Chapter 80 - I'd Die For You

Few Months Earlier (2018)

As soon as I got home, I told my parents about everything that had happened. I told them I wanted to leave again, and my family was pretty happy with my decision. They also knew it was the only way of getting me free from Shadrach. Dad had booked the tickets for that very night, and all of us immediately got busy in my packing. Rachael and Elijah had gone straight to see Rachael's mom, so Rachael could bid her good bye. She would meet me directly at the airport. I felt so guilty ripping Rachael's life away from her everytime, but I was selfish when it came to her. I couldn't imagine staying there without her. It wouldn't be possible for me to survive.

Shadrach had been calling and texting me all day, apologizing, but I had been ignoring all his messages. I only replied once, telling him I would talk to him the next day, which was obviously a lie. I was just buying time so he wouldn't show up.

Night fell quicker than I had expected, since deep down I was dreading it. I did not want to leave again, but just like the last time, Shadrach had left me no choice. I could not spend my life with him. I was sure of it at that moment. He and I were not meant to be. We were too toxic for each other. The epitome of a forbidden love.

I was all ready, dragging my suitcase towards the main door of the house, when suddenly the bell rang, making all of us freeze. My eyes widened, and I gulped, as the bell rang again and again.

"Hide my suitcase," I whispered to Dad, but before anyone could even move a single step, Shadrach broke the door down, entering the house. I froze, while my legs trembled as his gaze set on my suitcase. He clenched his jaw, slowly walking towards me.

"So this is what you do," he said calmly, yet there was so much anger in his eyes that I felt he would eat me up alive. "You once again, promise to see me and talk to me again, and once again, you try to run from me. Not this time Alizabeth."

"Let me go, Shadrach. I don't wanna stay anymore," I replied.

"You're not going anywhere," he said with determination. "Do you understand?" He asked, as he casually took his revolver out and pointed it towards Ash. My eyes widened, and my mouth parted in fear.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked him, shocked.

"What does it look like?" He asked.

"You can't do this."

"Oh, except I can. You leave, Aliza, and your entire family will leave this Earth. I'm done with your games, you're not leaving me again. If you leave me now, I'm gonna burn your whole world down. Am I being clear?" He asked, his thumb removing the safety from the gun.

"Okay, okay!" I yelled, pushing the suitcase away from me. "I won't leave. I promise. Just put the damned gun down."

Shadrach caught hold of my chin, and stepped closer to me, looking me in the eye. "Don't take me this lightly, Alizabeth. Just because I love you, doesn't mean you're gonna take that for granted. I'm the same man who kidnapped you, the same man who knew everything about you without even having to ask you. You think I won't be able to find you? It's gonna take me minutes to know your location, and hours to come find you. So trust me, my Queen, running is not going to do you any good."

He let go of my chin, and after glancing around the room one last time, he left. I wiped my tears away and was about to walk to my bedroom, when my Dad stopped me.

"There is still one way," he said.

"What?" I asked him.

"Marry Elijah. His family is influential, and maybe Shadrach will leave you alone if you get married," Dad suggested.

"What? No," I frowned. "I can't do that to Elijah."

"Tell him the truth, and then see if he wants to marry you. I'm pretty sure he will still be willing to," Dad said confidently.

And that is exactly what I was afraid of. That he would still accept me.

- - - -

Present

"Really? You're gonna do this now? Alright, tell me. If you had to kill me or Simon, who would you kill?" I asked him, knowing that Simon was the only important person in his life except me.

"I wouldn't even have to do that, because Simon would kill himself immediately. He knows I would never be able to live without you. Not after this," he said, gesturing at himself and me. "And I have risked my own life, and his life, a thousand times for you earlier. I wouldn't have done that if he was more important to me. Now you tell me, Butterfly, would you ever risk yourself or your family for me? Would you let your brother go into danger to save me? Would you ever let Rachael do something like that?" He asked, leaving me tongue tied. I blinked, not knowing what to say.

"Let me answer for you, Love. You wouldn't. Because no matter how much I do for you, no matter how important I become to you, there is always going to be someone else out there, whose happiness and safety will be more important to you than mine. So forgive me, if I'm reluctant to send you back to those people who I know will try to tear you away from me, and you will listen to them," he said, and I maintained my silence.

"Thought so," he said softly, before turning around and walking away.

"Shadrach," I called out to him, but he ignored me, marching up the stairs.

