Ethan's eyes turned icy.
"Now!"
Gritting through the pain in his leg, he lunged forward and kicked over the vat of boiling oil.
Scalding liquid splashed across the floor.
Leo Carter staggered back in shock.
"You faked your injury..."
Clutching his knife, he whirled around to attack.
Liam Winston tackled him from behind.
They crashed to the ground together.
The pampered heir knew nothing of combat.
Within seconds, Leo flipped their positions and punched Liam twice in the face.
Dark bruises bloomed around his eyes.
But those precious seconds were enough.
Ethan severed the ropes with swift precision.
Chloe Evans and Sophia Sullivan plummeted downward.
"Ah—!"
The spoiled socialite had never endured such pain.
Chloe wailed, dazed from the impact.
Sophia rolled with the fall.
She sprang up gracefully.
Screams and fighting blended into chaos.
Leo's eyes bulged with rage.
He drove his knife toward Sophia's heart.
"You bitch! You conspired against me!"
He'd thought her thoroughly broken.
Blind fury consumed him.
Women he'd crushed should stay crushed forever!
Sophia's hands remained bound.
She struggled desperately to free herself.
The blade gleamed inches from her chest.
"Die!"
Liam stood closest to her.
Three years of marriage flashed through his mind.
Her gentle profile as she cooked in their kitchen.
Her sleepless nights nursing him through illness.
When had he lost that warmth?
Only hostility remained after their divorce.
"Watch out—"
He tried to intervene.
But his feet felt leaden.
Sophia twisted aside.
With bound hands, escape seemed impossible.
The expected pain never came.
Instead, she heard the sickening sound of steel piercing flesh.
Strong arms caught her.
Steady as bedrock in this life-or-death moment.
"...Ethan?"
Sophia's voice trembled.
Blood stained her vision.
The ropes finally snapped free.
Leo laughed wildly.
"How touching! I'll send you to the afterlife together!"
He charged again with his knife.
Sophia caught the blade barehanded.
Her palm split open.
In one fluid motion, she wrenched the weapon free and stabbed back.
Leo gaped in disbelief.
Before he could react, agony exploded in his chest.
His hands closed around Sophia's throat.
"I'll...take you with me..."
A gunshot rang out.
The bullet pierced his skull.
Leo collapsed, eyes wide in death.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Paramedics swarmed the scene.
The commotion faded into background noise.
Sophia saw only Ethan.
Blood seeped from wounds on his abdomen and leg.
Crimson spread across his shirt.
"Are you insane?"
She gripped his icy hand.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
"Half an inch higher would've hit your heart."
Years of practice had taught her composure.
Isabella Robinson was her only true friend.
With Ethan, everything had been transactional.
Emma and Mrs. Sullivan needed her medical skills.
Yet something inside her fractured now.
For the first time, her heart raced beyond control.
"Couldn't let Miss Sullivan die here."
Ethan's lips were bloodless.
His shirt darkened with red.
His voice came out rough.
"Just surface wounds...you can..."
The words faded.
Darkness claimed him.