Chapter 116

Chapter 116
Ivonne did not know how long she bled on hard pavement before she heard the screech of tires and the rev of a car engine.
She had been walking home from the drugstore, her purse full of prenatal vitamins, when the night changed. Two men in masks stepped out of the alley, one pushing her onto the pavement, the other holding a glinting blade.

"Too easy," one growled. "The boss will pay extra for this."

Ivonne had fought, but pregnancy had finally gotten to her. A blow to the ribs had stolen her breath. Her eyes whirled.

But now—headlights.

The attackers spun just in time to see a black SUV skid to a stop. The driver's door burst open and a man sprang out like a released animal.

Tobias.

Ivonne's breath accelerated.

Back away from her!" he thundered, voice a raw fury.

The first attacker drew his sword, but Tobias dodged aside, grabbed the man's wrist and turned until bone snapped. The man screamed, but Tobias showed no mercy. He was a hurricane—accurate, merciless, unstoppable. He punched the second man in the throat and flung him up against the wall, his knee driving into the man's belly.

One fled limping into the shadows, but the other Tobias caught by the collar and smashed him down beside Ivonne.

Blood trickled from her lip as she stared up at him. “Tobias.?”

He knelt, eyes wide. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

She fainted in his arms.



Several hours later, back at the hospital, she opened her eyes to the sound of beeping machines and soft hum of monitors. Tobias sat next to her, his hand wrapped around hers.

"You saved me," she whispered.

He gritted his teeth. "I won't lose you again."
She looked up at him—haunted, possessive, searing with guilt.

"I saw one of them," he told her. "One of the guys who beat me up. he's been following me for two years. I've seen him. He's doing something big."

She flinched. "Someone has been attempting to murder you?"

He nodded slowly. "And now they've come after you. That makes this personal."

There was a pause.

"I want you to go home with me," Tobias said. "It's the only way that I'll be able to protect you.".

Ivonne hesitated. "I don't know if—"

"Please," he urged. "Until we get past this. I promise. no lies. No hurting. Just keeping safe."

She turned her head away, her heart in turmoil. But she knew—aloned, she could not survive. And the baby in her womb had changed everything.

"Okay," she whispered. "I'll go."



Transmuting back into Tobias's mansion stirred a thousand feelings. Rooms once home wore specters of their pain and passion.

But with days gone by, something changed.

He fed her breakfast. Sat by her when she slept. Stroked her belly softly when no one appeared to notice. In the evenings, they spoke. Laughed. The barrier between them broke little by little.

And one evening, amid the pound of thunder and memory, their lips touched once more.

It was desperate. Tender. Tainted by the pain of second chances. Their ardor flared up once more like a tide, washing away the pain and betrayal of the months.

Whole again in Tobias' arms, Ivonne was.



But not all was blissful.

Martha stood by the window of her temporary apartment, nails jammed into her palm as she gazed out at Tobias and Ivonne hand-in-hand walking around the garden.

She had noticed the way he gazed at Ivonne now. As if she were stars and moon.

She had lost.

And losing had made her deadly.

The following day, the notices came: Tobias had initiated divorce proceedings.

He didn't even phone to explain.

In a split second, Martha was excluded from his life, from his finances, from the future she had dedicated years towards.

But she was only just beginning.



In a week, there were three more attempts on Ivonne.

One attempted to poison her meal. Another booby-trapped her sedan with a car bomb. The third, a sniper, had a shot from across the street—but Tobias had flung himself over her just in time, the bullet scorching his shoulder.

Tobias snapped.

The next day, he doubled the bodyguards and lured the attackers into his own trap. This time, he managed to catch one alive.

Bound to a chair in the basement, the masked man spat curses and blood.

Tobias punched his fist against the wall next to the man's head.

"Speak," he snarled. "Who hired you?"

"I'll die first," Darius sneered.

Tobias moved closer. "Then you'll be regretful."

The glint of steel. The flat blade of Tobias's knife against the assassin's ear.

The man fell.

"It was your wife!" he cried.

Dead silence.

Tobias's heart stopped. "What did you say?

"Martha!" the killer breathed. "She hired us. She has been trying to kill you for two years. And now the girl too."

The room turned around.

All this seamless attacks they were facing, Martha was all behind it. Her fake smiles flashed through his face.

Tobias retreated. "Why?"

"She was after your money. Your possessions. But you married again, and that woman became pregnant—Martha lost. Said the baby would inherit everything. Said she'd lose it all if you died then. So she wanted to murder the woman. And the baby."

Ivonne, who had slipped in unnoticed, gasped. Her hand went up to her mouth.

Tobias turned to her, horrified. "The whole time. it was her."

He called the police.

But Martha wasn't finished.



The last act descended like lightning.

Martha broke into the property, getting past security through an inside source.

She arrived firing, hair wild, eyes crazed like a banshee's.

Ivonne was by herself in the living room when Martha burst in, gun pointed at her.

"You stole him from me!" Martha screamed. "You stole it all!"

Ivonne stepped back, palms held protectively over her belly. "Martha, don't—please, think this through!"

“He was mine! My husband, my future—my fortune!”

“You tried to kill us—your own husband!” Ivonne shouted.

Martha’s hand shook. “He was supposed to die before he met you! And now you’re pregnant—you will take everything that should have been mine!”

The gun clicked.

A shot rang out.

Ivonne flinched.

But she didn’t fall.

Tobias had thrown himself in front of her, the bullet piercing his side.

“No!” Ivonne screamed, catching him as he collapsed.

Blood dripped across her fingers. His eyes struggled.

Martha shrieked with rage, producing the gun once more.

But this time, the security team stormed in. Guns raised. Martha was overpowered and hauled out, cursing and screaming.

Ivonne held onto Tobias wildly, sobbing onto his blood-soaked shirt.

"Don't die," she gasped. "Please. don't die."



Tobias lived.

The doctors explained that the bullet had passed across his lung by a hair's breadth.

Ivonne did not leave his bedside.

When he awoke, bandaged and white-faced, he gazed at her with regretful, adoring eyes.

"Sorry," he croaked.

She bent in close. "You saved me."

"I could have lost you. Again."

"You didn't."

He opened the drawer and retrieved a tiny black box.

"Marry me," he breathed. "For real this time. No secrets. No shadows. Just us."

Ivonne's eyes swam with tears. "Yes."



A month after that evening, they wed amidst the cherry blossoms on Tobias's property. Their wedding was plain but holy. Lincoln came as a friend, giving his blessing.

Ivonne descended the aisle barefoot, smiling, her belly softly rounded beneath her dress. Tobias had eyes for her alone.

They promised each other in vows penned from shattered hearts mended by time.

And when they shared a kiss, the world held its breath.

The years to come were laughter and the sound of little feet.

The first was a girl with Tobias's silver eyes and Ivonne's hearty heart.

The twin boys followed—wild and real.

Tobias taught them how to fight. Ivonne taught them how to feel.

The four of them created a haven not of blood and mortar, but of trust, of love, and of redemption.

And though their beginning was dark, their end was light.

Happy! Whole !Together.

The End.