Fate Escape

CHAPTER 1

   A couple, intimately laughing arm in arm, entered the restaurant from the entrance hall. This pair was none other than Mr. and Mrs. Veatmik, one of LA's most prominent couples. Their marriage, spanning over a decade, never ceased to be the talk of society with their legendary love story. People, when finding nothing else to talk about, would repeatedly discuss the couple's elegance, uniqueness, and sometimes the foolish love they exhibited on the terrace of their mansion.

   As soon as they stepped into the hall, all eyes turned to scrutinize the couple one by one. Some continued to look with a forced smile to conceal their envy, while others, indicating their admiration, had already begun discussing them with their partners at the table. The blond young waiter, who was serving them tonight, greeted the couple at the entrance and escorted them to their special table with a panoramic view of the Bosphorus.

   The blond waiter, enviously, thought to himself, "I hope one day I'll have a marriage going as perfectly as theirs." His mother always told him that the person to share his life with should come from a wealthy and affluent family for a good marriage. According to his mother, as long as there was money, there was peace. Money was like the key to everything. The girl never agreed with her mother's view. She wanted to fall in love with the man she would unite her life with. If she had believed her mother's view even once until now, she would have already accepted the proposal of one of the rich snobs who hit on her at the restaurant where she worked.

   After giving the couple the menu, the blond young waiter took their orders and left. LA's most prominent couple was having dinner at the most beautiful table in the city's most famous restaurant. Everything was absolutely flawless. The man held his wife's hands and looked into her eyes with love. They had never felt embarrassed to express their love, whether outside or inside. They didn't care much about what people thought of them. The only truth for them was each other. As the woman surrendered herself to the excitement of her heart pounding rapidly, just like the first day, the man interjected.

   "Darling, you did it again." He smiled, waiting for his wife's response. The woman, without answering, pondered for a couple of seconds. She might be playing one of her little sweet word games again. When thinking proved futile, the woman sarcastically said, "Hmm, alright, my love, what did I do?"

   Bending towards the table with a grin while not letting go of his wife's hand, the man said, "You know how well the dark coffee set suits me, and you insisted so much that I wear it tonight. Now, all the girls' eyes are on me. What should I do? If I look very handsome, what could be my fault in this incident?"

   The woman understood now. It was one of his little games, and she wouldn't be caught in this one either. Her husband had told her everything to make her jealous. He loved making her jealous. Most of the time, he would say she looked beautiful when he made her jealous. But the woman knew a great truth. The man in front of her was madly in love with her. Smiling with one of her most beautiful smiles, she winked and said, "My love, not a problem, even if all the women in this restaurant and the whole world turn to look at you, I know you won't take your eyes off mine." Her wife didn't fall into the trap. Without taking his eyes off his wife, the man proudly said, "Beautiful."

    Not hiding her excitement, the woman asked, "Supposedly, I had a surprise for you today, but you always manage to excite me. How is it that you can suddenly say it every time?"

   Gently kissing his wife's hands, before the man could finish his sentence, a woman's scream followed by five consecutive gunshots were heard. As soon as the scream was heard, reflexively, the husband and wife separated their hands and leaned towards the corner of the table. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. In the nearby table, a man and a woman became the target of bullets in front of everyone. Then the person who did this, pointing the gun to his own head, shot himself in front of everyone. These events happened in exactly 5-10 seconds.

   The man, who had overcome the shock of the incident, quickly turned to his wife. No one knew what to do during the incident. Voices from the hall were shouting, "Call an ambulance!" The hall had turned into complete chaos. The man quickly approached his wife.

   "Wife, are you okay? Were you very scared? Come, let me take you home," he said, hugging his wife with concern. His wife had stood up and was behind the table. She had taken refuge behind the table in the shock of the incident. At that moment, the man realized that something was wrong. His wife was not reacting. When he stopped hugging her, he noticed a red stain on his wife's dress. The same stain was on him. What was happening? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Before the man could grasp the incident in the shock, his wife suddenly fell into his arms. At that moment, he understood; his wife had been shot. One of the bullets fired during the incident had hit his wife. The man embraced his wife, and in a panic, he started screaming.

   "Ambulance! Call an ambulance! Quickly, it's an emergency!" This time, the crowd paid attention to them. The chaos inside was growing. While the woman writhed in pain in the man's arms, he kissed her forehead, held her hands, and pleaded with her.

   "Wife, please hold on, we're almost there. The ambulance is coming, please don't leave us!" In a miserable state, he could no longer stop the tears in his eyes. He was holding back his sobs, trying to give strength to his wife.

   "Wife, please stay with me. Don't close your eyes; I'm with you, hold on!"

   Blood was now coming from the woman's mouth. Her eyes were slowly closing. The last words came out of the woman's mouth.

   "I-I love you."

   "No! No, please hold on!" The man's screams echoed through the hall. The woman's eyes finally closed. The woman he called "my life" was slipping away from him. He had long since stopped holding back his sobs. Now he was crying profusely at his wife's bedside. As a last resort, amid his sobs, the man shouted to the hall.

   "Where is this ambulance!" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the sound of the ambulance sirens nearby was heard. At that moment, the man looked at his wife lying on the ground, covered in blood, with a glimmer of hope. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered:

   "My love, please hold on a little longer."