Chapter 245

-Ava’s POV-

People say

all is fair in love and war.

68%

But this wasn’t fair.

This wasn’t fair at all.

I stood frozen, staring between the ever–growing pool of blood pooling underneath my father on the ground and Grayson- Grayson, who had just taken an arrow to the heart to save me.

He had crashed to the ground.

He wasn’t moving.

He wasn’t moving.

Crystal let out a soft, breathy laugh, as if she were admiring a piece of art rather than the destruction she had caused. She tilted her head, her cold, calculating eyes scanning the scene before landing on me.

“This is way much better.”

Her lips curved into a final, cruel smile before she stepped backward, vanishing into the shadows as if she had never been there at all.

Move, Ava. Move.

I couldn’t.

I stood there, my breath shallow, my limbs frozen, my heart slamming violently against my ribs as if it were trying to break free. My mind screamed at me to do something–to move, to act, to help–but all I could do was stare.

My father.

Or the man I loved.

My father, who lay motionless with a blade embedded in his chest, the hilt dark with blood. His breathing was shallow–if he was breathing at all. The man who had raised me no matter how much I had hated it, still hated it, who had shaped me into the person I was, who had always seemed so untouchable, was now unconscious, his life slipping away before my eyes.

And Grayson.

Grayson, whose body lay twisted where he had fallen, his clothes soaked in crimson, his face pale. His strong, unyielding hands that had always held me steady, now slack at his sides. His heart–oh Goddess, his heart–an arrow protruding from his chest, as if the universe itself had decided to rip him from me in the cruelest way possible.

Move, Ava!

A choked sob tore through my throat as I stumbled forward, my legs weak beneath me.

I dropped to my knees beside my father first, my shaking hands hovering uselessly over the wound in his chest. Blood. So much blood. The blade was still lodged there, dark and glistening, mocking me. My fingers trembled as I pressed them against his throat, searching–praying–for a pulse.

There. Faint. Weak.

1/5

Tue, 4 Mar

Chapter 245

68%

Tears blurred my vision as I sucked in a ragged breath. “Dad?” My voice cracked, barely more than a whisper, “Please, please wake up.

Nothing.

I let out a strangled cry, my hands clutching at him, as if holding him would somehow stop the life from slipping away.

Then–Grayson.

my fingers slipping in the blood–soaked ground.

voice was

He didn’t move.

shirt, shaking him gently, then harder. “Grayson, wake up!

Still nothing.

a sob, pressing my trembling hands against his chest, just above the wound. His body was still warm, his heartbeat faint beneath my palm. My breath

die,” I whispered, my voice broken. “Please, just hold on.”

Footsteps.

over the roaring in my ears.

Someone shouted.

My vision swam, my body numb, my mind

saw

My mother.

She froze.

my mother–the woman who had always been composed, always in control, always detached- looked

color draining from her face. Then, without hesitation, she ran to him.

I begged, my

down beside me. “Ava-”

my voice

at Grayson, before she turned and ran, her voice

against Grayson’s blood–soaked shirt. “Just hold on,” I murmured, my voice barely audible. “Just hold

I stayed there. Minutes?

2/5

4 Mar

Chapter 245

Time had stopped.

thing that existed was Grayson’s shallow breathing and the pounding

68%

felt Elaine’s hands on my shoulders, trying

was raw, “No, I

shaking. “They need

I blinked.

move me. I fought them, my grip tightening

need–he

voice cut through the

I turned.

was kneeling beside my father, pressing her hands to his chest, her fingers slick with his blood. Her eyes met mine,

Tears.

was crying.

a doctor. We should be able to do

all I could do

lifted him, as his blood dripped from their hands, as my own hands reached for him

couldn’t hold on.

I couldn’t even tell who they belonged to. Everything felt distant, muffled, like I was underwater.

under my nails, staining the fabric of my

they carried him away, his head lolling to the side, the blade still buried in his

move. Didn’t speak.

hands still covered in his blood, her expression vacant. My mother–always composed, always cold, always in control–looked utterly lost. Like she couldn’t comprehend what was

yanking me up so fast

need to go.”

urgent, but I

me. Everything was too bright and too dark at the same

in the distance. More shouting. But it was

375

Tue, 4 Mar

Chapter 245

snapped again. “We

I didn’t move.

father, watching as the men carried him away. His body hung limp in their

voice cut through the chaos.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255