Chapter 110 Chapter 110

Chapter 110 Chapter 110
Natasha's POV

The Morrison building felt wrong walking back into it after being suspended. Security waved me through at the front desk, recognizing me despite everything that had happened. The guard named Marcus even smiled, acting like nothing had changed when everything had.

Adnar had insisted on coming but agreed to wait in the car with Eli after I'd threatened to go alone otherwise. His last words before I got out echoed in my head.

"If I feel danger through the bond I'm coming up," he'd said.

"Deal," I'd agreed.

The elevator ride to the penthouse took forever, each floor ticking by while my heart hammered against my ribs. I checked my reflection in the polished doors, making sure the camera Sarah had hidden in my necklace wasn't visible. Everything looked normal. Professional. Like I was just heading to another business meeting instead of confronting the woman trying to destroy my life.

The elevator dinged, doors sliding open to reveal the penthouse floor. My former territory, the executive level I'd commanded for years before the board stripped it away. Ava stood by the floor to ceiling windows, her back to me while she looked out at the city below.

"You came," she said without turning around.

"You asked," I replied, stepping out of the elevator.

She turned then, her expression making me stop. She looked fragile, broken in a way that seemed genuine. Dark circles under her eyes, her clothes hanging looser than they should, everything about her screaming victim.

"Do you love him?" she asked without preamble.

The question caught me off guard. "Yes," I said honestly.

"Did you love him when you married him?" she pressed.

"No," I admitted. "It grew over time."

"I loved him first," Ava said, her voice taking on an edge. "For years. Before you even knew he existed I was already in love with him."

"Love isn't a competition with rankings," I pointed out.

Ava laughed, the sound bitter. "Isn't it though? I loved him. He chose you."

"He chose himself," I corrected. "I just happened to be there."

She started circling closer, moving away from the windows while keeping her eyes fixed on me. "You have everything," she said. "The company, the name, the money, the family legacy. Now you have him too. What does that leave for people like me?"

"You made your choices," I said. "Working with Kyle, helping him try to hurt us, lying to the media about what really happened."

"Kyle promised me Adnar," Ava interrupted. "Said if we destroyed you, if we took away everything you had, Adnar would come back to me."

"And you believed him?" I asked incredulously.

"I was desperate," she said, her voice rising. "You've never been desperate. You've never had to fight for anything because everything was just handed to you."

My anger rose at that, hot and sharp in my chest. "You think I haven't fought?" I demanded. "Kyle plus Daven spent years trying to destroy me, undermining every decision I made, challenging my authority at every turn. Liam used me as a business transaction, marrying me off like I was property to be traded. I've fought for everything I have."

"But you won," Ava said. "You always win. The company, the man, the respect, all of it. You take everything then act surprised when people get angry about it."

"So do you," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "Just stop. Walk away from this before it gets worse."

Her expression changed, something dark sliding behind her eyes. "I can't," she said simply. "Not until he's mine."

Then she pulled a gun from behind her back.

I froze, every muscle in my body locking up while my brain tried to process what I was seeing. A gun. Ava had a gun pointed directly at my chest.

"Ava," I started, my voice coming out strangled.

"If I can't have him," she said, her hand steady despite the tears streaming down her face. "Neither can you."

Terror crashed through me, primal fear that sent signals through the mate bond without me consciously choosing to. Adnar would feel it, would know something was wrong, would come running. But the elevator took time, security took time, getting up here took time I might not have.

"You don't want to do this," I said, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Don't I?" Ava challenged. "You're the only thing standing between me and Adnar. Remove you and he's free to choose me."

"He won't choose you," I said. "Killing me won't change that."

"Maybe not," she admitted. "But at least you won't have him either."

Her finger moved toward the trigger. I watched it happen, everything slowing down while I tried to figure out how to talk her down or run or do anything except stand here waiting to die.

Downstairs Adnar felt my terror through the bond, the sensation hitting him like a physical blow. He was out of the car before Eli could stop him, running toward the building entrance while shouting at security to open the elevators.

But up here time moved differently. Ava's finger kept moving, her expression shifting between determination and grief like she couldn't decide if she really wanted to do this.