Well, shit.

I ran after him, running up the stairs, and reached him before he could enter any room.

"Shadrach, wait," I said, grabbing his arm. He stopped and turned around, sighing. He was looking anywhere but me, and I frowned, cupping his cheeks to make him meet my eye. A tear escaped his eye, and I felt my heart immediately sink. "Are you crying?" I asked softly, a deep frown on my face.

"No," he shook his head, wiping his eyes.

"Shadrach," I sighed. "Come with me." I took his arm and led him into the bedroom, to the bed. I made him sit down on the bed, and sat down beside him.

"I love you, Maxon Shadrach Bradley, and no matter what you do, I promise you, that now, you are never going to lose me. I know you love me like anything, which is why you have never hurt my family or friends, but I love you too, Shadrach. And I've accepted it now. I have put my faith, my trust in you. I even let you tie me up, my Love. If I did not trust you, would I allow something like that? Would I allow you to do to me whatever you wanted? Never."

"That's what scares me the most, Butterfly," he said softly. "I know you won't admit it, but the truth is - you have been in love with me all along. I could tell, I could see it in your eyes, that even when you were getting married to someone else, you were in love with me. Now would that not frighten me, Butterfly? That despite loving me, you were willing to marry someone else just to get back at me. You think I do not have feelings? You're the only one who gets hurt? I know that I messed up multiple times,  but I am certain that even you know, I wouldn't think twice before giving up my life for you." Another tear escaped his eye.

I shifted closer to him, and cupped his cheek, wiping his tear away. I then pulled him into a hug, his head against my chest, as I caressed his hair.

"I would give up my life for you any second," I said softly. "I just want you to trust me, Shadrach. Just have faith in me. You've been doubtful of me all along, just trust me for once."

"Everytime I trust you," he said, pulling away from the hug to look into my eyes. "Everytime I give you space, put my faith in you, you run away from me. I can't lose you again."

"You won't," I replied, inching forward and kissing his lips. "You won't lose me ever again. I promise you. You are the one I wanna spend the rest of my life with. No matter what. I'm gonna make you change your criminal ways, whether you like it or not. I really believe that we can get past this, Shadrach. Just promise me you'll trust me from now on. Send me home."

He thought for a while, staring at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, frowning.

"Did you hear that?" He asked me, looking towards the door of the room.

"Hear what?" I frowned.

"There's someone downstairs," he said, standing up. I stood up as well.

"Could be your guards," I said.

"I don't think so," he replied, taking his gun from his belt. We heard a loud crash from downstairs, our eyes widening.

"Fuck," I said softly, feeling my heart beat quicken.

"Come with me," Shadrach said, taking my hand in his. "And stay behind me. No matter what happens don't leave my side."

"Do we have to go downstairs?" I asked, afraid.

"Yes. The men aren't here as yet, and they won't be in time. I'll have to take care of whoever it is myself. You can wait here if you want," he replied.

"No," I shook my head, my grip on his hand tightening. "I wanna come with you."

"Okay," he nodded. He led me outside, and we slowly descended the stairs. The front door was broken down. Before we knew it, there were twenty uniformed men entering the place, all with guns.

"The hell?" Shadrach frowned, as all their guns were aimed at us, before Elijah and Ash entered. My eyes widened, and my mouth parted in shock. Shit. They were probably there to rescue me.

"Let her go, Maxon!" Elijah announced, holding a gun himself.

"Leave my house right now," Shadrach replied, standing straight and confident.

"Leave her hand," Ash said, his eyes stuck on me. He looked so worried, and so stressed out, I wanted to run up to him and hug him. Tears pricked my own vision when I saw him, after such a long time. I had missed him so much.

"Let's talk about this," Shadrach said, stepping down from the last stair.

"You take one more step, and we'll light you up. Let her go," Elijah threatened.

"Guys, please. Calm down. All this is not needed. I'm fine. Send these people back," I spoke up.

"Aliza he's manipulating you! You don't know what a psychotic bastard he is! Get away from him!" Ash yelled, stepping closer to us. Shadrach's grip on my hand tightened, and he now aimed his gun at Elijah.

"You people take one step towards us, and I'll kill you," he said to Elijah. I looked at Shadrach, and I could tell he was serious.

