The gap between me and the world

One year ago, Ashley—my pilot boyfriend’s idealized ex—threw a tantrum mid-flight. She slammed her high heel into the cabin window, triggering a catastrophic decompression. As a flight attendant, I fought with everything I had to plug the breach, saving over a hundred lives. Afterwards, I insisted we call the police. Ashley was sentenced to nine years in prison. At the time, Louis held me and said he understood my choice, that he loved me. But later, on our honeymoon, Louis himself piloted the flight to Paradise Island. When the cabin depressurization alarm blared and passengers screamed, scrambling for oxygen masks, I rushed to the cockpit and saw a sight I would never forget. Louis was manually overriding the cabin pressure controls, his face utterly calm. “What are you doing?” His voice came through the intercom, each word a knife: “Stephanie, you sent Ashley to prison, ruined nine years of her life. I’m just making you pay with yours.” “Now we’re even.” When I opened my eyes again, everything had reset. This time, I was done playing the hero. Let’s see how they handle their own mess.

Chapters

Chapter 4

Donna gasped.

Pinned from behind, I had no room to dodge.

Ashley slammed into my back with the full force of her weight, sending me stumbling forward. The meal tray in my hands flew loose, snatched by the violent airflow and whipped out through the broken window.

*Rip!*

Without support, the crack around that small hole abruptly expanded—the tear widening into a vicious circle.

The wind’s sharp whistle became a deafening roar.

Everything in the cabin was violently sucked toward the breach. Even the passengers felt themselves dragged toward it.

"Ashley! What are you doing?" Donna rushed over and slapped her across the face, furious.

"I… I didn’t mean to… I was only trying to help…" Ashley covered her cheek, tears streaming down in a pitiful display.

Help?

I looked at her, my eyes cold.

The angle of her fall, the force of her lunge—it was all too convenient.

She had done it on purpose.

She hated me for making her kneel, for humiliating her. In the chaos, she had seized her chance to retaliate, to try and get me sucked out of the plane.

Hopelessly stupid. Irredeemably malicious.

"Everyone, stay calm!" I roared over the panic. "Unbuckle a few seatbelts—now!"

Several passengers snapped into action, unfastening their belts and passing them to me.

I knotted several together tightly and handed one end to the men. "Hold this tight! Don’t let go, even if I die!"

Without a glance at the weeping Ashley, I gathered an armful of pillows and blankets, clutched them to my chest, and charged again toward the now-significantly-larger breach.

This time, I used my own body, along with the padding in my arms, to plug the hole.

The gale slashed against my back like countless knives.

Powerful suction pulled at me, threatening to tear my insides apart.

"Quick! Duct tape! Tape me and all this stuff to the fuselage!" I shouted with everything I had left.

Donna and the other flight attendants grabbed rolls of tape and frantically wrapped them around me and the padding.

One layer, two, three…

They wrapped me up like a mummy, layering me and the bedding over and over against that gaping hole.

Gradually, the howling wind subsided.

The cabin pressure finally stabilized, at least for now.

Everyone slumped in relief, collapsing into their seats, breathing heavily.

I felt like my bones were coming apart. My back burned with a raw, searing pain.

"Stephanie, are you okay?" Donna’s voice was choked with tears.

"I’ll live," I gritted out.

Just then, that damned Ashley "accidentally" drifted over again.

"Stephanie, are you alright? It’s all my fault, I…" She reached out a hand as if to steady me.

But her hand landed with perfect precision on the valve of a nearby secured oxygen tank.

*Bang!*

The valve broke loose.

High-pressure oxygen erupted with a sharp, hissing roar.

Keep Watching!

The story is getting intense! Switch to App to continue reading

Unlock All Episodes

Open the Official Website

My heart hammered against my ribs as the elevator climbed toward Ryan's floor. Eight years of love, of sacrifice, of waiting—all culminating in this moment. I twisted my grandmother's silver bracelet around my wrist, a nervous habit I'd developed since she'd given it to me before she passed. The small velvet box felt heavy in my coat pocket, the diamond ring inside representing not just my savings, but my complete faith in our future together. I'd rehearsed this moment countless times during my flight from Seattle to Los Angeles. The proposal wasn't traditional—a woman asking a man—but then again, our long-distance relationship had never been conventional. What mattered was that after eight years, I was ready to make it official, to finally close the gap between Seattle and LA. "You can do this," I whispered to myself as the elevator dinged at the twelfth floor. "He loves you. He's going to say yes." The hallway seemed longer than I remembered from my previous visits.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.8

