Chapter 235

Evelyn

"Tyler, stop the car!"

I screamed, grabbing the wheel, clawing at his arm, fighting with whatever broken, frayed strength I had left in me.

But he didn't stop. He didn't even flinch.

"Sit the fuck back, Evelyn," he snapped, shoving me sideways with a force that rattled my spine. "You make another sound, I'll put a bullet through your skull- and your little girl along with it."

He tossed a water bottle at me like I was just another problem he needed to shut up.

"Here. Drink it. You sound like shit."

I stared at him like he'd gone mad.

Had he gone mad?

He was being hunted-seconds away from getting shot, from dying-and he was tossing me fucking water?

"You really don't get it, do you? It's over!" I shouted, twisting open the bottle and hurling the water right at his face. Rage erupted out of me, unfiltered. The terror, the trauma, the helplessness—it all snapped. "They're going to kill you, Tyler!"

He flinched but didn't lose control. Just wiped the dripping water from his face slowly, like it didn't even faze him.

"Don't push it, Evelyn," he growled, eyes cold.

"Tyler. This is your final warning. Surrender the hostage and stop the vehicle."

The blonde's voice thundered from the mic behind us, clipped and cold. "You're boxed in. Let her go, or we'll shoot."

The car behind us was inches away now. I could hear the tires grinding on the narrow road-both sides lined with deep canals. There was no more room. No escape.

And Tyler?

He leaned his head out of the window and laughed.

Laughed.

"Fuck off," he shouted, voice manic, "bunch of fucking idiots!"

I grabbed Chloe's phone and dialed my hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Jacob?" My voice cracked.

"Evelyn?!" Jacob's voice shot through the line like lightning. "Did he hurt you? Baby, are you okay?"

But before I could speak, Tyler leaned in, grinning darkly.

"Hey, buddy." His voice was sickly sweet, venom wrapped in sugar. "I'm about to kill your Evelyn. You hear that? I hope the mic picks up the gunshot when I blow her fucking brains out. I might just paint the car red."

I froze.

My blood turned to ice as he pulled the gun from his pocket.

"No, no, no-Tyler, no!"

Jacob's voice rang through the speaker-frantic, broken.

I couldn't breathe.

The cold steel pressed against the side of my head.

I shut my eyes, hand clenching the phone so tight I thought it'd snap. My lips

moved before I could stop them.

"...I'm sorry, Jacob."

But the shot never came.

Seconds dragged.

And then-

I opened my eyes.

Tyler was still staring at me—but something was wrong. His jaw was clenched.

His breathing uneven. The gun in his hand trembled.

And then...

He dropped it.

The gun landed in my lap with a dull thud.

And just like that, he floored the gas pedal.

Everything blurred.

I couldn't hear Jacob's voice anymore. Couldn't hear the man in the mic. Couldn't

hear anything.

I stared at the gun.

Then at him.

He didn't say a word. He didn't look at me. His eyes were locked straight ahead, unblinking.

And I realized...

He had given me the gun.

He wanted me to kill him.

"Tyler?" My voice was cautious, barely a whisper.

He didn't answer.

"Tyler?" I said louder.

Still nothing.

That's when I saw it. The truth. Right there in his silence.

His grand plan... wasn't about hurting me. It was about ending himself.

He just didn't have the courage to do it the normal way.

So he'd built this-this nightmare-for someone else to do it for him.

"You gave me the gun," I said slowly, still watching him. "You want me to kill you."

His lips parted. He still didn't look at me, but his voice came out hoarse.

"You know how to save yourself and your baby, Evelyn. Do it. Because if I'm forced to stop this car, I'll shoot you. I'll have to. That's how this ends."

"You... don't mean that."

His head finally turned. He looked at me like I was insane.

"I don't mean that? Evelyn-I have you trapped. You. And your kid. I've got a

knife. A gun. A dead-end road. What the fuck do you think I mean?"

His voice cracked. But not from rage.

From something else.

From pain.

"This was part of the plan. It always was. All of it."

I stared at him. And for the first time... I didn't feel fear. I didn't feel rage.

I felt pity.

Real, gut-wrenching pity.

"The plan wasn't to kill me," I said softly. "You just didn't know what else to do with yourself. You were already gone inside. So you made this mess thinking it would make you feel something. You thought hurting me would fix what was broken in you. But it didn't."