"Think about what you're doing," I said desperately. "You shoot me and it's over. No Adnar, no happy ending, just prison for the rest of your life."

"Prison's better than watching you have everything I want," she said.

"Is it?" I challenged. "Because I don't think you've thought this through. You pull that trigger and Adnar will hunt you down. Not arrest you, not press charges, hunt you like the prey you'd become. Is that really what you want?"

She hesitated, the gun wavering slightly. "He wouldn't."

"He absolutely would," I said with certainty. "I'm carrying his child. You kill me and you kill his son. There's nowhere you could hide that he wouldn't find you."

"Then I'll kill him too," she said, her voice breaking. "If we can't be together then nobody gets him."

"You're not thinking clearly," I tried again. "Put the gun down, walk away, we can forget this happened."

"Liar," she spat. "You'll press charges the second I lower this weapon."

"Probably," I admitted. "But it's better than murder."

The elevator dinged behind me. Ava's eyes flicked toward the sound, her grip tightening on the gun. Adnar burst through the doors before they'd fully opened, taking in the scene in a fraction of a second.

"Ava," he said, his voice deadly calm. "Put the gun down."

"Stay back," she warned, swinging the weapon between us. "I'll shoot her."

"No you won't," Adnar said, taking a step closer.

"I will," Ava insisted but her voice shook with uncertainty.

"You won't," Adnar repeated. "Because the second you pull that trigger I'll kill you. Not arrest you, not turn you over to police, kill you with my bare hands right here in this room."

"You wouldn't," Ava said but she sounded less sure.

"I would," Adnar confirmed. "She's my mate. She's carrying my son. You threaten her and you threaten everything that matters to me. So put the gun down or find out exactly what I'm capable of when someone I love is in danger."

Ava's hand was shaking now, the gun wavering while tears streamed down her face. "I just wanted you to love me," she said, her voice breaking completely. "Was that so wrong?"

"Love doesn't come from threats," Adnar said, moving closer. "It doesn't come from destroying the person someone chose. It doesn't come from holding guns on pregnant women."

"I know," Ava sobbed. "I know but I don't know how to stop."

"You stop by putting the gun down," Adnar said gently. "You stop by walking away before this gets worse."

"It's already worse," Ava said. "I've already lost everything."

"Then don't lose your life too," Adnar said. "Put it down Ava."

More footsteps sounded from the elevator. Eli appeared, then Sarah, both of them armed while they assessed the situation. Ava saw them, her expression shifting to panic.

"I'm surrounded," she said, the gun swinging wildly. "You brought backup to kill me."

"Nobody's killing anyone," Adnar said firmly. "We're all going to calm down, you're going to put the gun down, then we're going to figure this out."

"There's nothing to figure out," Ava said. "I'm going to jail. My life is over."

"Only if you pull that trigger," I said, finding my voice again. "Put it down and maybe we can work something out."

"You're lying," Ava said but she lowered the gun slightly.

"I'm not," I insisted. "You need help Ava. Professional help for whatever's going on in your head that made you think this was a solution."

"I don't need help," she said. "I need him."

"You can't have him," I said as gently as I could. "But you can have your freedom if you stop this now."

Ava looked between all of us, the gun still in her hand but pointing at the floor now instead of at me. She looked lost, broken, like a child who'd gotten caught doing something terrible and didn't know how to fix it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered finally. "I'm so sorry."

Then she raised the gun, pointing it at her own head instead of at me.

"No!" Adnar shouted, lunging forward.

Everything happened at once. Adnar tackled Ava, the gun discharging as they fell. Sarah plus Eli rushed forward, securing the weapon while Adnar pinned Ava to the floor. I stood frozen, my hands shaking while trying to process what had almost happened.

"Is she hit?" Sarah asked, checking Ava for injuries.

"I don't think so," Eli said. "Bullet went into the ceiling."

Ava was sobbing, struggling weakly against Adnar's hold while he kept her pinned. "Let me go," she begged. "Just let me go."

"Not happening," Adnar said. "You're not dying today."

Security arrived moments later, called by someone who'd heard the gunshot. They took in the scene, weapons drawn until Sarah explained what had happened. Then police were called, paramedics requested, the whole machinery of emergency response kicking into gear.

