Chapter 73 Fire Beneath the Ashes .

Chapter 73 Fire Beneath the Ashes .
Selene

I don’t sleep deeply again. Not really.

Even with John’s arms wrapped around me, Kostas stroking slow circles into my back, and Adrian murmuring quiet reassurances by my side, my mind won’t stop spinning.

I can still feel the cold tile beneath my feet. The sudden jolt. The lurch of gravity as my world literally fell out from under me.

And now… the silence and empty hollowness in my belly.

I blink up at the ceiling, chest aching as if my heart’s been scraped raw. I should be screaming, breaking something, but all I can do is breathe shallowly and wait for the grief to let go of my throat long enough to speak again.

John presses a soft kiss to my temple. “You’re safe now.”

“No, I’m not,” I whisper. “Not until we know who did this.”

Jonathan walks back in, holding a folder and his phone. His usual swagger is gone—replaced by something harder. Cold and calculating.

“They pulled the footage,” he says, his voice clipped. “It’s grainy, but clear enough. We’ve got movement from the side hallway leading to the stairwell. Time stamp lines up with when you said it happened.”

Adrian stands up, muscles tense. “Show me.”

Jonathan hands the phone over. Adrian presses play.

I watch his face change—eyebrows knit, jaw clenched, lips thinning into a line of pure fury.

“Son of a bitch,” he growls.

John turns. “Who was it?”

Jonathan doesn’t answer immediately. He looks to me.

“You ready for this?”

I nod, even though my stomach is already twisting.

Adrian turns the phone around and hits play again.

The footage shows me exiting the restroom, slow and careful. A figure steps out of the shadows behind me—hooded, but clearly waiting. Then a quick motion. A shove. I go down.

And the figure vanishes down a back hallway.

I stare at the screen, heart pounding, nausea rising. “Rewind it,” I whisper.

Jonathan takes the phone and zooms in on a frame where the figure glances back. The lighting hits just enough of the face to catch a profile.

My blood goes cold.

Kostas steps beside me. “Do you know them?”

I nod slowly. “Bianca.”

Adrian’s voice drops, venomous. “That lying, manipulative bitch.”

“Why is she still in Denver ?,” I croak, staring at the frozen image.

Jonathan’s jaw tightens. “She never left Denver. She is still booked at the hotel , I’m not sure why she was at the hospital though.”

John stares in disbelief. “She planned this.”

Kostas’ expression is unreadable, but his tone is steel. “She tried to kill you and the children.”

I grip the sheet beneath me. My hands are trembling. “Why?”

“Jealousy,” Adrian says, barely restraining his rage. “She must have wanted to get back at me. At us. She knew or hoped that taking you and or the babies would break everything.”

“And she almost did,” I whisper. “She almost broke me.”

John’s arms tighten around me. “No. She failed. You’re still here. And now she’s done.”

Jonathan nods. “Police are bringing her in. There’s enough footage, I made sure they know to treat this as attempted homicide. The hospital is fully cooperating.”

Silence falls, thick and taut.

Adrian runs a hand over his face. “I let her near you. I believed her when she said she’d moved on. I even entertained the idea she was pregnant—”

“Because she drugged you,” I cut in, sharper than I mean to. “She manipulated you, and she manipulated the situation. This isn’t your fault, Adrian. Don’t you dare put it on yourself.”

His eyes flick to mine—shocked, then softened. “I don’t deserve your grace right now.”

I blink through the burn in my eyes. “And I don’t have the strength to be angry yet. But when I do… you’ll know.”

Kostas lets out a low breath, something between a laugh and a sigh. “You’re terrifying when you’re calm.”

“I’m grieving,” I say flatly. “Not fragile.”

John cups my face gently, bringing my forehead to his. “Whatever you feel, whenever you feel it—we’re not going anywhere.”

“I know,” I whisper. “But everything is different now.”

Jonathan pulls a chair closer to the bed and sits. “So what do we do next?”

There’s a pause.

Adrian speaks first. “We protect her. Every second. Cameras. Private security. A new plan.”

Kostas nods. “And we make sure Bianca never sees daylight again.”

John exhales. “And when Selene’s ready, we start healing. One day at a time.”

I glance at all of them—these three men who have seen every version of me now. Beautiful, bitter, broken. And still, they’re here.

“I want to leave this hospital,” I murmur.

“Doctor said you could go home tomorrow or the day after,” John adds. “They just want to monitor you for one more night.”

“Then we plan,” I say. “We figure out the next step.”

Adrian meets my eyes. “You’re sure?”

I nod.

Because the storm already broke.

And now, there’s only the fire.

The fire I’ll use to rise again