Owned by the cold billionaire

The bullet that changed everything

The world stretched into one long, silent heartbeat.

Lena didn’t scream.

Didn’t move.

Didn’t even breathe.

Her father’s finger tightened on the trigger—

A metallic click echoed—

And then—

BANG.

But it wasn’t his gun.

It was Elias’s.

The shot rang so loud it shook Lena’s bones. Sparks exploded as Elias slammed into her, tackling her to the floor behind a fallen marble slab. The bullet her father fired struck the wall instead, showering them with dust.

Lena gasped, heart skittering wildly against her ribs. “Elias—”

His arms locked around her like steel bands. “I told you, I’m not losing you.”

Her father’s voice thundered through the smoke.

“You’re only delaying the inevitable, Elias!”

Another hail of gunfire burst across the room. Elias lifted his head just enough to assess their cover, his breathing sharp and controlled.

“Lena, stay low,” he said. “Don’t move.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

His jaw clenched. “Good. Because you’re not going anywhere without me.”

Another explosion shook the upper floor. The lights flickered, plunging them into near-darkness except for the emergency beams slicing through the smoke.

Lena grabbed Elias’s arm. “He’s trying to kill me. He— he said he didn’t want me dead, but—”

“He doesn’t,” Elias said, voice tight. “If he wanted you dead, he would’ve aimed differently.”

“Then why—?”

“He’s trying to break you,” Elias growled. “To make you fear being with me. To push you into choosing him.”

Lena’s breath hitched. “But he pointed the gun at me—”

“He pointed it so I would react,” Elias said sharply. “He wanted to see if I’d protect you or use you as cover. He wanted proof.”

“Proof of what?”

Elias swallowed hard.

“That I love you.”

Lena froze.

The world froze.

Even the gunfire seemed far away suddenly.

She stared at Elias, wide-eyed. “Y—You—”

He grimaced like the words hurt him. “I shouldn’t have said it now. But it’s the truth. You know it.”

Before she could respond—

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Heavy footsteps approached through the haze.

Her father’s silhouette emerged, flanked by two men with rifles.

“Lena,” he called. “You’re only making this harder on yourself. Elias cannot protect you from what’s coming.”

Elias pulled her deeper behind cover, gripping her wrist tight. “Don’t listen.”

But Lena saw something that made her chest squeeze—

Elias was bleeding.

A thin trail of dark red on his side.

“Elias! You’re hurt!”

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, wiping the blood with the back of his hand. “Just grazed me.”

“Just grazed” was a lie. She saw the pain flash in his eyes.

Her father’s voice carried again.

“Elias!”

A cold chuckle.

“You’re weak. You always have been.”

Elias’s eyes darkened.

“Come out,” her father taunted. “Face me like a man instead of hiding behind the girl you shouldn’t even be touching.”

Lena flinched.

“That’s enough,” Elias growled.

“Oh? Does it sting?” her father asked. “Knowing you’ve fallen for someone who shares your blood? Something disgusting. Something forbidden.”

Lena shook her head violently. “Stop— please— stop—”

Her father turned toward her voice. “Lena. I’m giving you one last chance. Come with me, and I’ll spare him.”

“Don’t believe a damn word he says,” Elias snapped. “He’ll kill me later anyway— and then he’ll use you.”

Her father stepped further into the light.

Gun raised.

No hesitation.

“This ends now.”

Elias grabbed Lena and shoved her behind a beam just as her father fired again. The bullet grazed the marble inches from her face.

Lena’s scream tore from her throat. “STOP TRYING TO KILL US!”

Her father’s voice boomed:

“I’m saving you!”

“That’s not saving!” she cried. “That’s destroying everything!”

He paused.

Just for a moment.

And in that moment— Elias made his move.

He surged up from cover, gun blazing. The masked men dove aside as Elias charged forward like a shadow made of fire and fury.

“Elias—!” Lena screamed, scrambling up.

