Sweet Hatred-Chapter 476: The End

"I won’t bother you again," I said, the words tumbling out desperately.

"I’ll disappear. I’ll take Aria and leave the city. Leave the country. You’ll never hear from me again. Just let her go. Please."

I was begging now.

All pride gone.

"Of course I’m going to let you go."

Andrew’s words hung in the air. And I knew immediately he was lying. The opposite was true.

He had no intention of letting either of us go.

"Please," I said, the desperation raw in my voice. "All I want is Aria. Just let me take her and disappear. That’s it. I’m not asking for anything else."

Andrew just looked at me, expressionless.

"Think about it," I continued frantically, trying to sell him on anything that might work. "If I take Aria, Kael will lose his shit. Completely. You can use that. Paint him as unstable. Unfit to run the company. Paint yourself as the rational one. The savior who stepped in when his brother fell apart."

I was grasping at straws.

Throwing out anything that might appeal to his ambition. His ego.

"You wanted leverage against Kael, right? This is it. Let me take her. Let him spiral. And you swoop in to save the day."

Silence.

Andrew just stared at me.

Then he chuckled, a low and mocking sound that made my blood cold.

"You really think I’m stupid?"

My stomach sank.

"If that plan was going to work," Andrew said, his voice rising slightly, "Ewan wouldn’t have handed EVERYTHING to Kael. Every asset. Every property. Every goddamn share of the company."

His face twisted with barely contained rage.

"He didn’t leave me or my mother ANYTHING. Not a single thing. Like we didn’t even exist."

He took a step closer.

"And the bastard refused to die too. Even after I sabotaged his plane. Even after I did everything to remove him from the picture. He’s still lying there in that hospital bed, clinging to life."

The words spilled out now, years of resentment and rage.

"You must really think I’m stupid if you’re trying to sell me that same failed strategy again."

"Then what do you want?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Andrew smiled, a cold and calculated line spreading on his face.

"Don’t worry. You’ll see."

He turned to his men.

"Take her. Move her out."

*No.*

My stomach dropped.

Blood ran even colder.

"No—"

Two men moved toward Aria.

Grabbed her roughly.

Started dragging her toward the door.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Aria screamed through the gag, her voice muffled but desperate. "GET OFF ME!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I shouted. "WHY ARE YOU TAKING HER?"

I struggled against the men still holding me down.

"I’M THE ONE YOU WANT! IF YOU’RE GOING TO HURT ANYONE, HURT ME!"

Andrew turned back to me.

That mocking smile still on his face.

"I never came for you, baby."

The words hit like a block of ice.

"Aria was always the target."

No. No. No.

The realization crashed over me. This was never about me. Never about revenge for the club incident. Never about tying up loose ends.

Andrew wanted Aria.

To hurt Kael. To destroy him. To take away the one thing Kael cared about most.

"NO!" I screamed. "NO, YOU CAN’T DO THIS! YOU CAN’T TAKE HER! PLEASE!"

I thrashed against the men holding me. Put everything I had into breaking free.

But they were too strong. Andrew was already walking toward the door.

Aria was in the doorway now, held by two men, still fighting.

Still trying to break free. Our eyes met. Hers filled with terror.

Mine with desperate, helpless rage.

"TAKE ME INSTEAD!" I begged. "PLEASE! SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

Andrew paused. Looked back over his shoulder.

"Didn’t you say you’re no longer useful to me?"

Then he kept walking.

"NO! ANDREW! PLEASE!"

The men holding me suddenly released their grip.

For a split second, I thought... But then I was scrambling to my feet.

Had to get to Aria. Had to...

The first blow came from my left. Followed by a fist to my temple.

I went down hard.

Before I could recover, they were on me. Two men. Maybe three. I couldn’t tell anymore. Fists. Boots. Hitting me from every angle.

I tried to curl up. Tried to protect myself. But there were too many of them. A boot to my ribs.

I heard something crack. Pain exploded through my chest. Couldn’t breathe. Another hit to my face.

My nose broke with a sickening crunch. Blood poured down my throat. I was choking on it. Another kick to my side.

