When The Last Shot Is Fired

My mercenary fiancé, Jax, spent the entire weekend at Hollywood superstar Seraphina Hayes's Malibu beach house to protect her.

When he returned, marked with hickeys, he knelt before me with bloodshot eyes, pointed a gun at his own head, and confessed.

"Ellie, she set me up. I broke our vows. I deserve to die!"

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through his left ear, leaving him deaf on that side for life.

My heart softened, and I chose to forgive him.

Nine months later, I was in a white dress, on my way to marry him.

That’s when the news broke. The superstar was pregnant. And she was on a rooftop, threatening to jump.

Once again, he knelt at my feet, a gun pointed at his head. "Ellie, just one last time, let me go save her."

"This time, I promise I'll end things with her for good."

After ten years of love, he thought my heart would soften again.

But my voice was steady when I spoke.

“Her, or me?” I asked. "If you choose her, we're done."

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1

"Ellie, I know what happened was my fault, but I'm also responsible for the child she's carrying."

"I can't just abandon her…"

Jax knelt on the floor, the usual fire in his eyes still blazing.

Those arrogant eyes were now bloodshot with worry for Seraphina.

I stood there silently, a chill settling deep in my heart.

"Miss Vance, you're not really going to let Jax shoot himself, are you?"

"Jax nearly died saving you. Isn't it enough that he's devoted himself to you for all these years?"

"Sera is so much better. She never gets jealous."

Jax's team members sneered from the sidelines.

A buzzing filled my head. All I could hear was the casual intimacy in the way they called her 'Sera.'

My eyes stung, and a sharp pain pierced my chest.

I looked down at Jax, my mind flashing back to the night ten years ago when my parents' private jet crashed.

Jax, on his first security detail, had pulled me from the blazing wreckage and into his arms, repeating over and over—

"Ellie, don't be afraid!"

"I'll protect you, even if it costs me my life!"

That night, the fire had burned his left shoulder raw, but he never once complained.

Now, in a daze, I saw the inferno again.

But the man who had promised to protect me for a lifetime was gone.

"Ellie, let me go!"

"I'll trade you this. Just let me go, this one time."

I looked down and saw Jax holding out a small, silver religious medal.

Tears I had been holding back finally streamed down my face.

"Jax, are you sure you want to trade this for Seraphina?"

With one hand, I took the medal, my fingers trembling as I snatched the gun from his other hand.

I pressed it to his temple and questioned him in a low voice.

Three years ago, Jax was critically injured on a mission, so close to death.

I had crawled up the three thousand steps to the sanctuary, my knees bloody and raw, just to get this blessed St. Christopher medal for him.

The day I put it around his neck, I smiled, joking that if he ever truly broke my heart, he could use this medal to earn my forgiveness, just once.

But I never imagined he would use that one-time pass—for Seraphina.

Staring at Jax, my heart clenched so painfully it felt like my whole body ached.

The next second, his subordinate, Mike, suddenly shouted.

"Jax, bad news!"

"Sera's hemorrhaging!"

The kneeling Jax shot to his feet, his face twisting with irritation.

"Eleanor, it's just a medal! Do you have to be so unreasonable?"

"Fine! I'll give you what you want!"

A sneer touched the corner of his lips.

Jax wrenched the gun from my grasp and, without a second thought, aimed at his own right arm and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet tore into his flesh.

Blood streamed down his wrist.

"The shot's been fired. Are you satisfied now, Eleanor Vance?"

"If you're satisfied, then wait for me to come back and finish the wedding!"

With a final, cold glare, Jax threw the gun to the ground and turned to leave.

White petals littered the now-desolate wedding venue.

I stood in the silence for a long moment before picking up my phone to make a call.