Reclaimed By My Ex-husband-Chapter 64: The rescue

Nathaniel dropped, rolled, and came up behind another pillar just as another shot rang out, exploding plaster and dust around him. He peeked out, spotted the man—a tall, broad figure with a scar slicing across his cheek, gun raised.

Nathaniel exhaled slowly. Then he darted from behind the pillar, firing two quick rounds. The first missed, the second clipped the man’s arm. The leader growled in pain but didn’t go down. Instead, he fired wildly, backing toward a narrow passage.

Nathaniel chased, footsteps pounding the floor.

They weaved through broken rooms, gunfire echoing off the walls. Nathaniel slid behind an overturned table as bullets whizzed past. He peeked over, aimed, and fired again, this time hitting the man in the leg.

The leader stumbled, crashing into a stack of crates.

Nathaniel closed the gap fast. He kicked the gun from the man’s hand and slammed him to the ground with a hard, precise strike.

"Where is she?" he snarled, his expression murderous.

The man groaned, coughing blood, but didn’t speak.

Nathaniel raised his gun, pressing it to the man’s forehead.

"I said—where?"

Through the cracked door behind him, a weak whimper came out. His heart clenched.

Zara.

Nathaniel scrunched up his face and raised the gun, slamming it hard on the man’s head. In a split second, the man rolled his eyes and collapsed into unconsciousness.

Nathaniel jumped to his feet and stormed into the room, breath sharp, heart racing. What he saw stopped him cold.

Zara was crumpled on the floor, slumped against a toppled chair, her body bound, blood darkening the floor beneath her. Her face was swollen with bruises, her eyes barely open, her lips trembling as she whimpered.

For a second, the world dropped out from under him.

He rushed to her side and dropped to his knees, hands hovering in the air, unsure where to touch without hurting her.

"Zara," he rasped. His fingers brushed her face, then froze when he saw her wrists and ankles tied tight.

"I’ve got you. I’m getting you out of this," he whispered, pulling a knife from the sheath at his back. His hands were shaking so badly that it took him a moment to start cutting through the rope.

Zara blinked slowly, her vision foggy. The room around her blurred and spun out of focus. She could make out Nathaniel’s silhouette, but her body was shutting down. The last sound she registered was the faint wail of a siren in the distance before everything slipped into silence.

"Come on, stay with me," Nathaniel muttered, slicing through the final knot. The ropes fell away, and he scooped her into his arms.

"You are going to be okay," he murmured. "I’ve got you. I’m not letting go."

With her pressed against his chest, he bolted for the door.

Roberto ran in, skidding to a halt at the sight before him. Zara’s face was so battered, so broken, he barely recognized her. His breath caught in his throat. For a long second, he couldn’t speak. He forgot why he had rushed to Nathaniel.

He collected his thoughts and said grimly. "The cops have locked down the whole place. Most of the goons were either in cuffs or dead... but Isaac and Jaxon slipped away."

Nathaniel didn’t look up. His arms tightened around Zara. "Find them." Each word was punched out through clenched teeth. "I want them to bleed for this."

Roberto gave a sharp nod.

Without waiting for another second, Nathaniel carried her out through the wreckage. He didn’t look back. His only focus now was getting her to the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~

At the hospital...

Riya stepped out of the doctor’s office, gripping the report so tightly that the paper crumpled. Her cheeks were flushed with rage.

The report in her hand confirmed Zara was pregnant.

The doctor had been hesitant at first, citing confidentiality. But a wad of cash changed that quickly.

"She is really pregnant," Riya whispered.

The idea of Zara carrying Nathaniel’s child tore at her. Riya had loved Nathaniel ever since she became part of the Grant household.

He had always been kind to her, gentle in a way that slowly carved a place in her heart. But she never found the courage to confess her feelings.

When Nathaniel fell for Nora, it shattered her. All she could do was watch from the sidelines, longing for him in silence.

But her obsession with Nathaniel only intensified with time. Her longing to become his wife reached a fever pitch when Nora fell ill.

Riya had seen it as her opening, her chance to finally be by his side. But that cunning Nora had set him up with her sister, forcing him to marry Zara.

Riya had been livid, though a part of her took comfort in the fact that Nathaniel never seemed to truly care for Zara. That flicker of hope—that he might still be hers—kept burning strong. She waited, watching for the right moment to step in.

When she heard Nathaniel and Zara were headed for divorce, she felt elated. Her chance had finally come. But that hope was crushed the moment she learned Zara was pregnant. If Nathaniel knew, he would never leave her. He would think about giving this marriage a chance for the sake of the baby.

Riya’s dreams shattered in an instant. Her heart seethed, and her eyes burned with bitter rage.

"No," she muttered under her breath. "This isn’t happening. It can’t happen."

She looked down at the report again, eyes burning holes through the page.

"I have to stop this before it’s too late."

Riya stormed down the hall, anger still simmering beneath her skin. A sudden flurry of noise snapped her attention.

Paramedics burst through the hospital doors, wheeling in a stretcher. What stopped her cold was the man running after them.

Nathaniel.

She froze. ’Nathaniel?’ Her brow furrowed. ’What is he doing here?’

He had rushed out of the house earlier, frantic to find Zara. Now he was here at the hospital.

’Did something happen to Zara?’ Her curiosity piqued.

She followed at a distance, staying just out of sight.

Zara’s stretcher disappeared through the emergency room doors. Nathaniel moved to go after her, but a nurse quickly stepped in his way.

"Please, sir, you can’t go in."

"She is my wife," he said, breathless. "Is she going to be okay?"

"We are doing everything we can." The nurse gave a quick nod and shut the door in his face.

Nathaniel stared at the closed door, frozen, as if the ground beneath him had vanished. His mind spiraled back to the agonizing hours he had once spent outside Nora’s operating room, pacing, praying. But despite all the hope, her condition had declined, and she hadn’t survived.

His steps faltered, and he sank heavily into a chair. His hands were still trembling. The minutes crawled by, and with each one, his anxiety grew.

For the first time, he truly understood how much she meant to him, how deeply he needed her. He’d told himself he needed her for Zane’s sake, that keeping the family intact was all that mattered. But sitting there, staring at that closed door, he finally saw the truth—he needed her. Without Zara, his world felt empty.

He couldn’t lose her. Restless, he stood and began pacing, his mind spiraling.

Then a voice cut through the haze. "Nathaniel..."

He turned.

Riya stood there, a mix of concern and something else flickering in her eyes.

Read latest chapters at f(r)eewebnov𝒆l Only