Chapter 192

Morgan's POV

The moment my bid of 2.9 billion echoed through the auction hall, silence fell like a heavy curtain. All eyes turned toward Alexander's box, and I found myself watching him too, struggling to maintain my neutral expression.

Alexander's face transformed—shock melting into a kind of serene bitterness. His eyes darkened with understanding. He knew exactly what I'd done. I had learned precisely how much liquid capital he possessed, and this was my trap—a perfect mechanism designed to destroy everything he'd built. The choice was cruel: his ring or the company he'd created with his own hands.

After the initial stillness, the room erupted into frenzied whispers. The Hollywood elite suddenly realized that all the previous bidding had been merely a game for us media titans.

I kept my gaze fixed on Alexander, wondering what he would choose. Would he surrender his precious ring? Or would he sacrifice the media empire he'd built and spend the rest of his life hating me for it? I wasn't even sure how much the ring meant to him anymore. Was he bidding for me, the woman who had cornered him? Or for Olivia, the woman who had deceived him his entire life?

As I watched him, a strange realization washed over me. The three of us—me, Olivia, Alexander—we'd all wanted love so desperately. And in pursuing it, we'd all hurt others and been hurt ourselves. This was a massive, messy tragedy where no one was completely innocent, and no one would emerge unscathed.

"Two point nine billion, going once..."

Alexander stared at me, his blue eyes intense and unblinking. I closed my eyes, unable to bear the weight of his gaze.

"Going twice..."

"Three billion. American dollars."

The three words hit me like stones dropping onto my chest. He could have bid just enough to keep going. He could have asked to speak with me. He could have let the ring go. Instead, he'd bid the exact amount I was waiting for—essentially signing the death warrant for his company.

The auctioneer's voice trembled slightly as he processed the amount. The crowd gasped collectively. But I barely heard them.

I realized he wasn't fighting for Olivia; he faced me and dropped the gun in his hand. He gave everything, while I remained unscathed. All my hatred and anger toward Alexander suddenly extinguished. The debt was paid. I no longer hated him for what he'd done. He had loved the girl he thought he'd rescued, even if he'd identified the wrong person at first. But I couldn't go back to him either—the ghost of our unborn child stood between us.

Goodbye, Alexander. Goodbye to my girlhood.

"Sold!" The final hammer echoed through the hall.

Alexander left his box without looking at me again. The auction continued, but the atmosphere had changed. The subsequent items received little attention; the audience found them boring after our dramatic showdown.

Olivia returned to her seat, but an invisible wall had formed between her and Robert Montgomery. I should have felt triumphant. I'd won. I'd forced Alexander to sacrifice his company for a ring—the symbol of his love for the "girl he rescued." But instead, I felt terrible.

A voice in my head whispered: He didn't deserve this. I tried to argue back, to remind myself of everything he'd done, but I couldn't find the anger that had fueled me for so long. Why wasn't revenge making me happy? Was he really innocent? I couldn't answer these questions.

Then a strange emptiness swallowed me whole. My chest tightened like someone was sitting on it, crushing my lungs. I couldn't breathe—each attempt felt like sucking air through a tiny straw. My heart hammered so hard I thought it might burst. Black dots danced across my vision as the room started to spin. My hands went numb and tingly.

I yanked the curtain closed and collapsed against the wall, my legs giving out completely. My body trembled uncontrollably as cold sweat covered my skin. I clawed at my throat, desperate for air that wouldn't come. Even the most painful stem cell procedures hadn't felt this much like dying.

Being in love with that man had been too painful. I needed Emma.

I reached for my phone on the table, but it seemed miles away. My fingertips trembled as I tried to grasp it. Liam's missed calls flashed on the screen.

A knock came at the door. "Morgan? Are you in there?" Liam's voice called out.

I tried to call out, but my voice came out as just a pathetic wheeze. No one could hear me. Panic wrapped around me like a snake, squeezing tighter with each failed breath. My fingers clawed at the carpet as I gasped like a fish out of water. My vision started going dark around the edges.

The door crashed open with a bang that made me jump. Liam burst through like a hurricane, his face twisting with horror when he saw me on the floor. Without hesitation, he scooped me up in his strong arms as if I weighed nothing. The sudden movement made my head spin, but the solid warmth of his chest against my cheek felt like the first real thing in a world that had been dissolving around me.

I closed my eyes and buried my face against his chest, breathing in the comforting scent of his cologne. Gradually, my breathing steadied.

I pouted, trying not to cry, but tears of frustration spilled from my eyes anyway. I wanted to tell him everything, but words failed me as I faced this huge unknown—my brother.

"I'm sorry, little sister," Liam said softly. "I know. I came too late. I'm really, really sorry..." He pulled me into an embrace.

I struggled briefly before finally surrendering to tears in his arms, sobbing loudly. I cried out all the darkness inside me, my longing for Emma, and all the hurt I'd buried. I felt a release I'd never experienced before, a safety I hadn't felt since before the Montgomerys had "selected" me.

Liam sighed with relief when I calmed down.

I peeked at him, curling my legs up and hiding my face behind my knees, exposing only my eyes—just like I used to do as a child. I was confused by how I'd just had an episode, cried, and calmed down in front of this man simply because he was my "brother."

Was blood really that magical? Could it connect two people who had barely spoken to each other?