I watched it all from where I stood, unable to move or speak or do anything except exist in the space where I'd almost died. Adnar looked back at me, his eyes finding mine across the room. Through our bond I felt his relief that I was safe mixed with rage at Ava for threatening me.

"You okay?" he mouthed.

I nodded, not trusting my voice. Okay was relative. I was alive, uninjured, still standing. That counted for something even if my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Paramedics arrived, checking Ava for injuries before sedating her when she became too agitated. Police took statements from everyone, confiscated the gun as evidence, arrested Ava on attempted murder charges once she was stable enough.

"We need your statement too," one of the officers said to me.

"Later," Adnar said before I could respond. "She needs a minute."

The officer looked like he wanted to argue but something in Adnar's expression made him back down. "Fine," he agreed. "But we'll need it soon."

They took Ava away in restraints, her sobs echoing through the building while they led her to the elevator. I watched her go, feeling nothing but exhaustion. This was supposed to end things. Instead it had just made everything worse.

"Let's go home," Adnar said, pulling me against him.

"Home," I agreed, my voice barely above a whisper.

We left the Morrison building behind, police tape going up around the penthouse while they processed it as a crime scene. My crime scene. The place where my former assistant had tried to kill me over a man who'd never wanted her.

The ride back to pack territory passed in silence, none of us knowing what to say. Ava was arrested, facing serious charges that would put her away for years. But she'd also painted herself as the victim so convincingly that public opinion might still side with her even after this.

"What happens now?" I asked once we were home.

"Now we let the legal system handle it," Adnar said. "She pulled a gun on you in front of witnesses. That's not something she can explain away."

"She'll try," I said. "She'll say she was scared, that I threatened her, that she was defending herself."

"With three witnesses saying otherwise?" Sarah pointed out. "Her story won't hold."

"Her other stories did," I reminded them.

We sat in the living room, all of us processing what had happened. Ava had tried to kill me. Would have killed me if Adnar hadn't arrived when he did. The reality of that kept hitting me in waves, making it hard to breathe.

"You're safe now," Adnar said, pulling me against his chest. "She can't hurt you anymore."

"Can't she?" I asked. "She's in jail but her lies are still out there. People still believe her version of events."

"That will change," he promised. "Once they hear what she did today, once they see the evidence, they'll understand who she really is."

I wanted to believe him. Wanted to think that truth would win out over Ava's manipulations. But I'd learned over the past weeks that truth didn't always matter as much as it should.

My phone started buzzing, messages flooding in as news of the incident spread. The board demanding explanations. My assistant asking if I was okay. Media requesting comments about what had happened at Morrison building.

"Turn it off," Adnar suggested. "Deal with it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," I agreed, silencing my phone.

We sat there together while the sun set outside, both of us alive and whole despite Ava's best efforts. Our son was still safe inside me, growing without knowing how close he'd come to losing his mother today. That thought made tears finally start falling, all the fear I'd been holding back breaking through.

"I almost died," I said, stating the obvious.

"But you didn't," Adnar said fiercely. "You're here, you're safe, she can't touch you."

"This time," I said. "What about next time? What about whoever else decides they want revenge?"

"Then we deal with it," he said simply. "Together. Like we always do."

I leaned into him, letting him hold me while I cried. For the fear, for the danger, for how close I'd come to losing everything. He held me through all of it, his presence solid while my world felt like it was crumbling.

Eventually the tears stopped, exhaustion taking over. Adnar carried me upstairs to our bedroom, helping me change then tucking me into bed like I was something precious. He climbed in beside me, pulling me against his chest while his hand rested protectively on my stomach.

"Sleep," he ordered gently. "I'll keep watch."

"You need sleep too," I protested.

"I'll sleep when I'm sure you're safe," he said.

Through our bond I felt his determination, his refusal to let his guard down after coming so close to losing me. So I stopped arguing, letting sleep pull me under while he stayed awake protecting us both.

Tomorrow would bring more challenges. More media, more legal battles, more public opinion to fight. But tonight I was alive, Adnar was beside me, our son was safe. That had to be enough.