AVA'S POV
The chloroform smell made my stomach turn.
I kept my eyes closed, body limp, breathing shallow. Celeste thought I was unconscious. Good. Let her think that.
The car hit a pothole and my head bounced against the window. I wanted to scream but stayed silent. Stayed still. Waited.
"Stupid girl," Celeste muttered to herself. "Should have just left town when I told you to."
When she told me? My mind raced through the past few hours.
After leaving the police station, I'd gone to Grace's apartment instead of mine. Smart move—Celeste was probably watching my place. Grace had ordered pizza, made tea, and we'd talked about what to do next.
"You need to leave the city," Grace had said. "Start over somewhere safe."
"I know. I just—I need one night to think."
Grace had gone to bed around eleven. I stayed up, researching apartments in California, jobs I could do remotely, anything to plan my escape.
Then the knock came at 1 AM.
I'd opened the door thinking it was a late pizza delivery Grace ordered as a surprise.
Instead, Celeste shoved a cloth over my face.
But I'd held my breath. Pretended to pass out. Let her drag me to the car while I stayed aware of everything—the route, the turns, the time.
Now we'd been driving for twenty minutes. Heading toward the industrial district near the waterfront.
Isolated. No witnesses.
Bad place to be.
Celeste's phone rang. She answered on speaker. "It's done. I have her."
"Good." A man's voice. Not one I recognized. "Bring her to the warehouse. Same one as before. We'll finish this properly."
"What about Kane?"
"I sent him the photo. He'll come running. Then we take care of both of them."
My blood turned to ice. This wasn't just about me anymore. They were using me to trap Dominic.
"What about the baby?" Celeste asked.
Silence. Then: "Unfortunate, but necessary. Can't leave loose ends."
They were going to kill my baby.
Rage burned through the fear. This child—this tiny life inside me—had done nothing wrong. Was guilty of nothing except existing.
I would die before I let them hurt my baby.
The car slowed. We were almost there.
Now or never, Ava.
Celeste put the car in park. Started to unbuckle her seatbelt.
I moved.
My hand shot out, grabbing the keys from the ignition. Celeste screamed in surprise.
"You're awake—"
I punched her. Hard. Right in the nose.
Blood exploded across her perfect face. She shrieked, hands flying to her face.
I shoved open the car door and ran.
The warehouse loomed ahead, dark and massive. Behind me, Celeste's screams echoed through the night. "She's running! Get her!"
Footsteps. Multiple people.
I ran faster, hand pressed to my stomach. "Hold on, baby. Just hold on."
A gunshot cracked through the air.
The bullet hit the ground two feet to my left.
"Stop running!" Celeste's voice, wild with fury. "You can't escape!"
But I wasn't trying to escape.
I was running toward the one place I knew had security cameras. The one place where whatever happened next would be recorded.
The warehouse from earlier. The one where Dad had been arrested.
The police might still be processing the crime scene.
I burst through the warehouse door. Empty. Dark. The crime scene tape fluttered in the wind from the open door behind me.
No police. Just me.
Footsteps behind me. Getting closer.
I grabbed a metal pipe from the floor. Not much, but better than nothing.
Celeste walked in, gun raised, nose still bleeding. "You just made this so much harder."
"Good," I gasped out. "I hope I make everything hard for you."
Two men entered behind her. Big. Angry looking. Hired muscle.
"Grab her," Celeste ordered.
They moved toward me.
I swung the pipe. Caught one in the knee. He went down screaming.
The second one grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back. The pipe clattered to the floor.
"Feisty," he grunted. "Boss didn't mention she'd fight."
"Let me go!" I struggled, but he was too strong.
Celeste walked closer, pressing the gun to my forehead. "You should have stayed unconscious. Made this easy. But no—you had to be difficult. Just like always."
"Why do you hate me so much?" The words burst out. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You existed!" Celeste screamed. "You were the real daughter. The one with actual talent. The one Robert actually cared about. I was just a tool. A weapon. And you—you got to be loved!"
"He tried to kill me tonight!"
"After I convinced him you knew too much! After I told him you'd ruin everything!" Celeste's face twisted with rage. "I spent five years setting this up. Five years getting close to Kane Industries. And you almost destroyed it all by actually getting pregnant. That wasn't part of the plan!"
"So the baby was never supposed to happen?"
"No! You were supposed to get caught trying to seduce Kane. Get humiliated. Fired. That's it. But you actually succeeded, and then you had the nerve to survive the drug I gave you. Most people would have ended up in the hospital. But not you. Never you."
The jealousy in her voice was poison.
