The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 354

hapter 354 Run!

Ethan

The pot felt heavier in my hands than it should have, like it was made of lead instead of whatever pots were usually made of. My palms were sweaty and the handle was slippery, but I couldn’t drop it.

Not now.

The footsteps had stopped right outside the kitchen door. I could hear Victoria’s voice, muffled but getting clearer, talking to the fake Mama about something. They were coming this way.

“Ethan,” Alexander whispered beside me, so quiet I almost couldn’t hear him. His face was pale in the dim light from the stove, and he kept looking between me and the door like he was trying to decide which was more scary.

Madison was pressed against the counter next to the sink, her backpack still strapped to her shoulders. Even scared and in the dark, she hadn’t let go of her things. Her eyes were wide, but she wasn’t crying anymore. She looked determined, like she’d made up her mind about something important.

“I’m going to break the window,” I whispered, lifting the pot higher. “When I do, there’s going to be a loud noise. Victoria and the fake Mama will know where we are.”

“What do we do then?” Alexander asked.

“We run.” I looked at both of them, trying to sound more sure than I felt. “As fast as we can, straight to the road. Madison, do you remember which way the road is?”

Madison nodded, pointing toward the dark yard outside the window. “That way. Through the trees and then left. It’s not too far.”

The door handle rattled. Someone was about to open

1. it.

“I’m going to count to three,” I said, raising the pot. “Then we run. Ready?”

Alexander and Madison both nodded.

“One.”

The door handle turned.

“Two.”

The door started to open, letting in a sliver of light from the hallway.

“Three.”

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Chapter 354 Run!

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I swung the pot as hard as I could at the window. The glass exploded with a sound like thunder, sharp pieces flying everywhere. Some of them hit my hands and face, tiny stings like angry bees, but I didn’t stop to think about that.

“Go!” I shouted, pushing Alexander toward the broken window. “Go go go!”

Alexander climbed through first, his small body fitting easily through the opening. Glass crunched under his hands as he pushed himself over the windowsill, and I saw him land in the bushes outside with a soft thud.

Madison went next, but something went wrong. As she climbed through, her coat caught on a big piece of glass that was still stuck in the window frame. She pulled hard, trying to get free, and the glass cut right through the fabric and into her arm.

“Ow!” she cried out, but she kept going, tumbling through the window and landing in the bushes next to Alexander.

“Madison!” I could see dark spots on her coat sleeve, and she was holding her arm against her chest. But there wasn’t time to check how bad it was, because behind me the kitchen door burst open and Victoria’s angry voice filled the room.

“What was that noise?” she was shouting. “Where are the children? Check the basement!”

I dove through the broken window, feeling more glass bite into my hands and knees as I scrambled over the sill. The bushes scratched my face as I landed, but I rolled away from the house as fast as I

could.

“This way!” Madison was already moving, even with her hurt arm. She knew this yard better than Alexander and me, and she led us away from the house toward the dark line of trees.

Behind us, I could hear Victoria screaming at the fake Mama, and then light flooded the kitchen as they turned on all the switches. In a few seconds, they’d see the broken window and know exactly how we got out.

“Faster!” I said, grabbing Alexander’s hand. He was breathing hard but keeping up, his legs pumping as we ran across the cold grass.

Madison was ahead of us, but I could see she was struggling. She kept stumbling, and dark drops were falling from her hurt arm onto the ground. The cut was worse than I thought.

We reached the trees, and suddenly everything was much darker. The bare branches blocked out most of the light from the house, and we had to slow down so we wouldn’t run into tree trunks or trip over roots.

“Madison,” I said, catching up to her. “Let me see your arm.”

Chapter 354 Run!

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“It’s okay,” she said, but her voice was tight with pain. “We have to keep going. They’ll follow us.”

“Just for a second.” I used the flashlight on my mental phone– no wait, I didn’t have a phone. But there was a little bit of moonlight filtering through the clouds, enough to see that Madison’s coat sleeve was torn and dark with blood.

“It’s not too bad,” I lied, because Madison looked scared enough already. “But we need to wrap it up so it stops bleeding.”

I took off my jacket and tore off one of the sleeves, the way I’d seen people do in movies. The fabric ripped easily, and I tied it around Madison’s arm above where the cut was.

“There,” I said. “That should help.”

Madison smiled at me, a real smile even though I could see tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“We’re almost there,” Alexander said, bouncing on his toes even though we were supposed to be quiet. “Right, Madison? The road is almost there?”

Madison nodded and pointed deeper into the trees. “Through here, then up a little hill, then we’ll see

the road.”

Behind us, flashlight beams started cutting through the darkness. Victoria and the fake Mama had figured out which way we went.

“Hurry,” I said.

Alexander

The trees felt like they were trying to grab us with their skinny branches, scratching at our faces and catching on our clothes as we ran. My breath came out in little white puffs that disappeared right away, and my nose was getting cold and runny.

Madison was being very brave even though her arm was hurt. She didn’t cry or complain, just kept leading us through the dark woods like she was a forest guide or something. But I could tell it hurt because she kept her hurt arm pressed against her body and sometimes she made little wincing

sounds when she had to duck under a branch.

“Madison,” I said, trying to keep my voice cheerful even though I was scared, “when we get to the road, will there be cars? Cars with nice people who can help us?”

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“Maybe,” Madison said. “But it’s pretty late. There might not be very many cars.

“That’s okay,” I said. “We just need one car with one nice person. That’s not too many to ask for, right?”

Ethan was walking behind us, turning around every few steps to look back toward the house. The

Chapter 354 Run!

+25 BONUS

flashlight beams were getting closer, and I could hear Victoria calling our names, but not in a nice way. More like she was angry and wanted to yell at us.

“Madison! Children! Come back here right now! You’re going to get lost in the woods!”

She was using her fake–worried voice, the one that was supposed to sound like she cared about us but really meant she was mad that we weren’t doing what she wanted.

“Don’t listen to her,” Ethan said quietly. “She’s not worried about us getting lost. She’s worried about us getting away.”

I knew he was right, but part of me still wanted to believe that maybe Victoria would be nice if we went back. Maybe she’d realize that scaring kids was wrong and she’d say sorry and take us home to

real Mama.

But then I remembered how she’d grabbed Madison’s shoulders too hard, and how she’d said mean things about Madison’s daddy, and how she’d locked us in that scary basement. People who did things like that didn’t usually turn nice just because you wanted them to.

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