Chapter 222

Don Morgan’s POV

"Who is dead?!" I roared, sparks of fury flying from my eyes.

The reply struck me like a physical blow. "The Snake, sir."

I slammed the phone shut and floored the accelerator.

I couldn’t believe it how could a man as invincible as The Snake fall? I don’t even remember the drive to the warehouse; I braked so hard the tires screamed against the asphalt. I leaped out and ran inside like a madman.

He was sprawled on the ground, his body still and drowning in a pool of crimson blood.

I knelt beside him, seeing the jagged hole in his chest from a deep bullet wound. I pressed my trembling fingers to his neck. At first, there was nothing but a haunting silence. Then, after agonizing seconds, I felt it a faint, ghost-like pulse beneath his cold skin.

"He’s alive, you idiot!" I screamed at the guard standing nearby.

I didn’t wait for help. I scooped him up in my arms, feeling the heavy, limp weight of his body as his blood soaked into my shirt. I laid him in the backseat and drove like a man possessed, weaving through traffic and taking corners on two wheels.

I kept stealing glances at him in the rearview mirror, my voice raspy and desperate. "Hold on... I’m going to save you!"

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Julie’s POV

I stood frozen, my eyes glued to Ron and another guard as they carried Robert’s lifeless body into the restaurant. I began to run after them, my steps stumbling. I didn’t scream; not a single tear fell.

I was simply submerged in a shock that paralyzed my limbs and turned the world into a blur of gray shadows.

We rushed downstairs, where the female doctor was waiting with a grim expression. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

They hurried him into the room and slammed the door in my face. In that moment, I collapsed. It felt as if a sudden paralysis had seized my entire body. I squeezed my eyes shut, memories of the last time I was in his arms flooding back how he kissed me with such tenderness, how his fingers played with my hair, and the way his gaze made me forget everything else in the world.

A physical tear ripped through my chest. My heart was shattering into a thousand jagged pieces, and the oxygen vanished from my lungs. Suddenly, the silence of the corridor was pierced by a primal scream from the depths of my soul: "Robert!"

I surged up with a sudden, unknown strength and lunged for the door like a woman possessed. A guard blocked my path, grabbing my arms to hold me back. I fought him with feral desperation, pounding on his chest and screaming hysterically.

In a moment of pure madness, I sank my teeth into his hand, biting down hard. Even then, he wouldn’t let go. I writhed in his grip, screaming at the top of my lungs, "Let me go! I want to see him! I need to see him!"

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Carlos’s POV

In that cursed moment when the silence of the warehouse erupted in gunfire, everything played out before my eyes in slow motion.

My bullet pierced The Snake’s chest with lethal precision, but in that same fraction of a second, The Snake’s bullet lodged itself in Robert’s back. Robert’s body stiffened.

I saw his features shift into something terrifying; his eyes glazed over, staring into the void as if his soul were departing right then and there. Then, he fell like a hollow shell to the ground.

I threw myself over him, shaking him violently. "Robert! Robert!" I screamed. But there was no response. He was completely gone. With a Herculean effort, I lifted his limp weight, placed him in the car, and drove with a madness that mirrored the screaming in my head.

I kept glancing at him beside me still, pale, a black dread gnawing at my heart that he might be gone forever. Robert wasn’t just a partner or a friend; he was the brother my mother never gave me.

With a shaking hand, I called Ron.

"Ron, tell the doctor to prep the OR... Robert is hit!" I hung up, my eyes darting frantically between the road and his ghostly face. When I arrived and saw Julie there, I had no room for comfort. My entire being was centered on Robert.

Downstairs, Julie was in a state of absolute hysteria. I rushed to her and gripped her shoulders firmly. "Julie, calm down!"

"I want to see Robert! I need to be with him!" she shrieked, struggling to break free.

I signaled the guard to release her and pulled her into my own grip instead. "Robert is in surgery now, Julie!" But my words were lost in the wind. She wasn’t hearing me; she was thrashing as if she’d lost her mind.

I had no choice but to lift her up against her will and carry her to her room while she continued to scream and strike at me.

I carried her inside and locked the door. I let her go, and she immediately lunged for the exit.

When I blocked her, she began smashing everything within her reach in a fit of pure rage. I had to slap her a sharp, stinging contact to break her spiral. "Enough, Julie! Stop it! Get a hold of yourself!"

She finally stilled, looking at me with eyes drowned in tears. "Is he going to die?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"No," I said, trying to convince both her and myself. "He’s not going to die."

She let out a sob that tore through my very soul. "If he dies... I die too."

The taste of bitter gall filled my mouth. A suffocating lump formed in my throat as I replied, "Nothing is going to happen." Her body gave way, and I caught her just before she hit the floor.

She began to wail with a heartbreaking grief. I knelt with her, pulling her tightly against my chest, burying her head in my shoulder. "Don’t cry, please," I whispered.

"I can’t live without him... I can’t," she sobbed.

Hearing those words increased my agony tenfold. My best friend was fighting for his life in the next room, and the woman I secretly loved was in my arms, telling me she couldn’t live without another man.

What kind of heart can survive this many stabbings?

"Aaaaah!" she screamed from the sheer weight of the pain.

"Enough, Julie," I said, my voice breaking. My heart was shattering for her, for her words, for Robert, and for my own wretched luck.

"I’m hurting... my heart hurts... I can’t take this pain," she gasped between sobs.

I fell silent. I felt a single, burning tear slide down my cheek. I never expected a man like me to shed a tear, but this pain was bigger than all of us.

I pressed her closer, as if trying to absorb her agony into my own body. "You will survive this, Julie," I whispered. "We both will."