His breathing hitched.

"You hated yourself more for it," I whispered. "So you spun this whole thing. So someone else could pull the trigger for you."

I could tell my words-if they were doing anything at all-they were making him tense. Because every time he took a breath in... it came out shakier.

"The business rivalries made you feel something about yourself. The things you never got as a child-you tried to fill those holes with power, contro revenge... thinking they'd fix you. But they didn't, even when you convinced yourself they did," I said, my voice low. "And you hated Jacob, because even after losing everythings he got u.al back The media turned him into a hero." Praised him. While you? You only got the backlash. The headlines. The villain's role. Because no one knew your story. And you weren't brave enough to tell it." s

His hands clenched on the wheel.

"You suffered more," I continued, gently, "yet you became the villain. And in your

rage... you stayed the villain."

"Shut the fuck up, Evelyn," he growled, his teeth grinding. "Stop making fairy tales

in your head, or I swear-"

"You hated women," I whispered,

"because of what your mother did to

you. And when I rejected you, it cracked something. You took

everything from Janet

but even

then, it didn't fix you. You landed in jail. Your family disowned you. And after all those years of snatching everything from everyone... in the end, you were still that broken, scared little boy. Just wanting to be chosen."

s

My eyes softened. “And no one ever told you... that you didn't deserve the pain

life threw at you."

"Just because I'm sitting here tolerating your bullshit doesn't make it true," he hissed. "Get out of that little world in your head where every fucked-up person has

a sob story. I wanted to kill you because I wanted to. That's it. It would've given

me peace."

"Then why did you hand me the gun?"

A pause.

"Because..." he hesitated, jaw flexing. "I wanted to see you try."

"That's a lie, Tyler."

"Shut the fuck up, Evelyn!" he roared, finally snapping. "What is wrong with you? Why are you sitting here

looking at me like I'm some tragic case? Dwanted to kill you. I still do! So stop the sympathy get you damn senses back and walk away! Get back to your picture-perfect life. Don't try to dig into mine!" s

"I won't kill you, Tyler," I whispered. "That's not going to happen." "Then I'll make it happen," he laughed, bitter and broken. "I'll shoot you in your pretty little leg—and by then, your psycho boyfriend and his army will kill me anyway. Either way, I win. Either you're alive... or you're limping."

That's when I picked the phone back up and turned it toward him. "They've already heard everything, Tyler," I said, voice steady. "And I know Jacob -he'll never let this end the way you want it to. Not if there's a chance to stop you

from dying."

He froze.

And this time, he didn't look like a man about to kill.

He looked like a man who'd lost the war against his own hatred.

"Stop the car, Tyler." I placed a hand on his shoulder, gently. "It's over."

But he didn't stop.

He sped up.

"Tyler..."

Still nothing. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Tears gathered in his

eyes, and I could see he was trying to hold it all in. Trying not to let go.

"Fuck this!" he shouted, his voice breaking wide open.

"It's okay," I whispered, still touching his shoulder. "Just stop the car."

And then-with a violent slam-he hit the brakes.

I jolted forward, about to crash into the dash, but his arm flew across my chest,

stopping me. Shielding me. Protecting me.

He was breathing hard-heaving-like he'd just outrun a hundred lifetimes.

He looked... lost.

Completely and utterly lost.

I rested my hand back on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Tyler," I whispered. "And it's over."

Moments later, tires screeched behind us.

Jacob's car stopped.

He jumped out before the engine even finished groaning and rushed straight to

my door, yanking it open, pulling me into his arms like he couldn't breathe without me there.

His warmth. His scent. His voice.

"Are you okay?” he whispered, voice trembling as his arms wrapped around me.

"God, baby-I was so scared. So fucking scared for you."

"I missed you," I murmured against his chest, holding him tight, breathing in

everything that felt like home.

It was over.

All of it.

The fight against Tyler.

And Tyler's fight against himself.

Behind us, another agent pulled Tyler from the car and cuffed his wrists.

He didn't resist. He didn't speak.

He didn't fight.

Before I could say anything, Jacob turned to the officers.

"Tell Joey I'll avoid pressing charges," he said calmly. "I'll handle the rest with him."

Tyler looked at me one last time.

And this time-there was no hate in his eyes.

No fury.

Just a quiet nod.

His way of saying thank you.