The CEO's Regret: You made me your lie, I become your Loss-Chapter 70: Shot

The mountain pass was a jagged ribbon of ice and shadow. Blue and red lights bled through the falling snow, painting the white world in flashes of chaos. The police had blocked the highway, their cruisers angled like iron teeth in the road.

Elara hit the brakes, the car skidding, spinning, and slamming into a snowbank. The engine choked and died. She didn’t think; she bolted. She scrambled out of the driver’s side, her coat flapping in the freezing wind, her eyes wild, searching for a path that didn’t exist, leaving Seren in the car.

"Elara Langford! Stop! Hands where we can see them!"

The command tore through the air, but Elara only ran harder. She was a woman possessed, driven by the echoes of her own failures. She reached the edge of a guardrail, her boots slipping on the frozen pavement.

Pop. Pop.

Two sharp cracks cut through the howling wind. Elara gasped, her body jolting forward as if caught by an invisible hand. She pitched forward, hitting the ground hard, the snow beneath her chest turning a deep, terrifying crimson.

Hours later, the hospital corridor was cold and smelled of iron and bleach.

Little Seren sat on a plastic chair that was far too big for her, her feet dangling inches above the linoleum floor. Her small hands were clasped so tightly her knuckles were white. Every time the heavy double doors at the end of the hall swung open, she flinched, her eyes darting toward the nurses with a desperate, unspoken question.

She was alone. No father to hold her, no mother to comfort her. Only the cold, sterile hum of machines behind the door where her mother lay fighting for a life that had become a series of jagged mistakes.

A nurse walked by, her face softened by pity, and placed a hand on Seren’s shoulder. "Sweetheart, you need to eat something. It’s been hours."

Seren didn’t move. A single tear tracked through the dust on her cheek. "Is she going to sleep forever?" the little girl whispered, her voice barely audible over the thrum of the building.

The nurse had no answer. She just squeezed Seren’s shoulder and walked away, leaving the child in the lonely, echoing hallway.

Inside the room, Elara lay motionless, wired to monitors that beeped in a slow, steady, haunting rhythm. She was a fugitive on the brink of death, her war against Amara reduced to this: a silent, broken woman in a hospital gown, and a daughter waiting for a miracle that might never come.

–

The news hit the suite like a sudden, freezing gale. Amara was sitting by the window, a blanket draped over her shoulders, when Julian walked in. He looked drained, his eyes dark with the weight of the day’s events.

"She’s been caught, Amara," Julian said, his voice low and devoid of sympathy. "There was a chase... the police had to use force. She’s in critical condition at the city hospital."

Amara stared out at the snow. She didn’t feel the relief she expected. She felt hollow. "And the little one?"

"Seren?" Julian sighed, rubbing his temples. "She’s alone. The authorities are looking for a foster placement, but for now, she’s just sitting in the hospital waiting room."

Amara looked at her own hands. They were still trembling from the cold of the lake. She thought of that little girl, abandoned because of her mother’s hate, and a strange, haunting ache settled in her chest.

"She’s innocent in all of this, Julian," Amara whispered.

But Julian shook his head, his face hardening. "Don’t, Amara. Don’t be kind to the people who tried to destroy you. Let’s leave this behind. Let’s go home." Amara nods; she might have raised Seren, but she was not her responsibility; she silently thought of looking for Seren’s real father. At least it was better than foster care.

—

Thousands of miles away, the air was warm, smelling of salt spray and rotting hibiscus. The Island was a paradise of overgrown vines and rusted metal.

Sebastian stepped off the private charter boat, his legs unsteady, his face gaunt, but his eyes blazing with a terrifying, feverish intensity. He reached out, taking the hand of the woman who wore Amara’s face.

"We’re here, it took us days, but finally we are here," Seb whispered, his voice trembling with a decade of bottled-up longing. "Finally. No Julian. No family. Just us." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Amira smiled, a sweet, practiced, and predatory smile. She looked around at the decaying resort, the broken tiles, the shadows clinging to the palm trees. It was a ruin, a perfect place for a lie to thrive.

"It’s beautiful, Seb," Amira said, her voice a perfect mimicry of her sister’s soft, melodic tone. She squeezed his hand, pulling him deeper into the jungle path. "We can finally be the people we were meant to be. Tell me... what do you want to do first?"

Seb stopped, looking at her as if she were a goddess descended from the heavens. He was so consumed, so blinded by his own obsession, that he didn’t notice the way the light in her eyes was cold, calculating, and hungry.

"I want to forget everything else," Seb rasped, pulling her into a desperate, needy embrace. "I just want you. Forever."

Amira looked over his shoulder, her expression shifting instantly into a mask of cruel amusement. She had him. The man who had once been the most powerful force in their lives was now just a puppet on a string, dancing to her rhythm.

She leaned into his ear, her voice a poisonous whisper. "Then let’s make sure you never leave this island again."

As they disappeared into the dense, dark foliage, the island seemed to close in around them, a beautiful, isolated tomb for a love built on nothing but ash and deceit.

—

Back at the city hospital, the air in the hallways was heavy, suffocating with the scent of floor wax and regret. Amara stood outside the ICU, her hand resting on the cool, glass viewing window.

Inside, Elara looked smaller than she ever had in life. She was surrounded by the rhythmic, mechanical heartbeat of the machines, the only sound keeping her tethered to the world. A ventilator tube snaked into her mouth, and her chest rose and fell in unnatural, forced cycles.

"She’s hanging on," Julian said, his voice quiet as he stood behind her. "But the doctors say the damage is extensive. She might not wake up, Amara."

Amara watched the monitor. The frantic, hateful woman who had tried to end her life was now just a shell. She thought of Seren, huddled in that distant waiting room, and a sudden, sharp pang of guilt pierced through her armor.

"She tried to kill me," Amara whispered, her reflection ghosting over Elara’s pale face in the glass. "But looking at her now... I don’t feel like a victor. I just feel tired, Julian. So tired."

Julian pulled her away from the window, his grip firm. "You’re alive. That’s all that matters. Let’s go. We have a life to rebuild, and we’re going to do it far away from this nightmare."