One-Bullet Chance

Nicole's POV

Aiden Russell frowned and instinctively stepped in front of Naomi Siddall to protect her.

Seeing him do that broke my heart. I gave a bitter laugh at myself and fired the first shot.

Click!

The first shot was empty.

"Nicole, are you insane?"

I didn't answer. I pulled the trigger again and again without hesitation.

Click!

Click!

Click!

The sharp clicks of the trigger echoed through the living room.

By the fifth shot, Aiden was already charging toward me, screaming my name.

He tackled me to the floor. "Nicole!"

The moment I hit the ground, I instinctively covered my lower stomach with one hand.

But the pain I expected never came.

Aiden caught me and instinctively shielded me beneath his body.

Click!

The fifth shot was empty too.

Aiden was breathing hard.

He held me tightly against his chest, his eyes filled with fear and desperation that I couldn't understand. "Nicole, stop this. Can we just stop hurting each other?"

I felt nothing but heartbreak.

But when we had reached this point, who was really hurting whom?

The day my father, Paul Chadwick, died in the line of duty, Aiden had held me tightly and promised that he would help me wipe out the drug cartel.

After spending a year undercover in The Walled City, I finally succeeded.

But Aiden betrayed the man who had raised him. After the investigation ended, he actually began to feel sorry for the daughter of my enemy.

I was about to speak when a soft, trembling cry suddenly came from the side. "Aiden, my stomach hurts so bad... I think our baby was scared."

Naomi sat on the floor, clutching her stomach and crying.

Aiden froze.

He glanced at the gun lying on the floor, then looked back at my calm face.

The fear in his eyes instantly turned into rage, as if he thought I had made a fool of him. "Nicole, are you playing games with me?"

He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me off the ground.

Through gritted teeth, he shouted. "There aren't actually any bullets in that gun, are there?"

I looked at the fury on his face and felt nothing but sadness.

I said nothing, and he took my silence as an admission.

Aiden shoved me away and asked coldly, "You know Naomi is scared easily. Why would you deliberately do something like this just to frighten her?

"You're really cruel now. If anything happens to Naomi's baby, I will never forgive you!"

With that, he scooped Naomi into his arms.

He carried her toward the door, gently comforting her as he walked. "Naomi, don't be scared. That gun is fake. I'll take you to the hospital right now, okay?"

I lay on the floor and watched him carry Naomi away. A dull pain suddenly spread through my lower stomach.

If I had fired one more shot just now, the bullet would have gone straight through my head.

That was Paul's service weapon.

It had exactly one full magazine left.

The first five shots had all been empty. Maybe Paul, watching over me from Heaven, had protected me one last time.

I stared at the ceiling and whispered, "Aiden, I won this gamble. It's time for me to leave."