CHAPTER 19
The gleam of metal caught the light first.
Matt lifted the pistol in his hand with deliberate slowness, leveling it at Asher’s chest. My heart seized in my ribcage.
“Lock the door,” he said quietly. His voice wasn’t raised, but the weight of it pressed against m like steel. “Now.”
I hesitated, just long enough for his jaw to tighten, and his finger flexing dangerously against the trigger.
“Jada.”
I swallowed, then obeyed, pushing the door shut until it clicked. The sound echoed in the sterile room, far too final.
“There,” he muttered, his gaze sliding back to Asher. “Much better right?. It’s just us now. Th way it should’ve always been.”
My nails dug into my palms. “Matt, what are you doing?”
“What I should’ve done the second this bastard came back into our lives,” he snapped. “You don’ see it yet, but he’s poisoned you. He’s twisted your mind against me. Against us.”
“There is no ‘us,” I said sharply. My voice wavered, but I didn’t let it break. “Not anymore. No after everything you did.”
His smile was thin and brittle. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do.”
He shook his head, almost pitying. “You’ve always been dramatic. You say things you don’t mean. You’ve said them before, remember? But you always came back. Because deep down, you know I’m the only one who’s ever really loved you.”
My chest burned. “You call this love? Holding a gun to the man I chose to marry? To the man who actually protected me when you didn’t?”
Matt’s nostrils flared, his knuckles were bone white around the grip. “You’re confused. You’ve been manipulated. But I can fix this. We can fix this. All I need is for you to wake up and remember who you belong to.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I hissed.
The gun jerked in his hand, and for a moment I thought he’d pull the trigger right there.
I forced myself to breathe slowly, and internally, I was carefully calculating. Rage would get me nowhere. Not now.
“Okay,” I said softly, easing my tone, my eyes darting toward the monitor at Asher’s bedside “Just… calm down. Put the gun down, Matt. Let’s talk about this like adults. Please.”
He blinked at me, searching my face for sincerity, his own paranoia was simmering just below the surface.
“That’s better,” he murmured. “That’s the good girl I know. The Jada who listens.”
I took a slow step forward. He didn’t try to stop me.
12:16 pm A
“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered. “You don’t have to ruin your life any more than you already have. You can walk away now, Matt. Right now.”
“And let him win?” His voice cracked with fury. “Never. Everything I built, everything I sacrificed, i was all for you. It was all for us. And you threw it away for him.”
I shook my head, inching closer. “No. I threw it away because you betrayed me. You and Maya You plotted with my uncle. You left me to drown. You hurt me so many times.” My voice hardened. “That wasn’t love, Matt. That was ownership.”
“Shut up!” he roared, waving the gun toward me before snapping it back to Asher. “You think don’t regret what happened? You think I don’t wish I’d done things differently? But he… he doesn’ deserve you. He never did!”
I let my gaze flick toward the machines on the opposite side again, just briefly enough not to draw attention. I was close now, close enough that if I angled my hand right, I could reach the small red button just below the edge of the monitor: the security call alarm.
I needed his focus elsewhere.
“You’re right,” I said softly, I made my voice break in just the right place. His head jerked towar me, eyes wide. “Maybe Asher doesn’t deserve me. Maybe no one does. But this… this isn’t the way, Matt. If you shoot him, you’ll lose me forever.”
His jaw clenched. “I already lost you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Not completely. You still have me here, talking to you, don’t you? If you really loved me, you’d prove it by putting the gun down.”
His grip faltered, just for a fraction of a second. His eyes shone with something raw and desperate.
That was all I needed.
I shifted, pretending to reach for the chair beside the bed, and let my hand graze the button. A faint beep echoed through the room, masked beneath the steady hum of the machines.
Matt didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at me like I was the answer to every question in his
broken mind.
“You’re lying,” he whispered. “You’re trying to trick me.”
“I’m trying to save you,” I whispered back. “Please. Put the gun down. We can fix this.”
The door burst open.
“Security! Drop the weapon!”
Matt spun, wild-eyed, as two officers stormed in with their guns raised. His arm jerked toward Asher and his finger tightened on the trigger.
“Don’t!” I screamed, throwing myself halfway across the bed to shield Asher.
“Drop it, Bennett!” one of the officers barked.
Matt’s eyes darted between me, Asher, and the men at the door. His chest heaved, and sweat slicked his temples.
Then, with a strangled cry, he hurled the gun toward the floor. It clattered across the tiles, spinning uselessly out of reach.
12:16 pm 33
Officers rushed him instantly, slamming him face first against the wall as they cuffed his wrists. He thrashed, shouting incoherently:
“She’s mine! She was always mine! You can’t take her from me-”
“Matt Bennett,” one officer cut him off, voice firm and detached, “you’re under arrest for attempted murder, kidnapping, and unlawful possession of a firearm.”
They dragged him out, his screams echoed down the hallway until they were swallowed by distance.
The room went quiet again. It was just the monitors, and just the steady rise and fall of Asher’s chest.
I sank into the chair beside the bed, my hands were trembling violently now that the danger had passed. My throat ached with everything I’d held back.
reached for Asher’s hand, clutching it like an anchor. “It’s over,” I whispered, though my voice cracked with exhaustion. “It’s finally over.”
12:17 pm &
