HIS STOLEN BRIDE 2

*Chapter 9: The Unlocked Door* Alex closed his eyes, pain flashing across his face. Not just from the wounds. “Not if I get to him first,” he whispered. Meyer found Alex through his phone tracker and rushed him to the hospital. The ER doors had barely stopped swinging before Meyer was shouting for a trauma team. Alex’s blood was all over Meyer’s shirt, and his own hands shook as he gave the doctors the bare details. Gunshot wound, left shoulder, entry and exit. Conscious when they loaded him, unconscious by the time they hit the highway. The surgery took four hours. When Alex finally came out, his face was pale under the oxygen mask, his breathing shallow and mechanical. The doctor pulled Meyer aside and said the words nobody wanted to hear: “He’s stable, but it’s going to be a long recovery. He lost a lot of blood. Infection risk is high. No strenuous movement for at least six weeks.” Meyer just nodded. He didn’t leave the hospital for three days. --- His recovery was really slow and Theo knows Jenny is pregnant for Alex. The first week, Alex couldn’t stay awake for more than ten minutes at a time. The painkillers kept him in a fog, and every time he surfaced, the first thing he asked was “Jenny?” Meyer never lied to him. “Not yet, man. But I will find her.” Theo found out about the pregnancy on day nine. One of his men had been watching Hetty, and when she slipped and told the nurse at the hospital that “the baby needs its father,” it didn’t take long for the information to get back to him. He didn’t react right away. He just sat in his penthouse, staring at the city lights, a glass of whiskey untouched in his hand. A baby. Alex’s baby. With Jenny. The thought sat in his chest like a live wire. Hetty avoided them all because of the guilt she felt. She stopped answering Alex’s calls. She stopped coming to work. She moved back to her cousin’s place on the edge of town and turned her phone off for days at a time. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the look on Alex’s face when he realized she’d told Theo where to find them. She’d wanted to protect Jenny. She’d wanted to end it all. Instead, she’d handed Theo the map. She tried to pray. It didn’t help. --- One day Theo goes to Jenny's room to beat her up as usual but she talks to him about the monster he became. "Even if you were the one in Alex's shoes then you would give up everything to have your mother without thinking of any other persons interests too bad your mother is long gone," Jenny said and it hits him like bomb blasts. The room was small, dim, the only light coming from the slit under the door. Theo’s fist was already raised when she spoke. He froze. Her voice wasn’t shaking. It hadn’t shaken in days. “You think hurting me brings her back?” she said quietly. “You think if you break me enough, Alex will feel it the way you felt when she died?” Theo’s jaw clenched. “Don’t say her name.” “But I will,” Jenny said. “Because you’re drowning in her, Theo. And you’re trying to drag everyone else down with you.” He took a step forward. She didn’t flinch. “Even if you were the one in Alex's shoes then you would give up everything to have your mother without thinking of any other persons interests too bad your mother is long gone,” Jenny said and it hits him like bomb blasts. The air left the room. Theo’s hand dropped to his side. His face went blank, then twisted. For a second, Jenny thought he would hit her anyway. He didn’t. He tried to shake it off within himself but the reality of his guilt sank on him. He turned away, running a hand through his hair, breathing hard like he’d just run a mile. The walls of the room seemed to close in. Alex’s face. His mother’s face. The sound of the gunshot four years ago. He couldn’t breathe. She went further into telling him to put himself in her baby's shoes. " If when you were still in your mother's womb someone who happened to once be your father's friend shot your father because he was trying to protect your mother from brutality and you grow up to hear the story what would you do to that creature?" She asked. Theo didn’t answer. “What would you call him?” Jenny pressed. “A monster? A coward? Would you hunt him for the rest of your life? Would you want him to see your child? Would you let him?” You are just worse than a Demon. And maybe that's why you never found love. Why won't you let me go see Alex even if it's once to be sure he's okay? He's all I've got aside my dad and this baby. The words hung there, raw and bare. Theo’s throat worked, but nothing came out. He looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Not as Alex’s woman. Not as a weapon or a prize. Just a girl, pregnant, scared, and