"Why? Can’t you face the truth now?" Elara’s voice was like a jagged piece of glass. She didn’t care about the divorce anymore; she wanted to destroy Seb’s mind. "Seb, you’re the one who hurt Amara. Not just ."
She took a step toward him, her eyes wild. "You made it official with , but you still called her your wife in your heart and in front of the whole world. You showered her with attention openly while keeping in the shadows. What did you take for? A toy? How could I not hate her? I wish she were dead!"
Seb’s face was a mask of agony. Every word was a mirror reflecting his own cowardice.
"Yes," Seb whispered, his voice breaking. "I ruined my own love. I destroyed the only good thing I ever had." He looked at Elara with cold, dead eyes. "Don’t ever let see you again. If you cross my path, you know what will happen. Get out!"
He shoved her toward the door. Elara stumbled, clutching her stomach, her face pale. As she moved down the driveway, a dark stain began to bloom on her skirt.
Seb didn’t see it. He collapsed to the marble floor, his head in his hands, sobbing for the woman he had traded for a lie.
Outside the Creed gates, a sleek black car sat idling. Inside, Amara and Julian watched the heavy doors of the mansion swing open.
They saw Elara stumble out, her steps heavy and erratic. Little Seren was clinging to her hand, her small face streaked with tears. Suddenly, Elara’s knees buckled. She collapsed onto the hard pavent, her hand still protectively over her stomach.
"Soone... please save my baby!" Elara gasped, her voice barely a whisper, before her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
"Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!" Seren’s screams pierced the quiet street.
In the car, Julian’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. He looked at Amara. After everything Elara had done, the car crash, the lies, the stolen years, nobody would bla Amara if they just drove away.
Amara stared at the woman on the ground. She rembered the pain of losing her own child. She rembered the 30 million she had spent. She rembered the coldness in Seb’s eyes.
"Amara?" Julian asked softly. "What do you want to do?"
The silence in the car was suffocating. Amara looked at Seren, the child who had lied about her, now terrified and alone.
Amara watched through the window as Elara lay motionless on the pavent. "Elara finally knows what it’s like to lose a child," she said softly, her voice devoid of pity.
But then, a realization struck her. She turned to Julian, her brow furrowed. "That stretch of road where the crash happened seven years ago... it had a notorious blind spot. The police closed the case because there was no footage. How did Demain find an eyewitness and the culprit so fast?"
Julian didn’t look away from the road. A small, knowing smile played on his lips. "Because I tipped him off."
Amara’s eyes widened. "You? Why... why would you do that behind the scenes?"
Julian reached over, his hand briefly covering hers. The warmth was a stark contrast to the coldness she had felt for weeks.
"I wanted to show you that your problems are mine too, Amara. You’ve spent so long fighting alone. I wanted you to know that you finally have soone to lean on. The nightmare is over. All the bad things will pass now."
Amara felt a lump form in her throat. She looked at him, her gaze softening.
"You can think about now, right?" Amara asked, her voice hopeful yet patient.
Julian took a deep breath and nodded to Amara, looking back at the woman bleeding out on the sidewalk. "Call an ambulance for Elara," she said firmly.
"Okay," Julian replied, imdiately dialing the ergency line.
The sirens cut through the night, their red and blue lights flashing against the Creed mansion’s gates. The paradics loaded Elara onto a stretcher as a sobbing Seren followed behind.
Later that night, in a cold, sterile hospital room, Elara woke up to the news she dreaded most. The physical pain was nothing compared to the void in her heart. She had lost the baby, her last tie to the Creed fortune, her last shield against the world.
As she stared at the ceiling, her grief curdled into a dark, poisonous rage. She didn’t bla herself for the crash or Seb for his temper. She blad the woman who had everything she wanted.
"Amara," Elara hissed through cracked lips, her fingers clawing at the hospital sheets. "I will make you pay for this. I swear, this isn’t the end."
---
The car pulled up to the gates of Amara’s mansion. The engine humd quietly, matching the peaceful silence between them. For the first ti in weeks, the air didn’t feel heavy with secrets.
As Julian reached over to unlock the door, Amara didn’t move to leave. Instead, she turned and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a soft, lingering hug. Julian froze for a second, surprised by her rare show of affection, before lting into it, his hand resting gently on her back.
"Thank you, Julian," she whispered against his shoulder. "For everything."
"You don’t ever have to thank for being on your side, Amara," he murmured, his voice deep and steady.
Later that night, the moonlight spilled across Amara’s bed as she held her phone to her ear. Julian was on the other end, his voice a warm comfort in the dark.
"I can almost hear you smiling," Julian teased softly.
"Maybe I am," Amara admitted, feeling a flush creep up her neck. "It’s just... quiet. My head finally feels quiet."
"Then it’s the perfect ti," Julian said, his tone turning tender. "Tomorrow, I want to take you to my place of quiet.’ No phones, no reporters, and definitely no Creeds. Just a place where the world can’t find us."
"I’d like that," Amara replied, her voice trailing off into a happy sigh. "I think I’ve been waiting a long ti for a place like that."
"Amara?" Julian’s voice dropped to a low, intimate whisper. "From now on, you don’t have to be the brave one. If the world gets too loud, just lean on . I’m not going anywhere."
"I know," she whispered. "And for the first ti... I actually believe it."
Across the city, in a dimly lit room, Amira sat watching the glowing screen of her tablet. She scrolled through photos of Amara and Julian, the way he looked at her with adoration, the way Amara actually looked alive again.
A cold, twisted smile spread across Amira’s face. The jealousy tasted like copper in her mouth.
"Look at you, baby sister," Amira hissed to the empty room, her eyes narrowing as she tapped on a photo of Julian. "So happy. So protected. You think you’ve finally escaped the storm?"
She leaned back, her mind already spinning a web of lies. She didn’t care about the truth or the pain Elara had caused; she only cared that Amara had sothing she didn’t, the devotion of a man like Julian.
"Enjoy your new man while it lasts," Amira whispered, her voice dripping with malice. "Because I’m going to make sure that when it shatters, there won’t be enough of you left to pick up the pieces."
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