But he didn’t stop.

Didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t look back.

He ran straight toward his father.

Her father fired—

Elias dodged—

Glass shattered—

Furniture splintered—

Smoke swallowed them all.

“ELIAS!” Lena cried.

A figure slammed into another, and the two men crashed onto the floor, fists flying, guns skidding away.

Punches landed.

Bones cracked.

Blood hit the tile.

Lena rushed forward but one of the masked guards blocked her path, grabbing her arm.

“Let go!” she screamed, struggling. “LET GO!”

Before the guard could drag her away, a gunshot cracked through the room.

The guard stiffened.

Then collapsed.

Behind him stood Damien Thorn — Elias’s brother — holding a smoking gun.

Lena nearly sobbed. “Damien—”

“No time,” he snapped. “Get back. Elias is going to do something stupid.”

“What— what do you mean?”

Damien grabbed her arm and pulled her aside just as Elias pinned their father against the broken window frame, blood dripping down both their faces.

Her father spat blood and laughed.

“You’re just like me.”

“I am NOTHING like you,” Elias snarled.

Her father shoved him back, grabbing a shard of glass. “Then prove it!”

They lunged at each other again.

Lena’s heart couldn’t take it.

“STOP!” she screamed.

They didn’t.

“YOU’RE BOTH GOING TO DIE!”

Still nothing.

Damien cursed under his breath and stepped forward. “I’m stopping this—”

But Lena grabbed his sleeve. “No. Let me try.”

“Lena—”

“LET. ME.”

Damien hesitated.

Then nodded.

Lena ran.

Straight toward the two men locked in a violent, bloody struggle.

“Elias!” she cried.

He turned for half a second — and in that split moment, her father drove the glass shard toward Elias’s chest.

“No!” Lena screamed.

Elias jerked back—

The shard sliced across his ribs instead of his heart.

He hissed in pain but grabbed his father’s wrist, twisting it until a sickening c***k echoed through the room.

Her father shouted—

Dropped the shard—

And Elias slammed him back into the broken window frame, chest heaving.

“Give me one reason not to end you,” Elias said through clenched teeth.

His father smirked despite the blood running down his face.

“You won’t,” he whispered. “Because you know… deep down… I’m the only piece of your past you have left.”

Elias’s expression twisted with pain so sharp it almost shattered Lena.

“Don’t listen to him!” Lena cried.

Elias turned toward her—

Eyes wild, lost, bleeding—

And for the first time, she saw it:

He wasn’t invincible.

He wasn’t unbreakable.

He was shattering.

Her father lunged again, going for Elias’s throat—

And Lena moved.

She didn’t think.

She didn’t pause.

She didn’t fear.

She threw herself between them.

“LENA— NO!”

The glass shard in her father’s hand struck—

Pain exploded through her shoulder.

Elias froze.

Her father froze.

Damien shouted.

The world spun.

Lena collapsed to the floor, blood spreading under her.

Elias dropped to his knees beside her instantly, panic tearing through his voice.

“No. No, no, no— Lena— look at me— LOOK AT ME—”

He pressed his hands against the wound, eyes trembling, breath shaking.

“I can’t lose you— I can’t—”

Lena stared up at him weakly, vision blurring.

“Elias…”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I’m not… leaving you.”

Behind them, her father stepped back, horrified.

“Lena— I— I didn’t—”

Elias turned to him with a look so dark it could kill.

“You’re done,” he growled.

Damien lifted his gun.

Her father raised both hands slowly.

But it was Elias’s voice that delivered the final blow:

“Touch her again… and I end you.”

The room fell silent.

Everything froze—

Except Lena.

Bleeding.

Fading.

And slipping out of consciousness.

The last thing she felt was Elias’s hands shaking against her skin.

And the last thing she heard—

“Lena, stay with me. I love you. Stay with me— please— don’t leave—”

Then darkness swallowed her.