still trying to hold onto something human in the middle of his mess. Theo was sober he walked out of the room but he didn't lock it as usual. The click of the lock didn’t come. Jenny heard his footsteps retreat down the hall, heavy and uneven. She stood there for a long time, listening, waiting for the sound of it locking behind him. It never came. Her hands trembled as she reached for the door handle. It turned. For the first time in weeks, the door was open. She didn’t run. Not yet. She sat back down on the edge of the bed, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. Because running now would mean Alex would come for her, and Alex was still in a hospital bed, still healing, still vulnerable. She had to be smart. He went to the piano and touched it he remembered the last time he played piano was on the day Alex took Olivia. The piano was old, out of tune in places, pushed against the wall in the unused music room. Dust clung to the keys. Theo sat down slowly, like the bench might break under him. His fingers hovered over the keys. The last time he’d played was the night Alex came for Olivia. The night everything changed. He pressed a key. The note was flat, hollow. He remembered four years ago. ' I and Alex weren't just friends we were brothers we did almost everything together we eat together slept together and partied together until I found this girl. At first she was Naive. We were twenty-three and stupid and invincible. Alex was already running his father’s company, but he hated it. I was the one who kept him sane. We’d close the office at 6 PM and be at a club by 7. Girls, deals, fights we didn’t finish. It didn’t matter. We had each other’s backs. Then I met her. I met her at a garden. On the first day I wasn't opportune to see her face I only heard her voice and it was just like that if a fallen angel her voice was so captivating that I couldn't resist I broke my rule that day I fell in love. It was a public garden behind the old cathedral. I was cutting through it to avoid traffic, and I heard singing. Not loud. Just… there. Like it was part of the wind. I stopped. I stood behind a row of hedges for twenty minutes and didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe right. When I finally walked around to see who it was, she was gone. Only a few crushed flowers where she’d been sitting. I came to that garden every day to know if I would see her but she didn't show up the day I almost gave up she appeared again this time I followed her voice and found her immediately she saw me she froze in fear and the next second she ran away. Her name was Olivia. She lived in the rundown apartments three streets over. Her father was a drunk, her mother was gone, and she worked two jobs to keep food on the table. She didn’t trust anyone. Least of all a guy in a suit driving a car worth more than her apartment. I kept coming everyday I never gave up I kept coming until she showed up again this time she wasn't singing she just wanted to see my face and storm off again but I caught her on time I held her wrist so tightly that she couldn't break free. I didn’t mean to grab her that hard. I was scared she’d disappear again. When she turned, I saw it. I looked at her with pity in my heart. She had scars and bruises all over her I could imagine that she was going through hell. Her arm was purple and swollen. Her lip was split. She wore long sleeves in July. “Who did this to you?” I asked. My voice came out rougher than I meant it to. She pulled away. “Let go of me.” Could you sing one more time I asked trying to hide the pity in my heart. She stared at me like I’d grown a second head. She stared in shock. Sir are you not afraid that I'm too ugly and I may bring you bad luck? She asked. The superstition was old in her neighborhood. Ugly girls, broken girls, they brought ruin. Her father said it every night when he hit her. I laughed, but it wasn’t a kind laugh. It was bitter. I don't care about your looks and this is the 21st century we don't believe in our fellow humans spreading badluck. She didn’t sing that day. But the next day, she was there again. And the day after that. Alex met her two months later. I should have known it would ruin everything. Alex met her two months later. I should have known it would ruin everything. It was at my birthday party. I’d dragged Alex there even though he’d been avoiding me for a week. He showed up late, drunk, and angry. I thought it was because I’d been spending too much time with Olivia. I didn’t know he’d already seen her. She was serving drinks that night. She didn’t want to, but her manager threatened to cut her hours. She kept her head down, her hair in her face, trying to be