For a heartbeat, I thought I was dreaming again.
That voice didn't belong here. It belonged to a different life, one I wanted to forget.
But when I turned toward the door, I saw her. Lydia.
She stood there under the faint light from the porch, her hair damp from the rain, her lips curved in that cruel half-smile that could slice through glass. She looked beautiful, like she always did — and dangerous, like she always was.
My chest tightened. Ethan didn't move. His gun was still raised, his eyes fixed on her.
"Put that down," Lydia said softly, tilting her head. "You won't shoot me, Ethan. You never could."
The way she said his name made something twist in me.
So easy. So familiar.
Ethan didn't answer. He stepped slightly in front of me, his body blocking mine.
"What do you want, Lydia?" His voice was calm, but his hand was trembling just enough for me to see it.
She laughed, low and bitter. "What do you think? I want what's mine."
Her eyes moved from him to me, slowly, almost lazily, until they stopped right on my face. The look she gave me could have frozen fire.
"So this is her," she said. "The reason you disappeared. The reason you stopped taking my calls. The reason you turned everything upside down."
I couldn't speak. My mouth went dry as
Ethan's jaw clenched. "You need to leave."
"Or what?" Lydia stepped inside, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. "You'll shoot me?"
"Don't test me."
She smiled wider. "Oh, I'm not testing you, darling. I'm just watching you fall apart."
Something in the way she said it made me shiver. She wasn't here for a fight. She was here to destroy.
Ethan lowered the gun slightly but didn't let go. "How did you find us?"
Lydia brushed a drop of rain from her cheek. "You should know by now, Ethan, there's nowhere you can hide from me. You forget — I know your patterns. I know what you think."
Then she turned to me, her eyes glinting. "And I know exactly how to hurt you."
My breath caught.
"Stop," Ethan said, stepping closer to her. "You don't touch her."
"Oh, I won't have to." Lydia's smile faded. "You've already done the damage for me."
Silence. Just the crackle of the fire and the sound of rain starting again outside.
I didn't understand what she meant. Not until she reached into her coat and pulled out a small envelope.
She tossed it onto the floor. It slid across the wood until it stopped at Ethan's feet.
"Go on," she said softly. "Tell her what's inside, if you're so honest now."
Ethan didn't move.
I looked at the envelope, my heart pounding. "What is it?"
No one answered.
So I stood up and reached for it myself. My fingers shook as I opened it. Inside was a single photograph — another one. This time, not Lydia and Ethan. It was me.
I stared, not breathing. The picture showed me leaving Ethan's office weeks ago, the night he'd first kissed me. And behind me, half-hidden in the hallway, was a man I didn't recognize.
"What is this?" I whispered.
Ethan's face went pale. Lydia folded her arms. "That man," she said, "works for the people Ethan owes. The ones he never told you about."
I turned to him. "Ethan?"
He didn't meet my eyes.
"You said this was about Lydia," I said. "You said she was working with them. You never said they were after you."
He swallowed hard. "I didn't want you to know."
Lydia's voice cut through him. "He's the reason you're in danger, Emily. Not me. Not anyone else. Him."
Something broke inside me.
I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. The fire popped again, the noise too loud in the small room.
Ethan reached out for me. "Emily, listen to me—"
"No." I stepped back. "You promised me, Ethan. You promised there were no more lies."
His hand dropped. The look on his face — pain, guilt, something deeper — almost undid me.
"I was trying to fix it before it reached you," he said. "Before it touched your life."
"You already did," I said quietly. "You already let it touch me."
For a second, no one spoke.
Then Lydia's phone buzzed. She glanced at it, and her smile changed — sharper now. "They're close," she murmured.
Ethan's eyes snapped to her. "What did you do?"
She slipped the phone back into her coat. "I told them where to find you. You didn't really think I'd come alone, did you?"
He moved toward her, but she pulled something from her pocket — a small gun. Not pointed at him. At me.
"Don't," she said calmly. "You take another step, and I'll end her before they even get here."
I froze.
Her finger rested lightly on the trigger. She wasn't shaking. She wasn't bluffing.
Ethan stopped moving. His eyes went wild — desperate, the way I'd never seen before.
"Lydia," he said, voice low. "You don't want to do this."
"Don't I?" She smiled faintly. "You took everything from me. Now you can watch what that feels like."
I could barely breathe. My back hit the wall. The firelight flickered across her face, making her eyes glow strange and hollow.
"Please," I said softly. "You don't have to do this."
"Don't talk to her," Ethan hissed.
But Lydia laughed again. "Oh, I like hearing her beg. She's so sweet, so fragile. It's pathetic, really."
Something in me snapped then — quiet, almost invisible, but real.
I took a slow step forward. "If you hate me that much," I said, voice shaking, "then just say it. But don't act like you're the only one who's ever been hurt."
Her smile faltered. For a moment, she looked almost surprised.
Ethan's eyes flicked between us. I could feel his fear, thick in the air.
Then — a sound outside. Engines. Doors slamming. Voices shouting.
Lydia's gaze darted toward the window. That split second was enough.
Ethan lunged forward. The gun went off.
The sound was deafening. Smoke filled the air. My ears rang.
I didn't know who had been hit until I saw the blood.
Not much. Just a line, red against Ethan's arm. But Lydia stumbled back, her own hand bleeding, the gun clattering to the floor.
"Run," Ethan said, grabbing my hand.
I hesitated, frozen by fear. "What about her?"
"She made her choice," he said, his tone cold.
He pulled me toward the back door. I barely had time to grab my coat. The shouts outside grew louder — closer. Whoever Lydia had called, they were already here.
We slipped out into the night, the rain washing over us. The ground was slick, the air thick with smoke and thunder. Ethan's blood smeared across my fingers as I held onto him.
Behind us, I heard Lydia scream — a sound that didn't sound human anymore.
"Ethan!" I gasped. "You're bleeding!"
He didn't answer. He just kept running. Through the trees, through the dark, until we reached the edge of a clearing.
I turned back once and saw headlights cutting through the woods. Men with flashlights. Guns.
Ethan turned to me, his face pale, eyes fierce. "We can't stop."
"Who are they?" I whispered.
He didn't answer.
The ground sloped ahead, leading down to what looked like an old road. We were about to move when something sharp hit the air — a gunshot, clean and close.
Ethan's hand tightened on mine, then slipped.
He fell forward, hitting the ground hard.
"Ethan!" I dropped beside him. Blood. More this time. So much more.
His eyes flicked open, barely focused. "Emily… go."
"No!" I pressed my hand against his wound. "You're not leaving me again. Do you hear me?"
He tried to speak, but his voice broke.
Another shot echoed through the trees. Then another.
I looked up — shadows moving toward us, flashlights flashing through the rain.
I grabbed his hand, my heart breaking. "Ethan, please!"
He squeezed weakly. "Run."
I shook my head, tears mixing with rain. "I won't."
He opened his mouth again, like he was going to say something — maybe the words he'd never said out loud — but before he could, a voice shouted through the darkness.
"Don't move!"
I froze.
The beam of a flashlight hit my face, blinding me. Footsteps thundered closer. I couldn't tell how many.
Ethan's hand went limp in mine.
"Ethan?" I whispered. "Ethan, please stay with me."
The light moved lower, revealing the blood on his shirt — the stillness in his chest.
Someone grabbed me from behind, yanking me to my feet. I screamed his name, but my voice was swallowed by the storm.
And then I heard it — faint, but clear — his last whisper against the rain.
"Don't let them find it."