Chapter 137
As their eyes met, her composure finally shattered.
The dam broke, and tears cascaded down her cheeks like a broken waterfall.
Ethan saw her lips part, saw the silent cry tearing through her. He took a sharp step forward, but froze mid-stride. His eyes suddenly widened in horror, darting past her to the threat lurking behind her chair.
Instinctively, Lane twisted her neck, gasping as she realized what he saw. Lucas had raised the weapon, pressing the cold barrel directly against the back of her skull.
"Don’t you dare take another step, Ethan!" Lucas roared, pressing the gun harder into her hair.
Lane sobbed harder, the terror suffocating her. Ethan’s face drained of all color, the panic in his eyes deepening into sheer agony.
"D-drop the gun, Lucas," Ethan pleaded, his voice cracking violently.
"Not until I have what I came for."
Ethan raised his trembling hand, clutching a thick folder.
"I have the legal documents right here. I’m signing over every asset I own. Just put the weapon down and let her go."
"I need to verify it first, Ethan. I’m not a fool," Lucas snapped back, his eyes darting suspiciously around the room.
"Step closer and hand the folder to me. And keep your hands where I can see them, or I swear to God I’ll pull the trigger right now."
Ethan’s knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the papers. "I promise," he whispered, taking a slow, agonizing step forward.
Before he could take another, a familiar voice rang out from the doorway, freezing everyone in place.
"Lucas."
In all his twenty-eight years, Ethan had never known a terror this consuming.
This wasn’t the kind of fear that faded when you closed your eyes. It burned in his chest, hot and paralyzing, as he stared down the barrel of the gun pressed against Lane’s head. One stray twitch, one sudden noise, and he knew he would lose everything.
His heart thundered against his ribs. He would have gladly traded places with her, trading his life to sit tied in that chair if it meant she was safe.
He could see the absolute terror radiating from Lane’s tear-streaked face.
Every fiber of his being screamed at him to close the distance, to yank her away from the barrel and hold her until the world stopped spinning. But he forced his feet to stay planted, terrified of provoking the madman holding her hostage.
He met her gaze, pouring every ounce of reassurance he possessed into the silent message: Trust me. I’m going to get you out of here.
To his immense relief, Lane read the unspoken promise and gave a microscopic nod, swallowing her panic.
Just as Lucas ordered him to step closer, the sharp interruption echoed through the room.
"Lucas."
Ethan whipped his head around, his eyes widening as he saw Olivia and her mother stepping cautiously into the derelict room.
Lucas’s grip on the firearm tightened instinctively, the barrel pressing deeper into Lane’s scalp as a snarl tore from his throat.
"What in God’s name are you two doing here?!" Lucas bellowed, his eyes flashing with betrayal as he glared at his daughter and wife.
"Did you lead the cops straight to me?"
"Dad, please. Stop this insanity," Olivia pleaded, holding her hands out in a placating gesture.
"Shut your ungrateful mouth!" Lucas shrieked, his face twisting into an ugly mask of rage.
"You ruined everything! You let what should have been our family’s fortune slip right through your fingers!"
Ethan clenched his fists so hard his nails bit into his palms, watching the gun tremble against Lane’s temple.
"D-Dad, you can’t force someone to love you," Olivia cried, her voice cracking as fresh tears spilled over her lashes.
"We can’t control the heart. Ethan never loved me; he loves Lane. Please, let’s just accept it and move on. Enough of the lies, enough of the greed!" She broke down, sobbing openly. "It’s not too late. We can walk away from this. We can fix our family."
Lucas hesitated, his chest heaving as he stared at his daughter.
"Lucas, please listen to her," Aunt Rebecca begged, taking a slow step forward.
"I know you’ve lost so much, but you can earn it back honestly. I believe in you. Just lower the weapon. We can start over. You, me, Olivia, and our grandson Tyler."
...
