CHAPTER 2: The devil in the rain
865 Words
The black SUVs stopped one after another behind the burning car.
Serena’s blood ran cold.
Rain crashed violently around them as four men stepped out slowly, dressed entirely in black.
One of them was holding a gun.
“Oh my God…” Serena whispered.
The injured stranger suddenly yanked her downward just as—
BANG!
A bullet shattered the car window above her head.
Serena screamed.
Glass exploded everywhere.
“Get down!” the man growled harshly.
Another gunshot rang through the storm.
The car beside them burst into flames violently.
Serena’s entire body shook uncontrollably as the stranger forced himself out of the wrecked vehicle despite the blood pouring from his shoulder.
How was he even standing?
He looked barely conscious.
Yet terrifyingly dangerous.
One of the armed men stepped forward.
“Boss wants the woman too.”
Serena froze.
The woman?
They meant her.
Why?
“I don’t know anything!” Serena cried desperately.
The stranger’s dark eyes snapped toward her instantly.
For one strange second, something dangerous flashed across his face.
Calculation.
Then he grabbed her wrist tightly.
“Run.”
“What?”
“RUN!”
Another bullet struck the vehicle.
The explosion behind them intensified violently.
Without warning, the stranger shoved Serena toward the trees lining the empty roadside.
“Move!”
They ran through the rain.
Branches clawed against Serena’s skin as thunder roared above them.
Her chest burned painfully.
Her heart condition—
No.
Not now.
Please not now.
Behind them, footsteps pounded through the darkness.
“They’re getting closer!” Serena cried.
The stranger suddenly pulled a gun from inside his jacket.
Serena stared at him in horror.
Who was this man?
He fired twice without hesitation.
BANG! BANG!
Two screams echoed behind them.
Serena nearly collapsed from fear.
The stranger grabbed her again roughly.
“Keep moving.”
Rain soaked his black shirt completely now, revealing blood spreading rapidly across his shoulder and stomach.
He was badly injured.
Yet somehow still terrifying.
A distant memory suddenly hit Serena violently.
Three years ago.
A business magazine cover.
A man feared across Europe.
Roman Draven.
The Devil Billionaire.
Her breathing stopped.
No.
No way.
She slowly looked at him again.
The sharp jawline. The cold dark eyes. The overwhelming dangerous aura.
Oh God.
It was him.
Roman Draven.
The billionaire rumored to destroy entire companies overnight. The man connected to politicians, mafia syndicates, and scandals nobody dared discuss publicly.
Fear curled violently inside Serena.
Why was someone trying to assassinate him?
And why were they trying to kill her too?
Suddenly Roman stumbled slightly.
Serena instinctively caught him.
His body was burning with fever.
“You’re losing too much blood,” she whispered shakily.
Roman’s eyes locked onto hers intensely.
“You should’ve left me in the car.”
Something about his voice sent chills through her.
Not because it was cruel.
Because it sounded like a warning.
As if staying beside him would ruin her life forever.
Before Serena could answer—
Her phone rang loudly inside her purse.
Both of them froze.
The men searching for them suddenly shouted in the distance.
“There!”
Panic exploded inside Serena.
Roman immediately grabbed the phone from her bag and silenced it.
But not before the caller ID flashed brightly across the screen.
ETHAN VALE.
Roman’s expression darkened instantly.
“Your husband?” he asked coldly.
“Ex-husband,” Serena whispered painfully.
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Roman studied her face silently.
Then—
The phone rang again.
This time a message appeared.
Serena’s hands trembled as she read it.
COME BACK AND SIGN THE DIVORCE PAPERS.
OR I’LL MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE WITH NOTHING.
Another message arrived immediately after.
And this one shattered her completely.
You should’ve known better than to think I’d ever want a child with you.
Serena stopped breathing.
Her fingers slowly moved toward her stomach.
Tears mixed with the rain on her face.
Her baby.
Ethan didn’t want their baby.
Her chest tightened violently again.
Pain shot through her heart so sharply she nearly collapsed.
Roman caught her instantly.
His eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw the messages.
The air around him changed.
Darkened.
Dangerous.
“Who is Ethan Vale?” Roman asked quietly.
But the terrifying calm in his voice frightened Serena more than shouting would have.
“He’s the CEO of Vale Corporation,” she answered weakly.
Roman went silent for two long seconds.
Then suddenly—
He laughed.
A cold terrifying laugh.
“Oh,” he murmured darkly.
“Now this is interesting.”
Serena looked at him confused.
“What?”
Roman stared directly into her eyes.
And what he said next made her blood freeze completely.
“The man trying to destroy your life…”
He stepped closer slowly.
“…is working for the same people trying to kill me.”
Before Serena could even process his words—
BANG!
A gunshot exploded nearby.
Roman immediately dragged Serena against him as a bullet struck the tree inches from her head.
Then a familiar voice suddenly echoed through the darkness.
“Serena?!”
Her entire body froze.
Ethan.
Oh God.
Ethan was here.
And he wasn’t alone.
- Writer