"So now what?" I asked. "You kill me? Kill the baby? Then what?"
"Then I marry Dominic Kane. Take over both companies. Become the queen I was always meant to be." Celeste's smile was madness. "And you'll just be a tragic memory. The pregnant girl who ran away and died in a tragic accident."
She cocked the gun.
The warehouse door burst open.
Dominic stood there, chest heaving, Marcus right behind him.
"Get away from her," Dominic's voice was deadly calm.
Celeste swung the gun toward him. "One more step and I shoot her."
"You shoot her, and you lose your only leverage." Dominic's eyes met mine. "I sent everything to the FBI. Every illegal deal. Every secret. Kane Industries is done. You want to marry into an empire? There is no empire anymore. I burned it all down."
Celeste's face went white. "You're lying."
"Check your phone."
She did. Her expression crumbled as she read the news alerts. "Kane Industries Under Federal Investigation." "CEO Releases Evidence of Corporate Fraud."
"You destroyed your own company?" Celeste whispered. "For her?"
"Yes," Dominic said simply. "Now let her go."
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Celeste started laughing. Hysterical, broken laughter. "You're both so stupid. So noble. It's disgusting."
She lowered the gun.
I exhaled in relief.
Then she raised it again—pointing it at her own hired muscle. "You were supposed to be watching the doors. You're fired."
She shot him.
The man dropped, screaming, clutching his leg.
"Now nobody gets out of here alive," Celeste said calmly. "If I can't have my happy ending, nobody does."
She fired wildly. Bullets ricocheted off metal walls.
The man holding me let go, diving for cover.
Dominic grabbed my hand. "Run!"
We ran through the warehouse, bullets chasing us, Celeste's screams echoing behind.
"There!" Marcus pointed to a fire exit.
We crashed through it into an alley. Police sirens wailed in the distance—someone must have called about the gunshots.
"This way!" Dominic pulled me toward the street.
But Celeste was faster.
She appeared in front of us, gun raised, face streaked with blood and tears and madness.
"You ruined everything," she whispered. "Everything."
Her finger tightened on the trigger.
Time slowed down.
I saw Dominic move to shield me.
Saw Marcus diving forward.
Saw the gun aimed right at my stomach.
At my baby.
And then—
A shot rang out.
But the bullet didn't come from Celeste's gun.
She dropped, clutching her shoulder, weapon falling from her hand.
Behind her, a figure lowered their smoking gun.
Grace.
My best friend. Holding my father's old service revolver. The one he kept in his office safe.
"Nobody threatens my best friend's baby," Grace said calmly. "Nobody."
Celeste collapsed, screaming. Police cars screeched into the alley.
Officers swarmed everywhere—securing weapons, calling ambulances, shouting orders.
And through it all, Dominic held me.
"Is the baby okay?" he asked desperately. "Are you okay?"
I pressed my hand to my stomach. No pain. No cramping. Still there.
"We're okay," I whispered. "We're both okay."
Then I passed out.
When I woke up six hours later in a hospital bed, Dominic was still holding my hand.
And Grace was explaining to a very confused detective how she'd followed us with Dad's gun "just in case."
"You saved my life," I told her.
"You'd have done the same for me." Grace squeezed my other hand. "That's what family does."
Real family. Not the kind that uses you. The kind that saves you.
The doctor came in with test results. "The baby is fine. Strong heartbeat. You were very lucky."
Lucky. I'd been drugged, kidnapped, shot at, and almost killed.
But my baby was safe.
Yeah. I was lucky.
"Miss Chen," a detective said from the doorway. "Celeste Chen is in custody. She's confessing to everything—the drugging, the kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder. She'll be going away for a very long time."
Good. Let her rot.
The detective left. The doctor left. Grace left to get coffee.
Finally, Dominic and I were alone.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "For destroying your company. For choosing us."
"I should have chosen you from the start." His thumb traced circles on my hand. "I'm so sorry, Ava. For not believing you. For not protecting you. For everything."
"You couldn't have known—"
"I should have trusted my gut. That night, I knew something was wrong. But I chose to believe the lies because they were easier than the truth." He looked at our joined hands. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Before I could answer, my hospital room door burst open.
A woman in a power suit strode in, flanked by two lawyers.
"Ava Chen?" She smiled, but it was all teeth. "I'm Victoria Brennan. Thomas Brennan's widow. Celeste's real mother. And we need to talk about my grandson."
My blood ran cold.
She looked at my stomach. At Dominic. Back to me.
"You thought this was over? Oh, honey. This is just beginning."