Gunshots. Loud. Sharp. Closer than they should be.
My heart slammed against my ribs as I turned from the restroom entrance, my breath hitching when I saw a small figure wandering outside. A little girl, her dark curls bouncing as she looked around, her big eyes wide with fear.
I didn’t think—I just moved.
“Come here, quick!” I whispered urgently, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into my arms. She whimpered but didn’t fight me. She was trembling.
I pressed my lips on her forehead. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She clung to me, her tiny fingers curling into the fabric of my blouse. My chest ached. My daughter would have been her age now. If only—
A loud crash snapped me back. I crouched lower, scanning the restaurant’s main area. People were on the ground, some crying, some frozen in terror. And then, I saw him.
A man with a gun. His eyes locked on us. “Stop!” His voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a knife.
I swallowed hard and shifted the girl behind me.
“Please,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “She’s just a child.”
His hand tightened around the gun. “I said—” Bang!
Pain exploded in my arm. White-hot, burning. My knees buckled, but I forced myself to stay up. The little girl screamed, her hands clutching at me as I pulled her with me.
We needed to hide. Now. My vision blurred as I stumbled toward the janitor’s closet, kicking the door open and pulling us inside. The second I shut it, I pressed my forehead against the wood, panting. The little girl sobbed against my chest.
“Shh, sweetheart. We’re okay,” I whispered, even as my own body trembled.
But we weren’t okay. I was bleeding. The bullet had gone clean through my arm, and my dress was soaked. I clenched my teeth against the dizziness creeping in.
I came here to meet an investor. That was all. I was supposed to sit down, smile, and help Carter and my father secure a deal. Instead, I was trapped in a janitor’s closet, shot, and praying I wouldn’t die.
But was it worth it? The child whimpered again. I tightened my arms around her.
“Someone will save us,” I murmured, more for myself than her. “I promise.”
Then—more gunshots. Right outside the door.
I tensed, pressing my hand over the little girl’s mouth to keep her quiet. My breath came out ragged. I couldn’t pass out. Not yet. Not until she was safe. Until I knew that she would be in the arms of someone she knew. I barely registered the voice calling a name.
Then, suddenly, the little girl wriggled free. Her hands touched my cheeks, her voice high with relief.
“Aunty! We’re safe!” I wanted to ask how. Who was here? But the world tilted, and then—darkness.
---
Five Years Ago
I held my stomach, my fingers smoothing over the curve of my belly.
“She’ll be beautiful,” I whispered, my heart swelling with love.
I didn’t know who the father was. I just woke up in a bed and in the hotel where Carter told me to go. My body aching and my private part hurting. I knew what happened but I I dismissed it instead. It didn’t matter. I had made my choice.
Even when the whispers followed me. Even when people stared.
I had endured it all because Carter had asked me to.
“Serena, I’m sorry. I needed help and it gave me an opportunity, forgive me, please.,” he had said, his voice sounded very guilty, his eyes desperate. “Also, please don’t tell your sister about it, Okay? You’ll do that for me, don’t you?”
I nodded. Because I loved him. I know I sounded stupid for just accepting it, but a woman in love can do stupid decisions. Even when I shouldn’t. But then, everything shattered.
I had been shopping for baby clothes, running my fingers over the softest onesies, imagining my little girl wearing them. Then, a hard shove. My feet left the ground.
For a split second, I saw her. Salvina. She smiled as if she’d won over something. Then, pain. Darkness.
When I woke up, my hands flew to my belly. Flat. Empty. The nurse’s voice was gentle, but her words were knives.
“You had a premature birth. The baby… she didn’t make it.”
No. I shook my head, my vision blurring. “No, she’s not— She’s not gone.”
But she was.
---
My eyelids fluttered open, heavy as if weighed down by stones. My body ached, a dull throb in my arm, but it was nothing compared to the crushing pain in my chest.
“You’re awake.”The voice was low. Cold.
I turned my head, my breath catching when I saw him.
Aaron Alabaster.
The most powerful man in the city. And he was watching me with eyes like steel.
