Page 199 of The Sins of Noelle

Considering the entire factory was more like a testing facility, Noelle could very well imagine some test subject didn’t make it out alive.

The elevator pinged when it reached the basement, the doors opening before her.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed the stretcher forward, looking right and left to identify where the furnace room was.

It took her a few minutes of pushing and pulling the body around before she finally found the room. It had an industrially sized furnace, and she noticed that all the smoke was being pushed through a huge vent that had been installed in the ground itself.

“Wow,” she whispered as she looked around.

The facility was already huge, but she realized that the basement extended far further than just the foundation of the building.

They had built it under the ground.

“Ah,” the low sound brought her back to the present and she shoved her misplaced admiration of the building out of her mind.

Looking at the man on the stretcher, Noelle realized she would have to actually kill him before pushing him into the furnace. She wasn’t as heartless as to let him burn to death—that was one horrible way to die she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemies.

Ok, maybe Sergio was the exception. He could burn in hell for all she cared.

Quickly swiping her gaze around the room, she noticed a knife on a table.

“I guess knife it is,” she muttered, her lips flattened into a thin line.

Despite havingaidedAnn Marie’s demise, she hadn’t actually killed anyone with her own bare hands. She might have injured the man just now, but was she capable of coldly dispatching him?

She pondered the matter for a moment—she couldn’t spare more.

Yet no matter how much she thought about it, it always came down to the same conclusion. It was him, or her. It was his life, or hers.

And Noelle was nothing if not determined to survive.

Taking a deep breath, she took the ultimate decision.

With hesitant steps, she neared the stretcher. The knife felt heavy in her hand, the blade holding the weight of her soul and ultimate damnation. For despite knowing shemustdo this, she also knew this was the beginning of the end.

Maybe in the past it had been involuntary, but this, right now, was premeditated. She was about to commit murder, despite arguing the semantics with Lucero. Deep down, she recognized it for what it truly was.

She let out a heavy breath as she tightened her hand on the hilt of the knife.

“It’s him or me,” she repeated, and squeezing her eyes shut, she aimed for his heart, burying the knife deep in his chest.

There were a couple more sounds that brushed against her ear. Still, she didn’t dare open her eyes again until only silence surrounded her.

Blinking her eyes open, she brought her other hand to his neck, feeling for his pulse.

He was…dead.

Noelle swallowed hard against the rush of guilt that assailed her. Yet despite the discomfort settling in her chest, she pushed forward, thinking only of the future. Because this was all for the future.

Noelle quickly opened the furnace door and set the temperature.

Before her conscience could make another appearance, she steeled herself as she grabbed the man’s shoulders and pushed with all her might. Once he was inside, she stripped the stained sheet off the stretcher, throwing it inside, too. She then closed the door and played with the settings until fire blazed from the other side of the furnace.

She took exactly three stabilizing breaths before she pushed her chin up high and strode out of the room.

Lucero was still scrubbing the floor, tears flowing down her cheeks as she stifled a hiccup.

“Lulu?” Noelle called softly.

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