Chapter 15 - EVERYTHING I LOVED
I stepped between him and Noah. “Get out.”
Ryan did not flinch. He closed the window behind him and stepped further into the room. “You had to keep digging. You had to ruin everything. We could have been a family. You could have been part of the plan.”
“There was never a plan, Ryan. There was only destruction. Lies. Murder.”
“Protection,” he corrected, his voice rising sharply. “We protect what is ours. Lucas was weak. Father was weak. You… you were becoming dangerous. But I would have kept you safe. If you had just listened.”
“You chained our son.”
“To teach him! To make him strong! So no one could ever take what belongs to him the way people tried to take from me!” He gestured wildly, tears mixing with rain on his face. “Mother showed me. If someone tries to take your world… you break them first. You destroy their name. You make them disappear. And then… you are safe.”
“No,” I said. “You are a monster. And you are teaching my son to be one too.”
Ryan went very still. He looked at me—really looked at me—as if seeing me for the first time.
“Then you leave me no choice,” he said quietly. “If you will not be part of this family… then you cannot be part of Noah’s life. I will take him. And I will raise him right. And you will vanish. Just like Lucas. Just like the social worker. Just like anyone who ever stood in my way.”
He reached into his coat.
I grabbed the heavy lamp from the bedside table. “Step one step closer… and I will not hesitate.”
Ryan laughed. A terrible, broken sound. “You think I came alone? I’ve been watching this house all day. I know where the guards are. I know where the cameras are. I know everything. And by the time anyone realizes I’m here… Noah will be with me. And you… you will be gone.”
He lunged.
I swung the lamp. It glanced off his shoulder. He grabbed my wrist, twisting it until I cried out in pain. He shoved me backward, hard, and I hit my head against the wall. Stars burst across my vision. I slid to the floor, dazed, hearing his footsteps cross the room toward the bed.
“Noah!” I screamed.
I heard Noah cry out. I heard Ryan’s voice, low and urgent. “Be quiet. Come with me. Now.”
I forced myself up, vision swimming, and reached the doorway just in time to see Ryan climb out the window—carrying Noah in his arms.
“No!” I scrambled forward, grabbing at his coat, catching only fabric. He kicked my hand free.
“Goodbye, Emily,” he said.
May you like
And then he was gone.
I leaned out the window, rain hitting my face, screaming until my throat bled. But the night was empty. Ryan was gone. And he had taken my whole world with him.