Ethan breathed a silent, desperate prayer. He had bargained with God every minute since Lane vanished, and now, he poured every ounce of his soul into praying that this fractured family could reach the monster Lucas had become.
"P-please, Dad. Put it down," Olivia wept.
"Put the gun down, Lucas," his wife whispered, stepping closer still, her hand outstretched.
"Come home with us. We’ll go far away and live a quiet life. Just like we used to."
Ethan watched with bated breath as the ferocious, murderous glare in Lucas’s eyes slowly began to fracture.
The rigid tension in his shoulders seemed to bleed out, replaced by a profound, exhausted defeat. The barrel of the gun dipped an inch. Two inches.
Ethan held his breath, praying the movement wasn’t a trick.
Aunt Rebecca reached her husband, wrapping her arms around his rigid frame and burying her face in his chest as she wept.
Lucas let out a ragged breath, his fingers finally loosening around the grip until the weapon clattered uselessly against the concrete floor.
The moment the threat cleared, Ethan didn’t waste a second. He dropped the New York folder and lunged forward, falling to his knees beside Lane.
"Ethan..."
She collapsed into his arms, burying her face against his chest in a shattered, broken sob that matched the weeping of the women across the room. The sound of her crying carved a fresh wound in his heart, making it agonizingly difficult to draw breath.
"You’re safe. I’ve got you, baby. I’m right here," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion as he crushed her against him.
For a few precious seconds, he just held her, letting her cry out the nightmare before his training kicked back in. He needed to get her free.
Reaching down, he worked frantically at the thick ropes binding her wrists. Once her hands fell free, he dropped to his knees to tackle the knots around her ankles.
His jaw tightened into a hard line when the coarse hemp finally fell away, revealing ugly, angry red friction burns ringing her delicate skin.
Off to the side, Aunt Rebecca was murmuring softly to a broken Lucas, guiding him slowly toward the exit.
Ethan cupped Lane’s tear-stained face in his hands the moment she was completely unbound.
"Are you hurt? Did he touch you anywhere else?" he asked frantically, his hands flying over her shoulders and arms to inspect her for hidden injuries.
"I’m okay. Just scared," she whispered.
Relief washed over him in a blinding wave, hot tears finally spilling over his own lashes. He blinked them away, pulling her gently to her feet.
Lane’s legs buckled instantly from the hours of restricted circulation, but Ethan caught her effortlessly against his chest, sweeping one arm under her knees to carry her out.
He had barely taken two steps toward the exit when a sudden, furious roar shattered the quiet.
"What the hell is this?!"
Ethan whipped his head around. Several armed police officers burst through the dilapidated doorway, weapons raised and training squarely on the room.
Lucas’s face morphed from defeat into pure, feral rage the moment he spotted the uniforms. The delusion took hold again.
With a bloodcurdling scream, Lucas lunged back toward the abandoned gun on the floor, his fingers clawing desperately for the steel.
"You ratted me out, Ethan!" Lucas shrieked, his eyes blazing with murderous intent as he grabbed the weapon and whipped his arm up, aiming directly at Ethan’s chest.
In a blind panic, Ethan threw his body over Lane, curling protectively around her pregnant belly to shield her from the incoming fire. He felt her frantic hands clawing at his back, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
"Lucas, no!" Aunt Rebecca screamed, throwing herself forward.
Before Lucas could pull the trigger, a deafening explosion ripped through the small room.
Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact of a bullet, whispering frantic words of love against her hair, swearing that even in death, she would be the only woman he ever loved.
"Olivia!"
A piercing, agonizing shriek cut through the smoke and ringing in his ears.
Ethan slowly opened his eyes, trembling as he checked himself over. There was no pain. No blood.
He turned his head cautiously, still keeping Lane shielded beneath his broad shoulders as the police swarmed the room, wrestling Lucas to the ground and kicking the weapon away.
Ethan’s breath hitched in his throat.