invisible. It didn’t work. Alex saw her across the room and froze. I watched his face change. The anger dropped, replaced by something I hadn’t seen in him before. Something quiet and dangerous. “Who’s that?” he asked me, voice low. “Nobody,” I said too fast. “Just a waitress. Don’t.” But Alex never listened when I said don’t. He walked over to her. I followed, my stomach twisting. I told myself I was stopping him. I was lying. Olivia looked up when he stopped in front of her. Her tray shook. “Alex,” I said. “Leave her alone.” He ignored me. “You sing,” he said. Not a question. Olivia’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Don’t lie,” he said. “I heard you. At the garden. You have a voice like—” “Like trouble,” I cut in. “She’s trouble, Alex. Walk away.” Alex looked at me then, really looked at me, and I saw it. Betrayal. “You knew,” he said. “You knew and you didn’t tell me.” “I was protecting you,” I said. “You were protecting yourself,” he shot back. Olivia used the moment to slip away. That night was the first time Alex and I actually fought. Not play-fighting in the gym, not arguing over business. A real fight. Fists and blood and words we couldn’t take back. “You think you own her?” he shouted at me in the parking lot, his knuckles split. “I think you’ll ruin her!” I shouted back. “You’re just like every other rich kid who wants a broken thing to fix so he can feel good about himself!” “You don’t get to decide that for her!” “She doesn’t even know what she wants! She’s scared of you, Alex! She’s scared of both of us!” Alex stopped then. He looked at me for a long time, and when he spoke, his voice was flat. “Get in the car, Theo. We’re done here.” We weren’t done. After that, everything split in half. Alex started seeing Olivia in secret. I tried to keep her away from him. She’d come to the garden crying because her father had beaten her again, and I’d hold her while she shook. Then she’d leave and go to Alex, and he’d hold her too. I told myself it was fine. That she could have both of us. That we were brothers, we could share anything. I was wrong. The night everything changed started like any other night. I was at the garden waiting for her. She didn’t come. When she finally showed up, it was past midnight, and she was running. Theo, she gasped when she saw me. He found me. Her father. I didn’t ask questions. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to my car. We drove to my place. Alex was already there. He saw the state she was in and lost it. Olivia tried to calm him down. She stood between us, both hands out, begging us to stop. Stop fighting over me. I’m not worth it. But we didn’t stop. Alex said something about taking her away, getting her out of the city, somewhere her father couldn’t find her. I said she wasn’t going anywhere with him. That she trusted me. That I’d been there first. Olivia started crying. She said she didn’t want to choose. That’s when her father showed up at the door. He was drunk, screaming, holding a knife. He said Olivia belonged to him, that he could sell her if he wanted to. Alex stepped forward. He said if he touched her again, he’d kill him. Her father laughed. He lunged. I don’t remember reaching for the gun. I don’t remember pulling the trigger. All I remember is the sound. And Olivia screaming. Her father went down. Alex rushed to her. I stood there with the gun still in my hand, shaking. Olivia looked at me like I’d killed her. Then she ran to Alex. The police came. Alex took the blame. He said it was self-defense. He said I wasn’t there. I wanted to tell the truth. I wanted to tell them it was my fault. But Alex looked at me and said, “If you say anything, she’ll hate you forever.” So I stayed quiet. Alex went to jail for six months. Olivia left the city a week later. She said she couldn’t stay where her father died. She didn’t say goodbye to me. When Alex got out, he wouldn’t look at me. I tried to fix it. I tried to explain. I told him I did it for her. For us. He said, “You did it for you, Theo. Don’t lie to me.” That was the last real conversation we had for four years. After that, I buried myself in work, in drinking, in anything that made me forget the sound of that gunshot. And I blamed him. I blamed Alex for taking her. For making me pull the trigger. For making me the monster. I never stopped to think that maybe I was already the monster before the gun ever went off. --- Theo stopped playing. His fingers rested on the keys, unmoving. Down the hall, Jenny’s door was still open. Somewhere in the city, Alex was waking up in a hospital bed, calling her name. And for the first time in four years, Theo wasn’t sure who the villain in the story was anymore.