The moment I tried to walk away, Gavin grabbed my wrist. His grip was weak from the fever, but his desperation felt heavier than chains. He whispered, “I’ll stay with you. No.
While the people I loved killed me. If I could do it all over again, I would. ” And I knew he meant every word, even as I pulled free. That night, he found the documents missing and collapsed against the wall.
I told him I’d preserve his body in a display case and break my own legs to keep him trapped with me forever. He just laughed, bitter and broken. “I don’t believe a single word you say,” he rasped. “Then you’ll never see him again,” I shot back, but my voice cracked.
He didn’t seem to notice. He was already sliding to the floor, whisper-thin and pale, asking if this was my first time taking care of someone like this. I should have told him the truth then. That I knew exactly who Arya was.
That I had always known. But the words stuck in my throat, and all I could manage was, “This time, let’s rewrite our ending together. ” He looked at me like I’d struck him. “We can’t get any intel,” he said, redirecting everything.
“Warren, should we upgrade the computer security system? ” He was already pulling away, retreating into his old habits. Around everyone else, Gavin acted tough and domineering, but with me, he turned into an insecure puppy who needed constant reassurance. I told him to go get a loan to secure the project, to make the other side come begging instead.
His company was bleeding out—Harding Group stock had plummeted ninety percent, and its head had fled the country. Gavin just smiled weakly. “Then we’ll play along. Then I might consider letting her go.
” I wanted to scream. “If you die here, I’ll marry someone else right away,” I said instead. He laughed, then winced at the wound in his side. “I should have just left you in that warehouse.
”
The doctor said he needed rest, but Gavin refused to sleep unless I stayed. So I stayed. He made me promise not to leave him. He made me promise to only care about him from now on.
Then he brought up our engagement, the one I’d broken years ago. “You promised to marry me after graduation. I know you still love me, right? ” His voice was fragile, barely a whisper.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked him how he expected me to trust him when he kept secrets like weapons. He didn’t respond. He just closed his eyes, still gripping my hand.
The next morning, Warren pulled me aside. “Should we assign more guards to watch Landon or transfer him? ” I shook my head. “Pull two guards from the basement.
” I had my own secrets to protect. When Gavin woke, I was gone. He found me in the hallway, watching the closed door of the interrogation room. “What makes you think I’d go anywhere with you?
” he asked, but his hand was already reaching for mine. I pulled back. “Because you won’t be around to see it. You left me no choice.
” He froze. “Chloe, you—” I cut him off, pulling out my gun. “These aren’t tranquilizer rounds in my gun. If it goes off, you’ll never know where your mother’s ashes are.
The urn was switched long ago. ” That shut him down completely. I watched him process it, watched the trust in his eyes flicker and die. And then I reminded him of every betrayal.
“You got all dressed up to watch the meteor shower with him right after we got engaged. And you still tried to save him? ” He was shaking now. “I should have known you never got over him.
” He asked me if I’d be sad if he died. “Enough to die with him? Enough to never want to see me again? ” I didn’t answer.
I just watched the hope drain out of his face. But then I told him the truth. About the shell companies, the twenty percent shares in all of them. “And I’m giving them all to you.
I will never come back. Since you don’t trust me, we don’t need to see each other anymore. ” He grabbed me, tried to pull me back. “Gavin, do you think that no matter what happens, if you get hurt and play the victim, I’ll just come back to you?
” His grip loosened. “I’ll stay. But only if you follow three rules. If you can’t, I’ll leave immediately.
” He nodded, desperate. “First rule, don’t use your own well-being as a bargaining chip. If you ever try to harm yourself again, I’ll walk away and never come back. ” He promised.
“Second rule, stop being so damn suspicious. If I say I’m not lying, I’m not lying. ” He promised again, though I saw the doubt in his eyes. “Third rule, you need to listen to me.
When I tell you to take your medicine, you take it. When I say stay in bed, you stay. And when I tell you to stay away from danger, you don’t take a single step closer. ” He smiled then, weak but genuine.
“You’ve never trusted me. Never. But you’re the only one I love. I believe whatever you tell me.
” And for a moment, I almost believed him too. The days that followed were a fragile truce. I made sure he took his medicine. He made sure I didn’t leave his sight.
But the cracks were still there. He still flinched when I mentioned the past. He still asked Warren about Landon, though he tried to hide it. And then, the news broke.
Landon Harding was found dead. Gavin didn’t say anything. He just stared at the wall for hours. That night, he told me about the orphanage.
About being the kid everyone pitied. And then he told me the rest. “I killed your mother, Chloe. I killed her.
She waited her whole life for him, and he never showed up before she died. And then I moved into your house as the orphan you all pitied. And then I killed her. ” I tried to tell him he was wrong, that he wasn’t that monster.
But he just shook his head, crying. “Chloe, I would have died back then if it weren’t for you. It’s all right. You don’t have to forgive me.
”
Later, Warren found me in the hallway. “Should we just kill him? If he loves that woman so much, then he can go to hell with her. ” I didn’t answer.
I just watched the rain slide down the window glass. “Warren, stay close to your wife,” I said finally. “Long time no see. ” He didn’t understand, but he didn’t push.
He told me he’d noticed Gavin had been quietly shutting down all those shady deals for years, publicly opposing him while secretly pushing out every one of those old-timers. “And like a fool, I kept fighting him for so long,” Warren said. “But all these years, he’s been clearing obstacles for Warren Group. He had to use the most extreme way to hand you a clean company.
” I stared at him. “Chloe, I never even got to ask him if he was in pain. ”
That’s when I knew. I ran.
I ran through the rain, through the empty streets, all the way back to the penthouse. But I was too late. Gavin was on the floor, blood pooling under him, the gun still in his hand. He looked up at me, smiled, and whispered, “You got all dressed up to watch the meteor shower with him right after we got engaged.
And you still tried to save him? ” And then he was gone. I fell to my knees, holding his body, screaming until my voice gave out. Warren found me there hours later, still clutching Gavin’s hand.
He didn’t say anything. He just knelt down beside me, put his hand on my shoulder, and watched the sky turn gray. And somewhere above us, the meteor shower passed unnoticed.
