“Rea, you really wanna lose Hayden again? Staying with him like this-it’s reckless. You’re putting yourself in danger,” Wayne warned, pulling his classic scare tactic card.

“How am I not taking action? Besides, let’s not pretend we don’t both know-he’s been faking it, refusing to admit he’s Hayden,” I shot back, matching his energy. Wayne’s face twisted, clearly not a fan of my pushback. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. If it does, I won’t be able to protect you.

I snorted. “Protect me? When have you ever done that?”

That shut him up.

Honestly, Wayne’s so-called ‘love’ for me was more about control than anything remotely romantic. Every move he made always came with strings attached. When he realized I wasn’t budging, he gave me a cold nod. “Suit yourself,” he said, voice icy, and stormed off.

For years, Wayne had played the perfect gentleman-polite, protective, total golden boy vibes. But now? Mask off. It was clear he was ready to go full villain, and he didn’t care who got caught in the fallout. Not that I was scared of him, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t on edge. I pressed the elevator button without thinking and ended up on Lena’s floor, her OB-GYN department. Guess old habits die hard. Since I was already here, I figured, why not check in? We hadn’t talked in days. But as soon as I stepped off, a loud, gut-wrenching sob hit me.

Rounding the corner, I spotted a middle-aged woman sprawled on the floor, screaming like her whole world had just collapsed. “You killed my daughter-in-law and my grandson! You owe us their lives!” A whole crowd had gathered, and her family was adding to the chaos.