Everything happened too fast.
"Kelsey!" I shouted, instinctively reaching toward her.
Heavy footsteps thundered from downstairs.
Dimitri. He appeared below almost instantly, his expression changing the moment he saw Kelsey hanging there crying.
"KELSEY!"
The second she saw him, Kelsey suddenly loosened her grip.
"No!"
Her body fell. A sickening crash echoed through the mansion. Blood spread slowly across the white marble floor beneath her motionless body.
My entire body froze.
Dimitri rushed forward like a madman and dropped to his knees beside her.
"Kelsey! Kelsey, wake up!"
His hands shook while lifting her into his arms. Blood stained his expensive black shirt immediately.
Then his eyes lifted toward me.
"Annika!" he roared. "Wasn't destroying my fucking family enough for you?!"
I started shaking instantly.
"It wasn't me..." My voice cracked apart. "She did it herself, Dimitri, I swear she jumped on purpose—"
"Shut up!"
The entire hall fell silent.
Dimitri stood slowly while holding Kelsey tightly against his chest. His eyes were so red they looked terrifying.
"If anything happens to her," he said in a deadly quiet voice, "I'll bury you alive beside her."
Tears blurred my vision immediately.
"Dimitri, please listen to me..."
But he wasn't listening anymore. He looked at me like I was filth. Like loving me had been the greatest mistake of his life.
Then suddenly, another voice echoed from the mansion entrance.
"Oh my God!"
Everyone turned.
Vivienne Romanov, Dimitri's sister, stood near the doorway beside several guards, still wearing a long black coat from her flight. A luxury suitcase rested beside her.
She had just returned from Spain.
For one second, shock crossed her face as she stared at the blood surrounding Kelsey.
Then her eyes slowly lifted toward me.
And instantly filled with disgust.
"Brother! What happened?"
Dimitri's jaw clenched violently.
"Annika pushed her."
Vivienne froze. Then she looked at me again like she wanted me dead.
"I knew it," she said shakily. "I knew she was dangerous. She's a murderer, just like her parents!"
"Vivienne, that's not true—"
"I just came back from Spain!" she cried emotionally while pointing at me. "And the first thing I see is your wife pushing Kelsey over the railing!"
"I didn't push her!" I screamed desperately. "She let go herself!"
But Vivienne immediately moved beside Dimitri protectively.
"Brother, don't listen to her," she whispered urgently. "People like Annika never change. First our parents... now Kelsey too?"
Those words hit Dimitri like gasoline thrown onto fire. His entire expression darkened instantly.
I saw it happen. The final piece of trust inside him died right there. Dimitri looked at me with absolute hatred.
Then he turned away coldly while tightening his hold around Kelsey's unconscious body.
"Get the car ready," he ordered sharply. "Call the best surgeons now."
The guards immediately rushed into motion.
As Dimitri walked past me carrying Kelsey in his arms, Vivienne stopped beside me for half a second. Only half a second. Long enough to lean close and whisper coldly into my ear:
"You should've died seven years ago instead of my parents."
Then she walked away beside her brother.
The mansion exploded into chaos instantly.
The moment the cars arrived outside the mansion, Dimitri climbed into the backseat with Kelsey still against his chest.
I caught one last glimpse of him lowering his head desperately against her hair.
"Kelsey... stay awake. Don't scare me like this. Open your eyes."
My chest twisted painfully.
That used to be me. I used to be the one he panicked over.
Now I was just the person he blamed.
The guards shoved me into another car, and we sped toward the private hospital owned by the Romanov Empire.
The entire ride felt suffocating. Nobody spoke to me. Nobody cared that my hands were shaking so badly I could barely breathe.
....
When we arrived at the hospital, Kelsey was rushed straight into the emergency room while Dimitri followed beside the stretcher like he was terrified she would disappear if he let go.
Meanwhile, the guards forced me onto my knees outside the operating room.
Pain shot through my legs immediately.
At the end of the hallway, Dimitri stood motionless in his black suit, and Vivienne stood beside him the entire time. One arm wrapped around her older brother while softly comforting him.
"It's okay, Dimitri," she whispered gently. "Kelsey will survive. Evil people like Annika don't get to win forever."
My fingers curled tightly against the floor.
Vivienne glanced toward me and smiled coldly.
"Honestly," she sighed dramatically, "I'm not even surprised anymore."
Dimitri stayed silent. Then the emergency room light finally turned off and the doors opened. A doctor stepped outside while removing his mask.
"Mr. Romanov," he said seriously, "Ms. Velasquez lost too much blood from the fall. We stabilized her condition for now, but she urgently needs a blood transfusion."
Dimitri stepped forward immediately.
"Then do it," he snapped sharply. "Why are you wasting time talking?"
The doctor looked nervous beneath Dimitri's stare.
"Her blood type is rare. Type B negative. The hospital supply isn't enough right no—”
"Annika has the same blood type."
My entire body froze.
Vivienne let out a quiet laugh beneath her breath. "Perfect," she said coldly. "At least she can finally be useful for something."
My fingers trembled violently against the floor.
Dimitri walked toward me slowly.
"Take her for testing," he ordered. "If she's compatible, use her blood."
"Dimitri… You really believe I pushed her?"
"You were the only one there."
"Because she came to my room!" I cried softly. "She provoked me and climbed the railing herself! Why won't you believe me even once?"
His eyes turned colder instantly. The guards dragged me up from the floor and pulled me toward the testing room.
I tried resisting weakly.
"I don't feel well..." I whispered desperately. "I already lost so much blood yesterday from the ice chamber..."
Vivienne rolled her eyes immediately. "Here she goes again," she scoffed. "Always pretending to be pitiful."
But Dimitri cut me off before I could speak further.
"Stop pretending."
Those two words crushed whatever remained inside my chest.
The doctor checked the test results several minutes later.
"She's compatible."
Dimitri answered instantly. "Take whatever Kelsey needs."
I stared at him numbly. This was the same man who once treated me like fragile glass.
When I was sixteen and got caught in heavy rain after school, Dimitri carried me all the way home because I had a fever and couldn't walk properly.
When I burned my hand trying to cook for him at nineteen, he panicked so badly he threw away every knife in the kitchen because he couldn't stand seeing me hurt.
When I had an allergic reaction at twenty, he stayed awake beside my hospital bed the entire night changing cold towels on my forehead while his eyes turned red from exhaustion.
Back then, if I felt even a little pain, he looked more hurt than I did. He used to hold me tightly and whisper against my hair:
"Anni... I wish I could take your pain instead."
But now? Now he couldn't even see me bleeding anymore.
"Kelsey... don't be scared," he murmured while holding her unconscious hand. "I'm here now. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
I closed my eyes slowly. Because once upon a time… He used to say those words to me too.
….
After the blood transfusion, I was wheeled back into my hospital room.
The anesthesia slowly wore off, and pain spread through my body little by little until even breathing hurt. My arm throbbed badly where they kept taking blood, and my whole body felt weak and cold.
I bit my lip hard to stop myself from making any sound.
Crying wouldn't change anything anyway.
Two nurses stood beside me while changing the medicine on my arm.
"Mr. Romanov really loves his wife," one whispered softly. "He stayed outside her operating room the entire time. He looked so worried."
The other nurse sighed dreamily.
"I know. He's handsome, rich, powerful... and still that devoted. Ms. Velasquez is seriously lucky. If a man from the Pentagon X Syndicate loved me that much, I'd die happy."
Something inside my chest twisted painfully.
I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before speaking weakly.
"...I'm his wife."
The room instantly fell silent.
