I watched the surveillance footage at Theo’s place, and honestly, it wasn’t as gruesome as I’d imagined. No severed heads, nothing that would make your stomach turn inside out.

On screen, Sera’s people and Jeffrey’s men were locked in a vicious gunfight, the kind that left no room for mercy. It made sense why Jeffrey had chosen last night to act — Whitney lived directly across from Sera, and with tensions rising that sharply, staying put would have been dangerous for her. Throughout the whole thing, Jeffrey stood above it all, watching the chaos unfold with cold, calculating eyes.

When Sera appeared again, she had lost the child. Her nightgown was soaked through with blood, and she stared across the rain-drenched courtyard at Julian, who stood perfectly still beneath a black umbrella. She tried to walk toward him, but her body had nothing left. She made it only a few steps before she collapsed.

Just ahead of her lay a body, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.

She crawled the rest of the way, rain hammering down, mixing with the blood streaming off her skin. “Why?” Her voice cracked under the weight of it. “Why are you doing this to me?”

When she finally reached Julian’s feet, her bloodied hands grabbed the hem of his black trousers. Her eyes were either full of tears or just soaked with rain — it was impossible to tell. “Julian, that was our child. She was almost six months. Just a little longer and I could’ve saved her. Why?”

She clawed her way upright, fingers catching his sleeve. “You are so cruel. How could you hurt an innocent child?”

Julian’s lip curled. “Sera, I never planned on bonding with you, let alone having a child with you. The moment you drugged me, I was disgusted.”

“Disgusted?” Something in her snapped. The grief twisted into something feral, and she looked at him with wild, hollow eyes. “And you think you’re not disgusting? I know you still want Elena. But you were the one who pushed her away. Didn’t it sicken you, sharing your space with someone else while she was still in your head? No one will ever want you the way I did, Julian. You’ll spend the rest of your life drowning in feelings she’ll never return.”

Her voice dropped to something venomous. “Elena chose your uncle. She built a life with him, had his child. And you? You’ll grow old alone, hollow and miserable.” She exhaled, slow and shaking. “No — I want you to suffer. Pay for our child with your life.”

Sera turned her gaze to Jeffrey then, dropping every last pretense. Her face went cold and sharp as a blade. “I underestimated you. But don’t worry — everything you care about will crumble to nothing. And Elena?” A bitter smile crossed her lips. “She’s already died once. We can make it happen again. She will never know peace.”

She didn’t get to finish. Theo moved fast, pressing something into her mouth before she could do any damage to herself.

The footage kept playing, but I’d stopped seeing it. Her words were all I could hear, looping in my head.

She will never know peace.

Theo shut off the monitor. “Mrs. Hale, don’t let her get to you. She’s just lashing out. People like that always do, right at the end.”

I kept my eyes down. “Theo, what did I do wrong? Why do they want me dead so badly?”

“There are a lot of disturbed people in this world,” he said, his voice blunt but sincere. “They can’t stand watching others have what they don’t. They live in the dark by choice. If you let them pull you down there with them, you’re wasting your time.” He scratched the back of his head, looking a little uncomfortable with his own words. “I’m not great at saying things right. But you and Mr. Lewis fought hard to get here. Keep looking forward. You’re both good people — that counts for something.”

Watching him struggle to comfort me, I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re right. And maybe the world isn’t so bad — I was given a second chance, found Carl again, and we’re building something real together.”

His face softened. “I used to be nothing. Just someone who took hits and ran errands. I started protecting Mr. Lewis because I needed the money for my sister’s medical bills. He was just an employer to me at first — someone willing to use me as a shield when things got ugly.” He paused, licking his lips. “But he never did. He cleaned my wounds himself. Taught me about money, about life — things that had nothing to do with surviving a fight. He made me into something better.”

Lewis had never told me any of that. But hearing it from Theo, I finally understood why he had never taken the money and walked away. Only real care earns that kind of loyalty. Theo was the kind of man who would lay his life down for it without hesitation.

“Mrs. Hale, if someone like me — rough around every edge — can find a decent life, then two good people like you and Mr. Lewis are guaranteed to find happiness. And if someone has to go so you can have peace, then let it be me.”

Sera’s curse had been sitting heavy on me, but Theo’s honesty lifted it just enough.

I smiled at him. “No. You need to live well — long enough for me to find you a good wife.”

He went red immediately. “Mrs. Hale, what are you—”

“Theo, how old are you?”

“Probably 34, maybe 35. We never really kept track of birthdays growing up. Survival didn’t leave much room for that.”

I hadn’t expected that. Something about it quietly broke my heart.

“So you’ve never had a birthday?”

“Not really. Mr. Lewis felt bad about it, so he’d let me share his. Every year when we were abroad, we’d celebrate together.”

Two people shaped by hard lives, finding small comforts in each other.

“When is Carl’s birthday?”

“February 14th.”

Such a romantic day to be born. And not far off — I was already making plans in my head.

“Theo, what kind of woman do you like?”

He waved me off like the question embarrassed him. “Please don’t tease me, Mrs. Hale. I’ll follow Mr. Lewis for life.”

He didn’t seem to think of it as a loss, either. His world had always been Lewis, his sister, and duty. But now that Lewis had me — and our children — Theo would spend his best years watching from the edge of someone else’s happiness. I wanted more than that for him. Whatever the outcome, I just hoped he’d let himself try something new before it was too late.

“Take the chance,” I said. “You might surprise yourself.”

“Okay,” he said quietly, and something flickered across his face — brief and soft, almost shy. I wondered if there was already someone on his mind.

Lewis came home early that night. The moment he walked through the door, I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Carl.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Does Theo like anyone?”

He settled onto the couch, pulling me into his lap. “I don’t know if it’s gone that far. But he does take breaks sometimes to go see a woman.”

“What kind of woman?”

“A blind one.”