After My Husband Made Me Kneel to His Girl, I Aborted

9.8

At six months pregnant, Thomas Montgomery had his friends over for some gaming. I prepared a meal and served it to them, only for Blaire Clark to burst into tears, accusing me of trying to upset her. All because I had mistakenly added some parsley she despised to the dish. Thomas and his friends demanded I apologize. "She's just sensitive; try to accommodate her," Thomas said coldly. I refused, and he pushed me down to my knees in front of Blaire. "Apologize to her, you're out of line!" Humiliated, I quietly scheduled the soonest possible appointment for an abortion that day. But when I truly decided to leave, Thomas went into a rage. I leaned against the cold wall as I made my way out of the hospital. The sky had turned dark, and snow was falling heavily.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.5

Ditched Before the Wedding

8.5

The night before the wedding, Wayne slipped me a sleeping pill, allowing his childhood friend to cut my long hair. When I awoke and saw my reflection, I was devastated. Maya, with her hair styled in playful curls, feigned remorse: "Oops, my hand slipped. You’re not mad at me, are you?" "It's all my fault for making Evelyn Robinson the ugliest bride ever!" Wayne teased, playfully tapping her nose, excusing her behavior: "Just throw on a wig. The veil covers everything; no one will outshine you." The room fell silent as everyone waited for me to react, expecting a tantrum like before. Instead, I calmly removed the engagement ring from my finger and placed it in Maya's hand: "Why go through the motions? Just switch brides; the veil hides everything anyway." My unexpected response took them by surprise. "I only wanted to give you a new hairstyle, Evelyn, but it just slipped... Please don’t be upset," Maya pleaded, leaning into Wayne, her eyes brimming with crocodile tears. The others avoided eye contact, mumbling attempts to ease the tension: "You’re misunderstanding, Evelyn.

Modern Romance Young Adult

8.0

Healed by True Affection

8.0

The church was a vision of white roses and silver ribbons—exactly as I'd dreamed since I was a little girl. Sunlight streamed through stained glass windows, casting kaleidoscope patterns across the aisle I'd walked down ten times before. Eleven was supposed to be our lucky number. This time, Talon and I would finally be husband and wife. "Isabel Howell, do you take Talon Dixon to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The pastor's voice echoed through the cathedral. I gazed up at Talon—tall, impossibly handsome in his tailored tuxedo, his dark eyes holding mine with what I believed was love. Five years of my life I'd given him. Five years of postponed weddings, of explanations to embarrassed guests, of tears dried in private. "I do," I whispered, my voice stronger than I felt. My hands trembled slightly in his grasp.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.0

His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom

8.0

My fiancé, a Navy SEAL Commander, postponed our wedding 99 times for my manipulative sister. For our 100th attempt, I put my foot down. This date, or no date. He called two weeks before the wedding to cancel again. But this time, he threatened my career to force my compliance. Then I overheard the truth. He was planning to marry my sister-a "temporary" arrangement to get her into an exclusive therapy program. After he divorced her, he'd come back to me. I was his "certainty." His backup plan. My own mother supported it, slapping me when I refused to play along. "You will be a proper wife," she hissed. I had spent five years as a placeholder, my life put on hold for their drama. I was done waiting. I hung up the phone, canceled the wedding permanently, and volunteered for a three-year, off-the-grid assignment. But first, I took my wedding dress and a pair of scissors.

Modern Romance

9.8

The Secret Genius Ex-Wife's Cold Revenge

9.8

I spent three years playing the role of the perfect, invisible wife to Dillard Bentley, the billionaire heir of Manhattan. While he graced the tabloids with socialites, I stayed in the shadows of our penthouse, waiting for a man who treated me like a piece of furniture. One rainy night, the facade finally shattered. Dillard came home smelling of another woman’s perfume, and I handed him the divorce papers he never expected. But before the ink could dry, a violent pain ripped through me during a family lunch, and I collapsed in a pool of blood on the pristine marble floor. While I was being rushed to the hospital, Dillard’s mother dismissed my agony as a manipulative trick, and Dillard chose to believe her. He didn't follow the ambulance; he went to a gala to protect his mistress instead. I woke up in a cold emergency room only to be told I had lost the baby I didn't even know I was carrying. Because of the toxic "vitamins" his mother had been force-feeding me, my blood wouldn't clot, and I had to undergo surgery without a single drop of anesthesia. I bit down on a leather strap, feeling every agonizing scrape as they cleared the remains of my child, while my husband laughed at my pain over the phone. "Stop the drama, Erica. Tell her the divorce terms are non-negotiable. I'm busy." He hung up, leaving me to scream in silence. I realized then that the man I had once loved was the same man who let his family poison me. The "vitamins" weren't supplements; they were a death sentence for my unborn child, and he didn't even care enough to show up. Dillard thinks he’s divorcing a penniless nobody, but he’s about to find out that the world-renowned medical genius he’s desperate to recruit is the wife he left to bleed alone. I walked out of that hospital, threw my wedding ring in the trash, and reclaimed my true identity. Dr. N is coming to the global summit, and I’m not there to save the Bentley empire—I’m there to burn it to the ground.

Action Modern Romance

The gap between me and the world

Chapter 4

You may also like