Just a few feet away, Olivia lay crumpled on the concrete floor, her wedding-adjacent dress blooming with a terrifying, rapidly spreading stain of crimson. Her eyes were unfocused, her chest barely moving.
His jaw went slack as the grim reality slammed into him.
Olivia had thrown herself into the line of fire, taking the bullet meant for them.
.....
"How’s the result, doctor?"
Lane was roused from sleep when she heard that familiar voice of Ethan.
"Is she okay? What about our baby?" he added, his voice filled with concern, as if he couldn’t calm down until he knew she was alright.
"There’s no need to worry, Sir. Your wife and your baby are safe," she heard a woman reply, likely the doctor he was speaking with.
"Aside from the bruises on her hands and legs from being tightly bound, she hasn’t sustained any other injuries."
She heard a sigh. She knew it was from Ethan, who seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing the doctor’s reassurance, each breath suggesting he could finally relax.
Slowly, Lane opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the black ceiling.
From what she could see, she knew she was in a hospital.
Her mind quickly recalled what had happened. She remembered being kidnapped by Uncle Lucas on the day of her wedding to Ethan.
She recalled Ethan arriving to give Uncle Lucas what he demanded for her freedom, and Aunt Rebecca and Olivia arriving to persuade Uncle Lucas.
Uncle Lucas’s anger had flared up again when he saw the police pointing a gun, and Ethan had embraced her to shield her from the bullet. But instead of them getting hit by the shot fired by Uncle Lucas, it was Olivia who had shielded them.
Then she saw Olivia lying on the cold floor, unmoving, with blood pooling beneath her. Seeing that made her head spin. It seemed she couldn’t handle what she felt because she suddenly lost consciousness.
The last thing she remembered was Ethan calling her name as he caught her in his arms.
When she recalled all of that, her eyes welled up with tears, and she felt a slight pain in her heart.
Olivia.
What happened to Olivia?
She felt overwhelming concern for her cousin at that moment.
She knew Olivia had done many wrongs and hadn’t been good to her. But still, she never wished anything bad to happen to her.
Olivia had awakened to the truth, and the important thing was she wanted to change, she wanted to fix herself, not just for herself, but also for her child.
Lane looked around to find Ethan. She saw him talking to the doctor. It seemed he hadn’t left her side, still wearing his white long-sleeved shirt. In her condition, she knew he wouldn’t leave her side.
"E-ethan..." she called his name in a weak voice, unable to stop the tremor in her voice.
He quickly turned in her direction.
She noticed his eyes widen when he saw her awake. When he saw the tears falling from her eyes, he quickly turned away from the person he was talking to and approached her. Panic was clear in his eyes as he approached.
"Are you okay, Lane? Does anything hurt?" he asked almost consecutively as he held her hand, his concern evident in both his voice and facial expression. He shifted his gaze from her to the doctor.
"Doc, could you check on her again to make sure she’s okay?" Ethan said.
Before the doctor could approach her, she spoke. "I’m... okay," she replied to somewhat reassure him. But Ethan still didn’t believe her because the concern was still there as he looked at the tears falling from her eyes.
She wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes. "I-I’m okay, Ethan," she told him to assure him that she was really okay.
"Are... you sure?" he asked her. "Nothing hurts?"
She shook her head in response. It was only then that Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.
"What... happened, Ethan?" she asked him after a while. "What happened to Olivia?"
Ethan didn’t answer, he just kept looking at her. But after a while, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Olivia took the bullet meant for us, Lane," Ethan told her.
So, she was right. Olivia did shield them both from Ethan’s uncle’s attack. A tear escaped her eyes again. She didn’t know what went through Olivia’s mind to make her do that, to shield them from her father.
Was she trying to earn their forgiveness by saving them? But even if she hadn’t done that, she had already forgiven her. She didn’t hold grudges.
Yes, she was angry about what Olivia had done to them, but as time passed, she forgave her. Her heart was filled with so much happiness, leaving no room for anger.