Chapter 12: Between Life and Death
1003 Words
Alexander's body crashed into Isabella's arms.
For a split second, everything around her disappeared.
The gunfire.
The alarms.
The screams.
The collapsing ceiling.
None of it existed anymore.
All she could see was the man who had thrown himself in front of a knife meant for her.
Blood spread rapidly across the front of his black suit, soaking through the expensive fabric before dripping onto the concrete floor.
"Alexander..."
Her voice trembled.
"No... no..."
She pressed both hands against the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
Warm blood seeped between her fingers.
His breathing was shallow.
Painful.
His eyes fluttered open for only a moment.
He looked directly at her.
"I told you..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"...not... to fall... in love with me."
Despite everything, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
A tear rolled down Isabella's cheek.
"You idiot."
Another tear followed.
"You saved me."
Alexander tried to raise his hand.
His strength failed.
"I'm sorry..."
His eyelids closed again.
"Alexander!"
She shook him desperately.
"Look at me!"
"You don't get to sleep!"
"You hear me?"
"You promised me one year!"
"You promised!"
Her voice broke completely.
"So don't you dare leave me after one day..."
---
Several security officers rushed toward them.
"Mr. Knight!"
One of them immediately removed his jacket and pressed it against Alexander's wound.
"We need an ambulance!"
Another guard spoke into his radio.
"Medical team to the underground garage immediately!"
Ethan finally reached them.
His injured shoulder was bleeding heavily, yet he ignored it.
He knelt beside Alexander.
"Sir..."
Seeing Alexander unconscious shook him more than his own injury ever had.
He had worked for Alexander for nearly twelve years.
He had never seen his employer lose.
Not once.
And now...
The strongest man he knew lay motionless on the ground.
---
The countdown continued.
ONE MINUTE... FIFTY-EIGHT SECONDS.
Concrete cracked overhead.
A massive support beam groaned ominously.
Dust filled the air.
Detective Harris finally reached the group with several officers.
"Everyone!"
"We have to evacuate!"
Ethan looked up.
"We're not leaving him."
"If we stay..."
"We all die."
"No."
Isabella's voice was calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
"We're taking him with us."
The detective looked at Alexander.
"He needs surgery immediately."
"He won't survive if we move him."
"And he definitely won't survive if the building collapses."
The detective couldn't argue with that.
"Get a stretcher!"
Four officers hurried forward.
They carefully lifted Alexander.
The moment they did...
His head rolled slightly to one side.
Something slipped from inside his jacket.
A small silver locket.
It landed beside Isabella's knee.
She picked it up.
The locket had clearly been carried for years.
Its surface was scratched and worn.
Almost instinctively...
She opened it.
Inside were two tiny photographs.
On one side...
A smiling little girl with bright blue eyes.
Lily.
On the other side...
A young woman.
Beautiful.
Kind.
Holding the little girl in her arms.
"His wife..." Isabella whispered.
Martha looked over her shoulder.
Her eyes filled with sadness.
"Her name was Sophia."
"What happened to her?"
Martha hesitated.
Then quietly answered,
"She died the same night Lily disappeared."
Isabella froze.
"What?"
"No one ever proved how."
"But Mr. Knight blamed himself."
"He never smiled again."
She looked down at Alexander.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The loneliness.
The walls around his heart.
The refusal to speak about his past.
He hadn't simply lost a daughter.
He had lost his entire family in a single night.
---
Another explosion thundered through the garage.
The lights flickered violently.
ONE MINUTE... FIFTEEN SECONDS.
Ethan looked toward the emergency tunnel.
"We have to move!"
The officers lifted Alexander onto the stretcher.
Isabella refused to leave his side.
They hurried into the narrow tunnel.
Behind them...
The mansion groaned as if it were alive.
Concrete chunks crashed onto the floor.
Pipes burst.
Water flooded sections of the underground passage.
Everyone ran.
No one looked back.
Halfway through the tunnel...
Alexander suddenly groaned.
His eyelids fluttered.
"Isabella..."
"I'm here."
She immediately took his hand.
"I'm right here."
His grip was weak.
"So..."
"...you didn't run."
She smiled through her tears.
"I told you."
"I'm not leaving."
A faint smile appeared on his pale face.
"Good..."
Then he lost consciousness again.
---
The group finally burst out of the emergency tunnel into the cool night air.
The estate walls stood behind them.
Everyone stumbled onto the grass beyond the property.
Detective Harris shouted,
"Move farther away!"
They barely managed another thirty yards.
Then—
The countdown reached zero.
THREE...
TWO...
ONE...
A blinding flash illuminated the night.
The earth shook violently beneath their feet.
An enormous explosion erupted beneath Knight Estate.
The ground cracked.
Windows shattered for hundreds of meters.
The magnificent mansion slowly began collapsing inward.
Tower after tower crumbled.
Walls folded into clouds of dust.
The grand home that had stood proudly for generations disappeared before their eyes.
Flames rose into the night sky.
People screamed.
Reporters outside the gates fled in panic.
Fire engines raced toward the inferno.
Within less than a minute...
Knight Estate was gone.
Reduced to nothing but burning rubble.
Isabella stared silently at the destruction.
Alexander had lost his home.
His evidence.
His memories.
Everything.
She looked down at the unconscious man lying beside her.
"No..."
She whispered firmly.
"They haven't taken everything."
Martha looked at her.
"As long as he's alive..."
"...there's still hope."
Suddenly, a police officer ran toward Detective Harris.
"Sir!"
"We've got a problem!"
"What now?"
The officer handed him a tablet.
"It was just uploaded five minutes ago."
Harris looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
"What is it?" Isabella asked.
The detective slowly turned the tablet toward her.
Across every news website in the country was a new headline.
BREAKING: VIDEO SURFACES SHOWING ALEXANDER KNIGHT CONFESSING TO MURDERING HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER.
Beneath the headline...
The video had already been viewed more than twelve million times.
And in the thumbnail...
Alexander was looking directly into the camera, saying the words:
"I killed them."
To Be Continued...
- Writer
