They touched something that belongs to me.
And that darkness in me, the one I’ve buried beneath layers of control and reason, starts to stir.
I want to hunt them. Tear through every shadow, overturn every lie, and make them regret ever laying eyes on her. I want them to feel fear—cold and paralyzing—the same way I did when I saw that car heading straight for her.
I will not let anyone get that close again.
I’ll put security on her, move her if I have to, burn down anything that threatens her.
She’s mine.
And no one takes what’s mine and lives to try again.
I force myself to breathe.
I’ll be calm tomorrow. Strategic. Calculated.
But tonight, as the city begins to awaken and the woman I love lies bruised and broken just a few feet away…
Tonight, I let the monster inside me sharpen his teeth.
CHAPTER 25
NATALIE
It’s beena week since the attack. A week since Roland nearly died. A week since I found myself shoved into the glaring spotlight of public attention I never wanted.
And now, things at work are different.
The office looks the same—same glass walls, same cold lighting, same relentless hum of productivity—but it seems different, like I’ve stepped into a version of my life that doesn’t quite fit anymore. Eyes follow me when I walk into the building. Conversations pause just a second too long when I pass. There’s a tension, a ripple, every time I walk through the halls.
I try not to notice. I keep my head high, my spine straight. But the whispers trail behind me anyway.
They know.
They all saw it—the news coverage, the headlines, the breathless speculation. Natalie Thorne, the fiancée of Ethan Wilder, billionaire. The woman nearly killed in a targeted attack. The man who saved her? In critical condition.
I catch glimpses of it in the way people glance away when Imeet their eyes. Not hostile, not overt. Just... watchful. Like I’ve become something they don’t quite know how to address. Not quite one of them, not quite separate.
It’s strange, surreal. I’ve always worked hard to be seen for my merit. My results. My decisions. Now, all anyone sees is Ethan’s shadow looming over me.
Yet the whispers haven’t all been negative.
There are quiet undercurrents of support, too. I’ve heard them in passing. The staff who still remember what happened just a few weeks ago. How Ethan had a wave of unjust terminations during my month-long absence. How I fought to bring some of them back. I didn’t do it for gratitude. I did it because it was right. But people remember. And word has gotten around.
“I heard they’re living together. Did you notice they leave at the same time?”
“But they’re so professional at work.”
“Engaged? Didn’t he just take over the company a few months ago?”
“They must have been together for longer if they’re engaged.”
“She might be his fiancée, but she’s nothing like him.”
“She stood up to him. Saved our jobs.”
“So they liked each other, big deal.”
