When the hurricane warning reached our private island, my husband took the final helicopter seat with his pregnant mistress and left me standing in the rain, / Chapter 34 / 40

Chapter 34 - The Shattered Dynasty

From the shadowed archway behind Sloane’s men, the silence shattered.

*Pfft. Pfft.*

Two suppressed gunshots whispered through the room. The two mercenaries flanking Sloane collapsed like cut marionettes, crimson blooming against the floral wallpaper before their rifles even hit the floor.

"Ambush!" the third contractor yelled, pivoting toward the dark.

Kaelen didn't give them a chance. He lunged from the shadows, sweeping the third man’s legs out from under him and disarming him with brutal, fluid military precision. A sharp twist of the neck, and the man went limp.

Sloane shrieked, backing away toward the master balcony, her composure instantly evaporating. She fired blindly toward Kaelen, the round gouging a crater into the mahogany doorframe.

Julian, completely shattered by the revelation of Sloane’s betrayal, lunged at her like a rabid animal. "You lying bitch! You stole everything from me!"

"Get off me, you pathetic failure!" Sloane screamed, whipping the barrel of her Beretta across Julian’s jaw.

The heavy metal struck his cheekbone with a sickening crack. Julian crashed into a glass display cabinet, antique porcelain shattering around him as he groveled on the floor, clutching his bleeding face.

Sloane turned her weapon back on me, her eyes wild, her finger tightening on the trigger.

I didn't flinch. I took one step forward, leveled my Glock, and squeezed the trigger once.

The hollow-point bullet tore cleanly through Sloane’s right shoulder.

She dropped the silver gun with a blood-curdling scream, stumbling backward through the French doors and out onto the rain-slicked terrace. The tropical wind howled through the opened doors, whipping her silk gown around her bleeding frame.

I walked toward her, the barrel of my gun smoking in the damp sea breeze.

Julian was crawling on all fours, sobbing, reaching for the hem of my pants. "Elena... Elena, please! Kill her! She took my shares! She took everything! Help me... please, we can fix this!"

I paused, looking down at the man I once thought I loved.