're perfectly healthy, Nora.

What, are you going to drop dead?" The very last shred of hope slipped through my numb fingers. I gave up.

The fight completely drained out of me. "Yeah," I whispered into the damp air. "I really am going to die." The heavy reinforced door ground shut with a heavy thud, severing the last sliver of light and swallowing Julian's face into the dark.

The lock clicked. Chapter 5 I spent the entire night violently coughing up blood onto the freezing concrete.

Faint strains of elegant orchestral music drifted down from the engagement banquet above.

I lay perfectly still in the dark, listening to the music, feeling the last drops of my life slowly bleed out.

Once the lavish engagement party finally wrapped up, Julian remembered I existed. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and glanced at the head butler. "Has she been behaving down there?

Did she throw a tantrum?" The older man discreetly wiped a tear from his wrinkled cheek. "Miss Nora will never throw a tantrum again, sir." His voice cracked. "She's gone…" Julian scoffed, utterly unconvinced. "Where is Nora?

Is she hiding?" His jaw clenched. "Did she put you up to this? Is this another one of her sick little stunts?" The head butler let out a heavy sigh. "No, sir.

Why do you always assume the absolute worst of her? She never did anything wrong." "She has truly passed away.

If you don't believe me, go down to the cellar and see for yourself." Meeting the butler's deadserious gaze, the irritation in Julian's eyes finally faltered.

A split second later, he sprinted out of the venue, abandoning a bewildered Valerie who was still sipping champagne with her socialite friends.

He jumped into his sports car and peeled out of the driveway. Sensing something was deeply wrong, Valerie scrambled to follow him.

High above them, my translucent soul drifted near the ceiling, silently observing the chaos with absolute detachment.

Julian practically tore the doors off the estate when he arrived. The head butler had purposefully withheld the news from the old man.

It turns out that when you've already died once, the second time doesn't hurt nearly as much. Julian stumbled wildly down the stone steps of the wine cellar.

There, illuminated by the harsh overhead bulb, was my lifeless body lying in a massive pool of drying blood. Julian froze in his tracks, his entire body shaking violently.

He collapsed to his knees on the freezing concrete.

Staring at my face—now as pale as a sheet of paper—and the dried, dark crimson blood staining the floor, the arrogant superiority in his eyes completely shattered.

All the strength drained from his muscles. Hot tears spilled over his lower lashes. His trembling fingers reached out to brush the matted hair away from my cold face.

He kept muttering frantically, "Nora? Nora? Wake up." He slowly extended two fingers, pressing them under my nose to check for breath.

It wasn't until the icy chill of my skin seeped into his fingertips that the horrific reality finally registered. I was truly dead.

He jerked his head back, rejecting reality. "How could this happen? It's impossible." "She was perfectly healthy.

How could she just die?" With violently shaking hands, Julian pulled out his phone to make a call. Before he could dial, Grandpa appeared at the top of the stairs.

Julian whipped his head around. "Father? What are you doing here?" Grandpa fiercely swung his goldinlaid cane, bringing it down viciously against Julian's back. "You absolute fool!

Look at what you've destroyed with your own two hands!" Julian staggered forward under the brutal blow, kneeling motionless beside my body. "She was a perfectly healthy girl, and look at how you've tortured her!" The old man roared, his chest heaving. "I know you despised her mother, but Nora was innocent!" The billionaire leaned heavily on his cane, a profound sadness replacing his rage. "You two used to be so close.

How did it end up like this?" Hearing the old man's sigh, a fleeting memory flashed through my detached mind—a time when Julian used to pamper me endlessly.

But those days were buried long ago. Julian slowly lowered his head until his forehead nearly touched the bloodstained concrete. "I'm sorry, Father," he whispered brokenly.

The old man scoffed, utterly rejecting the apology. "She's dead.

What good is an apology now?" He roughly wiped a tear from his eye. "My poor girl." Clicking heels echoed down the stone steps. Valerie had finally arrived.

Taking in the gruesome scene in the cellar, she let out a piercing shriek. "Ah!" She clamped her hands over her mouth. "What happened?!

How could this be?" Julian kept his gaze locked on my lifeless face, his voice hollow and dead. "Nora is gone." Chapter 6 That night, Julian walked into my room alone, a halfempty bottle of expensive whiskey gripped tightly in his hand.

He stopped dead in his tracks. The room was completely stripped bare. His chest violently heaved as panic flashed across his face. He yelled down the opulent hallway. "Butler!

Where are Nora's things?!" The head butler's voice was steady but strained. "Miss Nora shipped everything out a few days ago, sir.

Did you not know?" Julian's legs gave out, and he collapsed heavily onto the edge of my bare mattress. "So she had been planning to leave this whole time," he muttered, his voice hollow.

A single tear slid down his cheek just as his phone violently buzzed in his pocket. A cheerful male voice echoed from the speaker. "Julian!

Congratulations on the engagement, man!" Julian let out a mechanical, "Yeah," followed by a flat, "Thanks." He hung up immediately.

The call violently snapped him back to reality—he still needed to go check on Valerie.

But just as he turned the brass handle to leave my room, Valerie’s voice drifted through the crack in the door from the hallway.

Her usual sweet, innocent tone was completely gone, replaced by pure, calculating malice. "Daddy, just relax. That pathetic little freeloader Nora dying was exactly what I wanted.

Now there's zero proof, and Julian will just keep worshiping me like his savior." "You have no idea, Dad.

When I found out Julian actually initiated sleeping with that brat, I almost lost my damn mind." "Thank God you told me to play the long game.

If I had gone in there screaming, I would have ruined my perfect, innocent image in his eyes." Standing behind the door, the blood drained rapidly from Julian's face, leaving him looking like a corpse.

He clenched his fists so tightly that the thick veins on the back of his hands bulged against his skin.

That perpetually cold heart of his looked as though it was being ripped apart from the inside, the agonizing pain leaving him visibly gasping for air.

A harsh spasm wrecked his jawline as the horrifying reality finally sank its teeth into him. I had been innocent the entire time. He was the ruthless, shameless monster.

I floated effortlessly above him, watching his broad shoulders shake under the crushing weight of his sudden, agonizing regret. I felt absolutely nothing.

Just pure, cold detachment. His phone vibrated against his thigh again. Valerie's footsteps had already faded down the hall. He answered it. "Mr.

Julian," the head butler's voice crackled through the speaker. "The forensic report is back." Julian forced a harsh, jagged breath into his lungs. "What does it say?" The butler's voice trembled uncontrollably. "The autopsy confirms it… Miss Nora passed away three days ago." The older man sounded like he couldn't even believe the words leaving his own mouth, but the official report was in undeniable black and white.

Julian's breath hitched, his pupils blowing wide. "What the hell do you mean she died three days ago?!" Massive, heavy tears immediately spilled over his lashes, dropping onto the hardwood floor