Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Thaddeus—a man who wore his pride like armor, who'd rather die standing than bow to anyone.

And yet, in this moment, for Scarlett.

He tossed aside his weapon without hesitation and dropped to his knees before his enemy.

"No... don't kneel..." Scarlett shook her head wildly, struggling against the coarse rope biting into her wrists until blood streamed down her arms. She didn't even feel the pain.

"Thaddeus! Get up! Please, I'm begging you, get up!" Her voice broke, raw and desperate, carried away by the wind and rain.

She'd rather he be cold and cruel like he was five years ago. She'd rather he hurl the vilest insults at her than watch him throw away his dignity—that pride he had always valued more than life itself—only to have it ground into the dirt beneath someone else’s heel. All for her sake.

"Shut up!" Ulysses snapped, irritation flashing across his face. He brought the butt of his gun down hard against the back of Scarlett’s neck.

A choked cry escaped Scarlett lips as her vision blurred. Darkness threatened to swallow her whole.

Ulysses glanced at Thaddeus kneeling before him and let out a twisted laugh. "Thaddeus! You finally got what's coming to you!"

He jabbed the gun barrel hard against Scarlett's temple, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. "Weren't you supposed to be invincible? And now what? You're on your knees like a dog, begging for scraps! This is what happens when you cross me!"

Thaddeus ignored Ulysses's raving.

He knelt in a pool of his own blood, his gaze locked unwaveringly on Scarlett.

There was no humiliation in his eyes. No resentment. Only a devotion so deep it seemed etched into his very bones.

"Scarlett." His voice was rough, barely steady. "Don't cry."

He tried to smile, to reassure her, but the effort faltered. Blood loss made the attempt weak. His pale lips barely moved.

"I told you. This life…” He swallowed hard. “I’m giving it back to you."

"As long as you're alive..." He paused, something heartbreakingly gentle flickering in his eyes. "As long as you and the children are safe... that's enough."

Those words tore through Scarlett like a blade.

"I won't let you die! Thaddeus, do you hear me? I won't let you die!" Scarlett screamed, her voice hoarse and shaking. "You haven't finished paying me back yet! You don't get to decide this on your own!"

She finally understood. This madman had never intended to walk off this yacht alive.

"How touching. A tragic farewell." Ulysses sneered, cutting them off. "But unfortunately, neither of you is leaving here alive today."

"You can carry on your grand romance in hell!"

His finger moved toward the trigger.

A deafening gunshot tore across the yacht.

But it wasn’t Ulysses who fired.

Ulysses let out a piercing scream. The hand gripping the gun had been blown apart by a sniper round from above.

The gun clattered uselessly onto the deck.

In that split second.

Thaddeus—who had been on his knees moments ago, teetering on the edge of death—suddenly lunged.

He surged forward like a shadow cutting through the storm, driven by the fury of a man with nothing left to lose. He launched himself at Ulysses.

"Thaddeus!" Scarlett's eyes went wide with terror.

Another gunshot rang out.

Though his wrist had been shattered, Ulysses was still a man hardened by violence. With his left hand, he yanked a backup pistol from his waistband and fired straight at Thaddeus mid-lunge.

The bullet slammed into Thaddeus's left shoulder, blood spraying into the rain.

But Thaddeus didn't even grunt. His momentum only increased.

"Get back!" Thaddeus roared. One hand locked around Ulysses's gun hand while the other flashed with cold steel, a knife appearing as if from nowhere. He slashed through the rope binding Scarlett, then wrapped an arm around her waist and shoved her toward Sawyer, who was charging in their direction. "Sawyer! Catch her!"

Sawyer reacted instantly. He caught Scarlett as she flew toward him, the two of them crashing hard onto the slick deck.

"Thaddeus!" Scarlett struggled in Sawyer’s grip, forcing herself upright as she screamed his name until her voice gave out.

She saw Thaddeus lock his arm around Ulysses's throat. Their combined momentum drove them backward, straight toward the railing.

"You lunatic! Let me go!" Ulysses thrashed wildly, panic finally breaking through his composure. He could feel the unmistakable intent to kill radiating from Thaddeus.

"I told you." Thaddeus's eyes burned with cold finality. "I'd make sure you died in pieces."

Metal groaned and snapped. The already-damaged railing couldn't bear the weight of two grown men. It gave way.

"No!"

Through Scarlett's screams, Thaddeus held fast to Ulysses. Like falling stars, the two of them plunged into the black sea below.

Waves slammed violently against the yacht, sending sheets of spray into the air. In the next instant, the ocean swallowed them whole.

"No... no... Thaddeus..." Scarlett crumpled onto the deck, her eyes fixed on the dark water that had just taken him. Her mind went blank.

The wind still raged. The rain kept falling.

But Thaddeus—the man who had once held her with suffocating possessiveness. The man who, in the end, had risked everything for her.

He was never coming back.