Chapter 26
Olivia’s eyes glittered with a feverish intensity. The gun in her hand was steady.
“You really thought you could just discard me, Ethan?” she sneered. “After everything? For her?”
Her gaze flicked to Sarah’s unconscious form with pure venom.
“She and that brat ruined my life! They took you from me!”
Ethan gently pushed Lily behind him, shielding her small body.
“Olivia, this has to stop,” he said, his voice low, trying to remain calm, to de-escalate. “Put the gun down. Let’s talk.”
“Talk?” Olivia laughed, a harsh, unhinged sound. “There’s nothing to talk about, Ethan. Except how much I hate her. How much I want her to suffer.”
He had to tell her. He had to make her understand, if only for a moment.
“I love Sarah, Olivia,” Ethan said, his voice ringing with a conviction that surprised even himself. “I always have. Deep down. You … you were a mistake. A consequence of my own darkness. I would never choose you. Not then, not now, not ever.”
Olivia’s face crumpled. His words, so blunt, so final, were like a physical blow.
The cruel smile vanished, replaced by a mask of raw despair and incandescent rage.
“If I can’t have you,” she shrieked, her voice cracking, “then no one will! Especially not her! I’ll kill the child! I’ll make you watch!”
She raised the gun, aiming it directly at Lily.
Time slowed.
Ethan didn’t think. He reacted.
He threw himself in front of Lily, shielding her with his own body.
A deafening crack.
Searing pain exploded in his shoulder.
He grunted, stumbling, but stayed upright, a human shield.
Sarah moaned, her eyelids fluttering.
The gunshot, the pain in Ethan’s voice, had pierced through her unconsciousness.
She saw Ethan, clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers.
She saw Olivia, her face contorted with madness, the gun still aimed.
She saw Lily, terrified, behind Ethan.
“Ethan!” Sarah cried, struggling against her bonds. “Get Lily out of here! Go! Save yourselves!”
Ethan looked back at her, his face pale, beaded with sweat, but his eyes full of a fierce, unwavering love.
He stumbled towards her, even as Olivia shrieked in frustration.
He knelt beside Sarah, ignoring his own wound.
“Sarah,” he gasped, his voice strained. “I love you. Life without you … it’s meaningless.”
He fumbled with her ropes, his injured arm making it difficult.
Olivia, enraged by their display of affection, by her ultimate failure, screamed at her henchmen, who had appeared from the shadows.
“Kill them! Kill them all! The man, the woman, the child! I want them dead!”
The two thugs advanced, crowbars raised.
Ethan, despite his injury, pushed Sarah behind him, turning to face the new threat.
“You’ll have to go through me,” he snarled, his voice a low growl of pure defiance.
He was wounded, outnumbered, but he would protect his family.
Or die trying.
He met the first thug’s attack, using his body to shield Sarah and Lily, absorbing the brutal blows.
Pain. Agony.
But he would not fall.
Not while they were in danger.