I coughed up blood. Everything was blurring. But I could still hear Aria. Still hear her screaming.

"SARAH!"

I tried to crawl. Had to reach her. Had to get to her.

My arms barely worked. My legs wouldn’t support my weight. But I dragged myself forward anyway.

"SARAH!"

Aria’s scream tore through the room, raw and shredded, stripped down to pure desperation. It cut through the ringing in my ears and dragged my consciousness back from the edge.

I forced my swollen eyes open, vision blurring through blood and pain. My face felt wrong numb and burning all at once... and when I tried to move, my body answered with a sharp, nauseating reminder of how badly I’d been hurt.

That was when I saw her.

Aria was being hauled toward the exit, two men gripping her arms, their hands bruising and merciless. She fought them with everything she had left, kicking, twisting, snarling like something feral and cornered. One of them tried to shove the gag back into her mouth.

She bit him.

Hard.

His scream rang out, high and shocked, as he jerked his hand back, clutching it to his chest. Blood spattered the floor.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Aria screamed, thrashing against their grip. "LET ME GO TO HER!"

"ARIA!" I choked out her name, the sound tearing its way up my throat as blood spilled from my mouth and hit the concrete beneath me.

Our eyes locked.

The world narrowed until there was nothing else... no men, no weapons, no pain. Just her. Just me. Both of us reaching for each other with broken bodies and shattered voices, screaming each other’s names as if saying them loudly enough could bridge the distance between us. As if it could undo what was happening.

We were both begging Andrew without words... each of us silently pleading for him to take the other instead.

And Andrew stood in the doorway, watching.

Smiling.

Savoring every second of our suffering.

Then he stepped back into the room.

His movements were slow, deliberate, almost casual, as if this were nothing more than an inconvenience he was taking his time with. He glanced down, noticed something on the floor, and bent to pick it up.

My gun.

The one I’d dropped when they rushed me.

He turned it over in his hand, checked the magazine. Still loaded.

My heart slammed against my ribs, then seemed to stop altogether.

"No," I breathed, the word barely audible even to myself.

Andrew walked toward me, his boots echoing softly against the concrete, and stopped once he was standing over me. I lay there bleeding, broken, unable to do anything but watch as he raised the gun.

He cocked it.

The sound was sharp and final, snapping through the air like a verdict.

I turned my head, searching for her.

Aria had gone completely still. Frozen. Her face was pale, her eyes locked on the gun, then on me, horror dawning as she understood exactly what was about to happen.

"NO!" she screamed. "NO, ANDREW, PLEASE!"

Andrew crouched beside me, close enough that I could smell him... clean, calm, infuriatingly composed. He pressed the barrel of the gun to my forehead, the cold metal biting into my skin.

"You should have stayed useful," he said quietly, his voice almost gentle.

Then he looked up at Aria.

Smiled.

"Don’t worry," he added. "I’ll take very good care of her for you."

I dragged my gaze back to her one last time.

Memories crashed over me in a violent rush, freshman orientation, her bright smile.

Late nights hunched over textbooks, whispering answers to each other, her falling asleep against my shoulder while I pretended not to notice how fast my heart was racing.

Our college dorms. Thin walls. Too little money. Too many blankets piled on the couch as we watched terrible movies and laughed until our stomachs hurt.

Every moment. Every laugh. Every time she’d trusted me.

Every time I’d lied. Everything we had been. Everything I had destroyed.

"It was never meant to be like this," I said, my voice cracking apart.

Aria was sobbing now, her body shaking as she fought against the men holding her.

"All I wanted was to be happy with you."

The words came out broken and wet with blood.

"I’m so sorry, Aria," I whispered. "I’m so sorry."

"YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME!" she screamed at Andrew, her voice tearing itself raw. "JUST SPARE HER! PLEASE! I’LL DO ANYTHING!"

But I already knew. He wouldn’t listen.

This was my punishment—for hurting her, for kidnapping her, for loving her wrong.

Maybe I deserved it.

"I really wish you could be happy," I murmured, tears spilling down my face, mixing with the blood. "I love—"

The gunshot was deafening.