Page 107 of The Sweetest Revenge

My pulse roared in my ears, nearly drowning out Anne's harsh breathing. I forced my eyes to slide casually back to her, fighting every instinct to keep staring at my unexpected salvation. One wrong look, one flicker of hope on my face, and we'd both be dead.

"Get in the shower," she ordered, sticking her hand holding the gun through the doorway, shaking it loosely from me to the shower. "Hurry up."

I nodded, slowly shifting. Zaiden pointed to the ground, and I assumed he was telling me to stay low.

Everything after that happened so fast. Zaiden threw his hand up underneath the gun, snatching it out of her hand so fast that it took her a minute to realize what happened.

"Zaiden," Anne breathed. "Thank God you're here. She was?—"

"Stop," he growled. "I heard everything." He reached for his phone on the bathroom counter. "And it's all recorded."

"What's recorded?"

"Everything." He squared his shoulders. "How you killed Kacie, how you were involved with the school shooting, how you ran Ariella and me off the road."

I shifted to my feet, hiding behind Zaiden.

"Zaiden," she whispered, her voice transforming into something small and placating. The predator trying to sound like prey. "That's not?—"

"Shut up." The two words sliced through the air, delivered with such intensity that even I flinched. This wasn't the Zaiden who'd kissed my forehead this morning. This was someone carved from granite and fury, someone I came to know all too well these last few months.

He raised the gun with a steady hand. "You and I are going to take a walk." The barrel aligned with her chest, unwavering. "Turn around and move."

Anne's face drained of color as she stepped backward, deeper into the shadow-filled hallway. Her eyes darted between Zaiden and me, calculating even now.

Zaiden moved forward with the controlled grace of a hunter, following her retreat. "Ariella," he said without looking back, "stay here and do not open this door no matter what."

The cold certainty in his voice crystallized the moment into terrible clarity. The gun. The walk. The finality in his tone.

He was going to kill her.

The realization landed like a stone in my stomach. This wasn't justice. It was an execution.

I stepped out of the bathroom. "Zaiden," I grabbed his arm before stepping between them. "She's your mom. You don't want to do this." If he killed her, then he was going to jail, too.

"I'm your mo—" Anne started.

"Shut the fuck up," I yelled, my lip curling into a snarl. "There's nothing I’d like more than to end your life." I turned back to Zaiden. "But she's not worth you going to jail, and this isn't what Kacie would have wanted."

"Let me call the police." I place my palm flat on his chest. "Let them deal with her."

His gaze dropped to mine.

"Zaiden," Sterling's voice echoed through the house a minute before appearing in the hallway.

"Sterling," Zaiden called out. "Get Ariella out of here."

"Zaiden, no." I shook my head. "Don't do this."

"Let's go, Ari." Sterling grabbed me around the waist.

"No." I shoved at his arms, trying to fight against his strong grip. "Sterling, don't let him do this."

Sterling ignored me, dragging me down the long hall as my arms flailed, trying to grab anything to stop him. "Don't do this, Zaiden."

It wasn't until we were outside that Sterling released me.

"Oh, thank God," Journey breathed. "You're okay."

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