Chapter 182 Catherine’s POV

Chapter 182 Catherine’s POV
My heart completely stopped as the quiet jazz music playing through the restaurant speakers, the clinking of the champagne flutes and the cheerful chatter of the nearby diners dissolved quietly. The world seemed to shrink down into a fatal beam of light.

Were they going to kill me? Right in front of my son?! "Mom?" Richard's voice was laced with a sudden alarm, he set his wine glass down with a sharp move, his eyes darting between my pale face and the trembling hands clutching my phone beneath the table. "Mom, what's wrong? You're white as a plain paper."

"Richard..." I choked out, but my voice failed me, letting nothing more than a dry panicked squeak sound. The terrifying threat in the text message echoed in my mind loudly, I could literally imagine the person standing in front of me with a nasty grin on his face.

The stalker wasn't watching from a distance anymore, it seemed like Tyler had noticed the red light on my chest, he didn't hesitate, with a second, his dark eyes locked onto my eyes. "Get down!" He said fiercely.

A loud gunshot shattered the night, the sound echoing like a bomb detonated inside the restaurant, the massive glass window beside our both shattered, spraying a violent shower of glittering shards over the white tablecloth.

Screams erupted across the dining room, the chairs were quickly overturned, glasses being smashed as chaotic panic seized the restaurant as people threw themselves onto the floor. Tyler launched his body across the small table shielding my body with his and directly into the line of fire.

A sharp gasp tore from Tyler's throat as the bullet struck him, the force of it driving him hard against me, we crashed backwards onto the plug leather booth, the breath knocked completely out of my lungs. "Tyler!" Summer shrieked, her voice high over the rising terror in the room.

"Holy shit! Tyler!" Richard yelled, scrambling across the floor over the shattered glass, his hands widely reaching out, "mom! Are you hit?! Mom?!"

I could no longer hear the sounds coming from the room, I could only feel the suffocating weight pressing down on me and the sudden intense warmth spreading across my chest. My eyes shook as I stared down, dark blood was pouring out a hole in the center of Tyler's chest soaking through his jacket staining the whiter sweater beneath and pooling directly onto my hands.

"No, no, no..." I sobbed, my voice breaking into a hysterical scream.as I cradles his head in my lap, "Tyler! Oh Go, Tyler, look at me!"

His face had drained of all color in seconds, his handsome features turning into a scary shade of gray color. His lips were parted, trembling as he fought for oxygen, dark blood bubbling softly at the corner of the corner of his mouth. His broad shoulders twitched, his fingers digging into the fabric of my coat, steadying himself to me as his blood dripped onto the floor.

"Tyler, stay with me!" I wept uncontrollably, pressing my bare hand desperately against his wound, trying in vain to stop the endless gushing of his blood, "can somebody call 911?"

The red stain spread aggressively coated my fingers, clothes and even my wrists, "please! Someone call an ambulance! Help him!" My voice shrank into a desperate plea.

"I'm calling! I'm calling right now!" Summer sobbed from the floor, her hands shaking so violently she could barely punch the number into her phone. Richard dropped to his knees right beside us, his face dropped into a mask of horror and utter disbelief, he grabbed Tyler's shoulder, his fingers slipping on the blood.

"Hold on, man! Tyler, look at me! Keep those eyes open! The paramedics are coming!" Tyler didn't look at Richard, his dark unfocused eyes slowly lifted to find mine. A raspy, shallow breath left his lips as it rattled in his chest.

With an agonizing amount of effort, his trembling blood stained hand rose from my waist, his fingers weakly brushing against my jawline leaving a line of red across my pale skin. "Catherine..." he choked out, his voice barely above a broken whisper, thick with raw devotion."

"Don't speak, please, save your strength!" I begged, pressing my forehead against, my teats falling continuously onto his pale cheeks, mixing with his blood, "you're going to be okay, please, Tyler, you... you can't leave me..."

"Listen to me..." Tyler rasped, his grip on my jaw tightened with a sudden strength, he literally didn't care that Richard was kneeling right beside him. "Tyler, stop talking—" Richard pleaded, his voice cracking with confusion and panic, "save your breath, bro—"

"I love you," Tyler breathed out, his dark eyes locking onto mine with the undeniable truth that shattered the air in the room. The words hung in the harsh quiet between us, Richard froze, his hands still clutching Tyler's shoulder had completely gone still.

He stared at his best friend, his brow furrowing as the horrifying, impossible words that just left his lips, "what... what did you just say?" Tyler didn't turn his head, still locking his eyes with mine, "I love you, Catherine..." Tyler repeated, a bloody smile touched his trembling lips as a heavy tear skipped from the corner of his eye.

"I know, I know!" I sobbed hysterically, leaning down to press my lips widely against his temple, his forehead, his cold cheeks, completely uncaring of who saw, "I love you too, Tyler! Please, just stay with me! Don't you dare close your eyes!"

Besides us, Richard slowly backed away, his face turning deathly pale as he looked from Tyler's dying body to my bloody hands holding his best friend, "mom... what is this? What is he talking about?! What the hell is going on?"

Tyler's hand weakly slipped from my jaw dropping heavily onto the blood soaked floor, his eyes fluttered fading into a dull haze as his head fell back against my arm, his chest gave one final heave and then...

"TYLER!!!"