Chapter 237 Grab her!

Chapter 237 Grab her!
♡Leila♡

Everything sounded muffled.

Like I was underwater.

Voices overlapped in my ears, distant and distorted, as the men rushed around Cain. Someone shouted instructions while others lifted him from the ground. I watched them carry him away in a panic, their movements frantic, desperate.

My hands hung uselessly at my sides, the gun already at the floor.

My mind refused to process what had just happened.

Then my eyes drifted across the room.

José.

He had already pulled his sister to her feet. Tracy clung to him while he dragged her toward the exit, using the chaos as cover.

They were getting away.

Before I could even react, a hand suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Come here.”

Xavi.

The firm grip snapped me out of the fog that had swallowed my head.

“Xavi—” My voice came out hoarse, my lips trembling as the words struggled to form. “What have I done?”

For a moment, the anger burning in his eyes softened into something else.

Confusion.

He looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say.

As if there were no words big enough for what had just happened.

“I’ll take her. Xavi. Go.”

Mia appeared suddenly beside us, as if she had been pulled straight out of the shadows. She yanked Xavi’s hand away from my arm and stepped between us.

Xavi hesitated.

Only for a second.

Then he looked at me one last time before turning to Mia.

“Take her home,” he said firmly. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Mia wrapped her arm around me and quickly guided me out of the restaurant.

The night air hit my face the moment we stepped outside.

Several cars were parked near the abandoned building, but the men were already using most of them to transport Cain away.

One car remained waiting.

Mia hurried me inside.

The door slammed shut behind us, and the driver immediately pulled away from the deserted gas station.

For several minutes, I couldn’t speak.

My mind replayed the same moment over and over again.

The gun.

The trigger.

Cain falling.

Finally, my voice returned.

“I shot him, Mia,” I whispered, staring blankly ahead. “I’ve killed him.”

My throat tightened as panic clawed its way up my chest.

“What will they do to me?” I continued, my voice shaking. “I didn’t want to shoot him. I wanted to shoot the girl—”

“Calm down, Madam. Calm down,” Mia said quickly.

But even as she spoke, her fingers tapped nervously against the leather seat.

“Hopefully he isn’t dead or else—”

“They’ll kill me?” I finished for her.

The thought hit me like cold water.

My head went blank again.

“Hopefully he isn’t dead…”

Those were the only words my mind clung to over and over again.

Hopefully he isn’t dead.

He shouldn’t be dead.

Cain can’t die.

Mia quickly reached for my hands, holding them tightly as if she was trying to keep me from falling apart.

“They might,” she said quietly. “If he died. But he won’t.” Her grip tightened slightly before she asked, “Where did you shoot him?”

I shook my head immediately, my hands trembling uncontrollably in hers.

“I—I don’t know,” I stammered. “My eyes were shut tight and I mistakenly pulled the trigger. Cain came in the way, I promise.”

The words sounded weak even to my own ears.

Before Mia could respond, the driver’s voice cut through the air.

“We’ve arrived.”

I lifted my head slowly and stared out of the window.

The penthouse stood in front of us, tall and silent under the night sky.

A chill ran through my body.

If Cain died… I died.

There was no running from that truth. Even if I tried to escape before the driver noticed, he would stop me. And even if he didn’t, there was nowhere in this city I could hide from Cain’s men.

But the truth was…

I didn’t want to run.

I wanted to know if he was okay.

I wanted to go to the hospital.

Why did he have to jump in?

Why did he have to stand there?

—

Inside the house, Mia placed a warm cup of tea into my hands.

The heat seeped into my fingers, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside my chest.

“I wish we didn’t go there,” Mia muttered under her breath. She looked visibly disturbed, her movements restless and anxious.

I didn’t answer.

Because she was right.

Every decision I made seemed to chase me down and punish me.

I never listened.

I acted on impulse.

And now someone might be dead because of it.

“I’m so sorry, Mia,” I murmured quietly. “I dragged you into it.”

“Madam… you don’t need to apologize.” Mia rushed forward and took my hand again. Her expression was filled with worry. “You’re in big trouble. We need to find a way to make you disappear—”

“He won’t die, Mia,” I whimpered, cutting her off. My voice trembled as the words spilled out. “Cain won’t die. He will explain to them—”

“You don’t even know where you shot him, damn it!”

Mia’s sudden outburst made me flinch.

My eyes widened.

I had never seen her this angry before.

“You don’t understand this world, Madam Leila,” she continued, frustration thick in her voice. “Those men are not your friends. Even Master Cain isn’t. He brought you here for fun.”

“No,” I argued immediately, shaking my head. “He brought me here to investigate Tobias’s death. His twin.”

“Well, he didn’t even know Tobias was killed in the first place,” Mia said sharply. “Xavi told me that.”

“What?” I blinked at her in confusion. “What do you mean—”

Before I could finish the sentence, the front door burst open violently.

The loud bang made both of us jump.

Three masked men stormed into the house.

Everything happened too fast.

They rushed straight toward me.

Hands grabbed my arms and pulled me from the chair.

“Leave her alone!” Mia screamed, throwing herself toward them.

She tried to fight them off, but one of the men shoved her away harshly.

She hit the floor with a thud.

“Mia!” I shouted, struggling as the men dragged me toward the door.

They carried me out of the house and toward a black van parked outside.

“Let me go!” I yelled, kicking and twisting against their grip.

But they were too strong.

A rough cloth was suddenly tied over my eyes.

Darkness swallowed everything.

Then a handkerchief pressed firmly over my mouth.

A strange smell filled my nose.

My body weakened almost instantly.

My limbs grew heavy.

The world began to spin.

Voices faded.

My strength disappeared.

And slowly…

Everything went blank.