Chapter 4
Aria's POV
When I woke, I was hanging in mid-air by chains.
Black ocean below. Icy wind slashing my face. East Side docks, abandoned.
I struggled desperately, but the rope only cut deeper into my wrists.
"Awake?"
A spotlight blazed on. A scarred man stepped from the shadows.
Moretti family—Konstantin's blood enemy.
"Nikolai Konstantin killed my brother." He lit a cigarette. "Tonight, he learns what it feels like to lose everything."
"Oh my God, where ARE we?! Someone HELP!" Scarlett's scream pierced the darkness beside me.
I turned. She was hanging on the other side, ghost white.
Scarred man pulled out his phone and dialed. "Konstantin. Got your wife and your girl. One hour. Fifty million cash. East Side docks. Otherwise—"
He looked up at us, smile ice cold. "I chop them up and feed the fish."
Nikolai's roar erupted through the speaker. Scarred man just laughed and hung up.
The wind grew colder. My body trembled.
Scarlett kept crying. "Nik will save me! He loves me! He has to!"
I said nothing. Just stared emptily at the black water below. Dark, like an abyss ready to swallow everything.
Will he come? Will he really save me?
Don't know how long passed. Black SUVs rolled through the dock entrance. Nikolai stepped out, metal briefcase in hand.
All the dock lights blazed on.
He looked up, saw us both. His face turned stone.
"Nik!" Scarlett cried out. "I'm so scared! Save me!"
"Nikolai—" I called out too, voice hoarse. "Save me... please..."
Tears rolled down uncontrollably. I'd never begged him like this. Never. But now I just wanted to live. Wanted our baby to live.
His gaze swept between us, finally landing on me. Just for a second.
Hope sparked in my chest. Maybe he'd save me. Maybe—
"Where's the money?" Scarred man walked over.
Nikolai threw the briefcase. "Fifty million."
Scarred man nodded, then smiled. "Money received. But Konstantin, change of plans. New rule—you only save one."
All hope died in that instant.
"You fucking with me?!" Nikolai exploded, gun aimed. "Let them BOTH down!"
Over a dozen guns trained on Nikolai.
"One chance." Scarred man grinned. "Your wife, or your mistress? Thirty seconds."
"Nik! Save me!" Scarlett wailed. "My heart can't take this! I'll die!"
"Nikolai..." My voice trembled. "Save us... the baby... please..."
I stared at him desperately, tears blurring everything. Please look at me. Please choose me. Just this once.
"Twenty seconds."
Nikolai's jaw clenched. Veins bulged on his forehead.
"Nik!" Scarlett screamed. "You PROMISED to protect me!"
"Nikolai..." I was pleading now. "Our baby... he's still here..."
"Ten seconds."
Time froze.
Nikolai looked at me, then at Scarlett. His face went pale. Jaw locked tight.
Finally, he took a deep breath. Slowly lowered his gun.
He looked at me, guilt flooding his eyes. "Aria... you've always been strong. You can handle this. Wait for me. I'll come right back."
Then turned to scarred man. "Let Scarlett down."
I froze. My heart shattered.
Even at death's door, I still lost to her.
His men started lowering Scarlett's rope. Nikolai rushed over and caught her the instant she landed.
He carried her toward the cars. After a few steps, he looked back. "Aria, wait for me. I'll be right back."
The convoy started. Engine sounds faded into the distance.
Scarred man whistled. "True love, huh?"
I looked down at the black water. Suddenly felt very calm.
No more waiting. I'd waited for him my whole life. Done.
I started thrashing violently, scraping the rope against the chain's edge. Slowly it frayed. My wrists became bloody and raw.
"Boss, what's she doing?"
"Let her." Scarred man sneered.
The moment the last strand snapped, I fell toward the water.
BANG.
Gunshot. Bullet tore into my abdomen. Searing pain.
Then icy water swallowed me whole.
Warm liquid poured from my body, mixing with the freezing ocean.
I'm sorry... Mommy couldn't save you...
In my last moment of consciousness, I heard a helicopter in the distance.
Then everything went dark.
When I woke, I was in a private hospital VIP room.
The doctor's words—baby gone. Bullet hit the abdomen. Massive placental abruption. Severe uterine damage. Getting pregnant again... almost impossible.
Baby number seven. Gone too.
I stared at the ceiling. Suddenly laughed. Laughed until tears came.
All seven babies dead. And now I couldn't even be a surrogate anymore.
"Aria."
Nikolai pushed through the door. Looked like hell. Eyes bloodshot.
"I'm sorry..." He sat by the bed, voice barely there. "I never thought it would end like this..."
I turned to him, eyes ice cold. "Congratulations, Nikolai. I can't get pregnant anymore. You're off the hook."
His face went white. "Aria, it's not like that—we can adopt, or—"
"Or what?" I cut him off. "Find another woman to carry your baby? Have Scarlett do it?"
"Do whatever." I turned away. "I'm useless now anyway. Right?"
"I didn't mean it like that..." He reached for my hand.
"Then what DID you mean?" I yanked away. "Nikolai, you chose to save her at that dock. That says everything."
"I thought you could hold on..."
"So you gambled with MY life to keep HER safe?" I stared hard. "That bullet almost hit my HEART!"
"I know..." He tried to touch me again. "But we can start over. I'll spend my life making this right—"
"Start over?" I pulled back, bitter laugh. "Do you love me, Nikolai? Did you EVER love me?"
He froze.
Before he could answer, I cut him off.
"Get out." I closed my eyes. "I don't want to see you."
"Aria—"
"GET OUT!" I screamed, tears breaking. "GO!"
Nikolai stood. Lingered at the door for a long time. Finally left.
That night, I made the call.
"I'm ready to leave tonight. And that drug you mentioned—the one that erases pain?"
"Lth-9." The voice on the other end was low. "You sure? After injection, you'll forget all emotional memories of him."
"I'm sure."
"Someone will come tonight."
Three AM. A masked doctor pushed in with a syringe. The liquid inside glowed faint blue.
"Last chance." He looked at me. "This is irreversible."
"Do it."
The needle pierced my vein. The drug pushed in slowly.
Sharp pain shot through my brain—like something being ripped out piece by piece.
Images started blurring. The alley at sixteen. Roses at seventeen. The wedding at nineteen... and those seven babies...
Everything faded. Then went blank.
When I opened my eyes again, only cold facts remained.
I knew I'd married Nikolai Konstantin.
I knew I'd been pregnant seven times. Lost them all.
I knew he'd chosen to save Scarlett. Left me to die.
But I felt no pain anymore. All that heartbreak, all that love and hate—gone.
I stood and pulled out the tubes.
On the nightstand—two things. A divorce agreement with my signature already on it. A USB drive with videos of Scarlett and Nikolai.
I stuffed them in an envelope and left it on the bed.
Then pushed the door open and left without looking back.
Outside the hospital—a black car waiting.
The window rolled down. Handsome face inside.
"Ready?"
I nodded. Got in.
"Where to?"
"Anywhere." I watched New York's lights fade. "Just far from here."
