CHAPTER 38
The wind from the open doors caused the curtains to whip violently,
creating a chaotic movement that distracted Valerie for a fraction of a second.
In that precise moment,
Clara,
instinctively sensing her mother,
reached out and bit Valerie’s hand with her tiny teeth.
Valerie cried out in surprise and pain,
her grip loosening on the pistol just enough for me to act.
I lunged forward with incredible speed,
grabbing Valerie’s wrist and forcing the gun toward the ceiling,
as a shot discharged harmlessly into the plaster.
With my other hand,
I snatched Clara from her arms,
spinning away and passing her securely to Liam,
who caught her perfectly.
"Get her out of here,"
I yelled to my husband,
as Valerie swung a heavy fist at my face,
igniting a brutal hand-to-hand struggle.
Liam hesitated for a second,
wanting to help me,
but he knew that securing Clara was the absolute priority.
He retreated to the doorway,
shielding our daughter with his body,
leaving me to face the ghost of my past alone.
Valerie was furious,
her face contorted with rage,
as she attacked me with a series of martial arts strikes.
She was well-trained,
a product of the same elite program that had shaped me,
making her a dangerous and unpredictable opponent.
We traded blows in the center of the ruined penthouse,
the glass from the windows crunching beneath our boots.
She managed to land a hard kick to my ribs,
sending me crashing into a wooden table,
shattering it into pieces.
I gasped for air,
pain flaring through my side,
but I forced myself to stand back up,
driven by pure maternal instinct.
Valerie drew a hidden combat knife from her boot,
the silver blade flashing in the dim light of the fires outside.
"You are weak,"
she hissed,
stalking toward me with the knife raised,
"You chose love over power,
and that is why you will die here today."
I didn't answer her,
instead,
I picked up a broken piece of the wooden table,
using it as a improvised shield against her weapon.
She lunged at me,
slashing the knife in a deadly arc,
cutting through the wood but missing my flesh.
I deflected her next strike,
stepping inside her guard,
and delivered a powerful elbow to her jaw.
She stumbled backward,
dazed by the impact,
dropping the knife onto the floor.
I didn't hesitate,
sweeping her legs out from under her,
sending her crashing hard onto the concrete surface.
I pinned her down,
my forearm pressed against her throat,
cutting off her air supply as she stared up at me.
The battle was over,
May you like
the mastermind was defeated,
and the shadows had finally lost their grip on my life.
