Chapter 75 Chapter Seventy-four
ARA
“Don’t,” I said suddenly, the word tearing out of me before I could stop it. “You don’t have to stay.”
My voice trembled despite my effort to steady it.
“You won’t even look at me. You haven’t said a word to me since we got here.” I swallowed, my chest aching.
“So if this is pity, if you’re doing this because you feel obligated—”
I couldn’t finish, because the idea of him staying for the wrong reason hurt more than him leaving ever could.
He finally turned.
The movement was slow, like he was choosing control over instinct. His eyes met mine, and the intensity there made my breath hitch. It wasn't anger, but it wasn't softness either.
Something restrained. Something caged.
“I don’t do pity,” he said quietly.
The words weren’t harsh, but they landed heavy.
I swallowed, nodding once. “Then why?”
His jaw tightened. A muscle jumped in his cheek.
Before he could answer, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
A nurse appeared, clipboard pressed to her chest, breaking whatever fragile thread had stretched between us.
“Miss Ara?” she said gently. “You can see Mollie now. Just for a few minutes.”
Relief crashed through me so hard my knees nearly buckled.
I didn’t wait for Thayne. I rushed past the nurse, my heart pounding, fear and hope tangling in my chest like barbed wire.
Mollie looked impossibly small in the hospital bed.
I bent over her, sobbing, whispering apologies into her ears. She was asleep, so I tried not to wake her.
After a few minutes, a nurse gently ushered me out to let Mollie rest.
The hallway felt colder than before.
Thayne walked a few steps ahead, his phone pressed to his ear.
“Double the security rotation,” he said quietly. “No exceptions. I want footage pulled from every camera in the penthouse. Pantry, hallways, staff corridors. Everything.”
There was a pregnant pause, then, “Yes. Tonight.”
He ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket.
I watched him, my heart pounding. We'd almost kissed a few minutes ago. Or had I imagined it? Was pregnancy hormones causing me to hallucinate?
Madison sat at the far end of the hallway, her legs crossed, posture immaculate.
She looked up as we approached, concern painted carefully onto her face. Too carefully.
I knew her game now.
“Oh my God,” she said softly. “Is she alright?”
Thayne stopped, and the air changed.
“You knew,” he said coldly.
It wasn’t a question.
Madison blinked. “Knew what?”
“The allergy,” he continued, his voice even. “You knew.”
Her lips parted, then curved into a faint, incredulous smile. “That’s a ridiculous accusation.”
“You were the only one apart from Ara with access,” he said calmly. “The labels. The missing EpiPen.”
Her expression flickered. Just for a second.
But I saw it. And so did he.
“You think I’d hurt a child?” Madison scoffed, standing to her feet. “That’s disgusting.”
Thayne stepped closer.
“I think,” he said quietly, “that you’re capable of more than you let on.”
“I appreciate your confidence in what I’m capable of,” she said smoothly, “but have you considered, even for a second, that Ara might be orchestrating all of this? Desperation makes people reckless. And she’s been craving your attention from the start.”
Her lips twitched, amusement glinting in her eyes as she spoke, every word delivered with polished restraint.
It wasn’t loud or emotional, just precise, measured, each syllable sharpened to slip under the skin and stay there.
I couldn’t hold my anger any longer. It burst through me, hot and uncontrollable. The sheer audacity of her, standing there, wearing concern like a costume, when she’d almost killed my sister, it made my vision blur.
And then there was the way she said it. Like I was the desperate one. Like I was capable of something so vile just to earn a glance from Thayne.
“You think I’m like you?” I snapped, my voice shaking with fury. “Desperate enough to kill my own sister?”
Her lips curved, as if she was amused.
She let out a soft chuckle, the sound light and almost playful, as if we were discussing something trivial.
“It wouldn’t be so hard,” she said. “You don’t even share the same father. They must feel like a burden sometimes.”
The words sliced deep into my skin.
“Shut your mouth, Madison, before I shut it for you!” Thayne roared.
The room froze.
Madison gasped, her hand flying to her chest, eyes widening in theatrical shock. For a heartbeat, she looked genuinely stunned, then the hurt melted into outrage.
“You’re talking to me like this because of her?” she cried, her voice pitching higher, cracking just enough to sound wounded. She pointed at me, accusation blazing in her eyes. “She’s not even supposed to be here anymore!”
“And you are?” Thayne said, his voice deceptively calm as he advanced, each step deliberate, eating up the distance between them and backing her up with sheer force of presence, until escape was no longer an option.
“Let me warn you, Madison,” Thayne said coldly. “I will not hesitate to have you locked up myself if you so much as threaten a single hair on her head, or anyone, or anything, connected to her.”
Madison's eyes went wide.
The color drained from her face so fast I thought I'd imagined it.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out. The confidence she wore like armor cracked, just slightly, and fear slipped through. Real fear.
Her eyes flicked to me, not with the usual air of superiority this time, but calculation. Reassessment.
As if she were seeing the board shift beneath her feet and realizing she was no longer the one controlling the game.
Then the mask snapped back into place.
She lifted her chin, forcing a brittle smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re overreacting,” she said lightly, but her voice betrayed her, thinning at the edges. “I would never—”
She stopped. Because Thayne hadn’t moved. Hadn’t blinked or softened.
This wasn’t a threat meant to scare. It was a promise.
My chest felt too tight, like I'd forgotten how to breathe.
Part of me wanted to shrink back, to disappear from the weight of Thayne's words. Another part, a traitorous, aching side of me felt something warm unfurl deep in her chest.
It felt like relief and safety. Something I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in a long time.
He’d defended me.
The realization sat heavy in my chest, confusing and dangerous, because I still didn’t understand why.
Then the scream shattered everything.
“Ara!”
The sound cut through the tension like a blade, and my head snapped toward it just in time to see Millie sprinting toward us, her face twisted in panic.
She wasn’t alone. A tall man in black overalls was right behind her.
Too close. Too fast.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I saw the glint of metal in his hand.
It was black, steady, raised. A gun pointed straight at my sister.
“No—!” The scream tore out of me before my body even caught up.
I ran. I lunged forward, grabbing Millie and yanking her behind me, shoving her back with every ounce of strength I had.
My body moved on instinct, fear roaring in my ears as I spread my arms, placing myself squarely between her and the barrel of the gun.
It was only then, only in that split second, that reality crashed into me.
I was in the line of fire.
The thought barely had time to register before a powerful grip wrapped around my arm and hauled me backward.
I stumbled, breath ripping from my lungs as I was dragged behind a solid wall of muscle.
Thayne. He shoved me behind him, his body turning instinctively, one arm stretched out to shield me and Millie completely.
Then I saw Madison. Her fingers were wrapped around Thayne’s other arm, tugging at him, no, pulling him away.
“What are you doing?” I screamed, panic flooding me as she clung to him. “Let go of him!”
She didn’t. She wouldn’t.
Confusion turned into horror as realization slammed into me with brutal clarity.
She wasn’t trying to protect herself.
She was trying to stop him from shielding us.
The gunshot rang out. It was loud and deafening.
Thayne wrenched his arm free, shoving Madison hard out of the way and—
Too late. She stumbled. Right into the path of the bullet.
The impact hit her square in the chest. The sound of it, dull, sickening, it echoed in my bones as Madison screamed and crumpled backward, clutching her chest as blood bloomed beneath her fingers.
The man in black froze. He took a step back, shock written all over his face.
Madison stared at him, disbelief and fury twisting her features.
“You shot me, Ethan!” she screamed, her voice breaking. “You shot me!”
My blood ran cold. Ethan was the hitman?