The Last Time You Chose Her

"Get your hands off me, Gianna."

Dominic did not even bother looking down. His eyes held pure disgust.

My bloody fingers clutched the hem of his jacket. I used every drop of my fading strength to hold him back.

With one vicious twist of his wrist, he threw me off.

I lost my balance and slammed hard against the cold concrete floor.

A sickening crunch tore through my back.

Blinding pain shot straight into my skull.

The broken end of the armored steel beam pushed an inch deeper into my organs.

I choked down my scream. Hot, bitter copper flooded my throat.

Dominic did not pause for a second.

He held the sobbing Camilla in his arms and rushed toward the VIP trauma room.

"Don't be afraid, Camilla. I won't let you keep a single scar." His voice was low and gentle, carrying a softness once meant only for me.

The heavy blood loss made me tremble. Darkness crept across my vision in waves.

I lay in a pool of my own blood and crawled toward the nurses' desk ten feet away.

"Help me... call a surgeon..."

Behind the desk, two doctors wearing our family crest stared at me coldly. They went right back to their charts.

"Save your breath, Gianna," one muttered, flipping a page. "You know the Boss. In this family, rules come before blood."

"Six days ago, Dr. Julian took pity on you during your checkup. He slipped you an IV bag without authorization."

The nurse beside him sneered. "The Boss broke his fingers that very night. Now he is down in the morgue washing body bags."

"None of us are going down to join the dead just to wait on you."

This was Alessia's iron rule. This was the family I gave my life for.

I gritted my teeth. My cracked nails scraped bloody trails across the concrete. I tried to push my chest up.

Every movement sent the jagged beam grinding against my organs.

My arms gave out. I crashed back down. Thick, dark blood gushed from my lips, soaking my white veil.

A woman in the waiting chairs jumped up, holding her bandaged arm. She slapped a hand over her mouth in horror. "Blood! There is black blood all over the floor! She is dying!"

The two behind the desk shifted, but they looked at each other and stayed put. No one dared cross the Boss.

Hurried footsteps sprinted down the hall and stopped right beside me.

"Hold on!"

Mia, a trainee nurse, dropped to her knees. She slipped her hands under my arms, trying to haul me up.

"Mia, are you crazy? You want to get thrown to the dogs?" a doctor barked from behind.

Mia ignored him. She locked her jaw and pulled.

The second her shaking hands brushed my back, she froze solid.

Through my soaked gown, her palms hit something cold, jagged, and hard.

Blood poured like water from a massive tear in my flesh.

All color vanished from Mia's face.

She knew. This was no surface scratch.

It was half of the door frame's steel beam, shoved right inside my body.

I clutched her sleeve, choking on froth and blood. "Mia... I cannot breathe..."

Mia began to shake all over. She let go of me and scrambled toward the closed doors at the end of the hall.

She raised her blood-covered hands and slammed them against the heavy lead doors with everything she had.

Loud clangs echoed down the corridor.

The intercom flashed red. Alessia's voice cut through, cold and harsh. "Back off. Who let you disturb Camilla?"

Mia threw her body against the doors, her voice cracking in pure terror.

"Boss! The steel beam went through Gianna's chest! Open the door, or she dies on this floor!"