Xavier had stormed into her wedding venue like a man possessed, his eyes blazing red as he demanded that she leave with him.
He insisted that she had known nothing about what happened, that she was completely blameless. If she would just come back to him, he promised to rebuild a fortune even greater than the Sullivan family's legacy and make her the most envied Mrs. Sullivan in the entire city.
Every logical part of his mind screamed that the Nelsons had destroyed his family, that she wasn't worth his love. Yet there he stood, ready to set fire to his past for her sake.
Because this was Nina. The woman who had held his heart for over a decade.
The bride in white remained completely expressionless. "You're not good enough for me anymore," she said, her voice carrying all the warmth of winter frost.
The security guards hired by both families dragged him out like garbage, beating him until he could barely see straight. Still, he crawled forward, leaving bloody trails across the floor with every movement.
"Nina," he begged, his voice cracking completely. "You're my last hope. Please don't leave me."
She slid another man's ring onto her finger and pledged herself to someone else right in front of his eyes.
Her heart shattered into pieces. While everyone toasted with champagne, tears streamed silently down Nina's cheeks.
Three days before that wedding, she had forced her family's hand by threatening to kill herself. That was when she discovered she was already carrying a child, more than a month along.
Her parents had delivered a brutal ultimatum. Marry a Chase, or they would kill Xavier and destroy what they called this "unwanted pregnancy."
For the sake of their baby, for his sake, she surrendered. She agreed to wed Ansel Chase, the ailing heir to the Chase family fortune.
The day her child was born, her fiancé took his final breath.
Fearing what the Chase family might do to her, she disappeared overseas and cut all ties with everyone she had ever known.
That child, hers and Xavier's, became her entire world.
For five years, she lived in the shadows abroad while Xavier rose from nothing to reclaim everything that had been taken from him.
His hatred for both families ran deep enough to drown in, and that hatred included her. He showed absolutely no mercy as he carved his ruthless path of vengeance against all of them.
A year ago, the doctors told her she had stomach cancer. Then six months after that, their son was diagnosed with leukemia.
When the doctors gave her the grim prognosis for both of them, she realized she had no choice. She abandoned her treatment and came home to have Xavier's child.
With this newborn, she could use the umbilical cord blood to save her little Seth.
The thought of her dying son brought fresh tears to Nina's eyes.
Xavier stared down at her, his cold eyes glinting with something she could not quite read. "Don't tell me," he said, his voice tight with emotion, "that you left me for another man because you had no choice."
She thought about the brutal retaliation he had unleashed on both their families over all these years. The truth about their child rose to her lips, but it died there before she could speak it.
"What choice are you even talking about?" She let out a hollow, empty laugh. "I just fell out of love with you."
Guilt pressed down on her chest like a physical weight. She had wronged him, she knew that. But she could not risk their son. If Xavier ever learned the truth, he might take away her only chance to save the boy.
Now, her only prayer was for Seth to live. Their flesh and blood, their son.
As long as he lived, she would gladly give her own life for him.
Aksara