"Guys, please," I spoke up again, walking forward. I let go of Shadrach's hand, and although he seemed reluctant to let me go, he left my hand too. I smiled and nodded at him reassuringly.

Ash instantly rushed up to me, and pulled me into his arms, breaking into sobs.

"Are you okay?" He cried, and I hugged him back instantly, tears escaping my eyes as well.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Don't worry Liza, we're here to take you home. This man will never bother you again," Ash said, pulling away from me.

"What do you mean?" I frowned. "What are you going to do?"

"We'll take care of him, let's go for now," Elijah said. Ash took my hand, and began to walk towards the door, but I stopped him.

"No, wait," I said, pulling my hand away from his. "No one is going to touch him."

"Butterfly," Shadrach said, and I turned around. "Come back to me." He extended his hand towards me, his gun still aimed at Elijah. I began to walk towards him, but Ash once again rushed up to me.

"Are you crazy? You're not going back to him! You have Stockholm Syndrome!" Ash scolded, gripping my arm.

"I don't, Ash! I love him," I announced.

"What?" Ash snapped. "You are going home with us right now. We'll talk about this later."

"Let go of her Ash. Let her do what she wants," Shadrach said.

"You do not talk to me you fucker! And stay away from my sister!" Ash yelled at him.

"Ash," I said. "Stop it."

"You're going with us," Ash stated, and tried to drag me to the door, but I got my arm free, taking multiple steps away from him.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll come home myself. You guys go," I said, determined.

Shadrach took a step towards me, freaking Ash out.

"Stop right there you jerk!" Ash yelled at Shadrach. "Don't take a single step towards her."

"I'm not going to harm your sister, Ash! I never have! I love her. But you guys need to leave right now," Shadrach said, taking another step closer to me.

"Stop where you are," Elijah spoke up now, his gun aimed at Shadrach.

"Or what, you son of a bitch?" Shadrach challenged.

"I'll shoot you," Elijah replied.

"What? No!" I said in disbelief. "No one is shooting anyone."

"Go ahead," Shadrach said, taking another step towards me. "Shoot me if you want. You're not going to take her away from me."

"Stop right there Maxon!" Elijah warned. "I'll shoot you, I'm not kidding."

"Do it, you pussy," Shadrach said, and took another step towards me.

After that, time seemed to stop, as I saw Elijah pull the trigger. A scream escaped my lips, as I moved towards Shadrach, while the loud gunshot rang in the air. I stepped in front of him at the correct time, my back towards Elijah, before I felt a sharp pain shooting through my waist. Shadrach's eyes widened, and the gun dropped from his hands, as he instantly wrapped his arms around me. My head began to spin, and tears escaped my eyes, as I collapsed into his arms. I touched the back of my waist, and brought my hand in front of my eyes to find it covered in blood. My senses had seemed to stop working. I couldn't hear anything except a ringing in my head.

Tears escaped Shadrach's eyes and he laid me down on the floor, his hand covering my wound tightly, my head in his lap. He seemed to be saying something, in fact no, he was yelling at Ash and Elijah, but I couldn't hear anything. He looked at me and said something to me, but I couldn't hear it. I just blinked at him, feeling the pain droop my eyes shut. He cupped my cheek, shaking me, probably asking me to stay awake. For some reason Ash and Elijah were maintaining their distance from us, not interfering.

"Are..." I tried to speak, not being able to hear myself. "Are you okay?" I managed to say, reaching my trembling hand towards his face. The pain was so intense, it was unlike anything I had ever felt. Shadrach held my hand, and brought it to his lips, nodding. The ringing in my head abated, and I could now hear the panic inside the room. Elijah was talking to an ambulance, while I could hear the sounds of Ash's cries as he was telling someone what had happened.

"You'll be fine, Butterfly," Shadrach said to me, his dark brown eyes filled with worry, concern and fear. "I promise you. You're going to be fine."

My eyes began to droop again, but he shook me.

"Stay awake, my Queen. Eyes open. Just a little longer, my Love," he begged me, tears flowing down his cheek freely.

"I... I love you," I whispered, before my eye lids became too heavy, and I couldn't fight anymore.

"Aliza? Butterfly!" Shadrach's panicked voice, followed by Ash's and Elijah's concerned ones, was the last thing I heard, before the darkness consumed me, and I drifted into oblivion.

- - - - - -

A/N: The End. Just kidding lol 😂 Very few chapters left guys. Stay tuned! <3

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