Chapter 169 Saved at last

Chapter 169 Saved at last
No.”

The word tore from my throat before I could stop it.

Zara’s eyes were wild—terrifyingly unhinged, the look of someone who had finally stepped off the edge.

“If I can’t have him…” she whispered, voice trembling.

Kendrick’s cries sharpened, piercing the air.

“…then neither can you.”

“Zara, stop.” My pulse thundered in my ears. “You’re scaring him.”

For a split second, her gaze dropped to the baby. His tiny face flushed scarlet, little fists flailing helplessly in the cold air. A flicker of guilt crossed her features—raw and human—before it vanished behind the storm.

Footsteps echoed from upstairs. Aaron. Closer now. Much closer.

Zara’s face twisted with panic. “No.”

She spun and ran.

“Kendrick!”

I bolted after her, heart slamming against my ribs. The baby’s terrified screams echoed through the narrow hallways as rain hammered against the broken windows and lightning strobed the decaying house.

“Zara!”

She vanished around a corner, still clutching Kendrick. I sprinted after her, lungs burning. Another flash of lightning lit the corridor—long enough to see her silhouette racing ahead.

A door burst open ahead. Aaron.

His eyes locked instantly on Zara, then on Kendrick. Something primal shifted in his expression—fierce, protective, lethal.

“Zara!”

She froze for a heartbeat, then darted away again.

“Damn it!” Aaron surged forward.

Chaos erupted. Three bodies tearing through the rotting hallways. Kendrick’s wails cutting through the thunder. The old house groaned around us like it was coming alive.

Zara reached the staircase, old wooden steps groaning under her frantic footsteps.

“Zara, don’t!”

She ignored me, pounding upward. Aaron gained on her fast—too fast. She hit the second floor, racing down another hallway. The floorboards creaked violently beneath her, the entire structure shuddering as if it might collapse at any moment.

“You’re going to hurt him!” I screamed.

“I would never hurt him!” she shouted back, voice raw with fury and pain.

But every desperate step, every jolt, tore another cry from Kendrick.

Then—

CRACK.

The sound ripped through the hallway. Everyone froze.

The floor beneath Zara shifted, dipping slightly. Her eyes widened in terror. The old wood was rotting from years of neglect and rain.

Aaron stopped dead. “So did I,” he said quietly, voice steady but heavy.

Silence swallowed the hallway. Rain battered the roof. Thunder rolled outside. Inside, the air felt thick enough to choke on.

“I loved you,” Zara whispered, tears streaming down her face.

Aaron’s expression softened—not with affection, but with deep, exhausted sadness. “Maybe you did.”

The words seemed to shatter something deep inside her. Fresh tears spilled over as she looked away, shoulders trembling.

“But I never loved you the way you wanted,” he continued gently. “Even now… this was never about me.”

She frowned, breath hitching. “What?”

“This is about you.” His voice remained calm, careful. “You spent years trying to prove you were enough. To your father. To your mother. To me.”

Her shoulders shook harder. Tears fell freely now.

“But none of this fixes that pain.”

For the first time, Zara looked small. Fragile. Not the monster who had terrorized us, but a broken woman haunted by ghosts she could never outrun.

Kendrick let out a soft, exhausted whimper. The sound pierced the moment.

Zara looked down at him—really looked. Not as a weapon. Not as stolen proof. Just a tiny, innocent baby. Her face crumpled.

“Oh God…” Her voice fractured completely. “Oh God, what have I done?”

Slowly, carefully, she extended Kendrick toward me.

My breath caught. I stepped forward, arms outstretched, every movement deliberate. The moment his warm weight settled against my chest, relief slammed through me so violently my legs nearly gave out.

“My baby,” I choked out, burying my face in his soft hair. I breathed him in—his scent, his warmth, the rapid flutter of his heartbeat. “Kendrick.”

He whimpered softly, then quieted in my arms. Safe. He was safe.

Aaron closed his eyes for a brief second, the tension in his frame easing just slightly.

Then movement flashed in the corner of my eye.

Zara was backing away—toward the broken railing overlooking the drop below.

“No,” Aaron said sharply, stepping forward.

But she kept moving, one step, then another. Tears carved glistening paths down her cheeks. “I never wanted this. I just wanted someone to choose me.”

My heart cracked open. For the first time, I believed her—not her actions, not her lies, but the deep, aching loneliness behind them.

The railing groaned dangerously behind her.

Aaron extended his hand. “Come here.”

She laughed, weak and broken. “You still sound like a hero.” Her voice cracked. “I ruined everything.”

“No.”

“Look at me.” Tears streamed faster. “I ruined everything.”

Distant sirens wailed through the storm—police, drawn by Aaron’s tracker or Michelle’s call. Help was coming.

Zara heard them too. A sad smile touched her lips. “I guess this is the end.”

Her foot slipped.

The rotten wood cracked sharply.

Zara screamed.

“Aaron!”