Page 48 of Forced Pregnant Bride

“Pregnant,” I repeated with more conviction.

“I can’t believe that—”

“That what?”

“You slept with him, Serena.”

Raising my chin, I glowered at him. “He’s my husband, Jay, and that’s beside the point right now. I have to protect my child. I need to get out of here. You have to stop them from getting to Timur.” Scanning the area to make sure we were really alone, I whispered, “These people—the Italians, you know they hate the Russians. If Enzo finds out I’m carrying Timur’s child, can you guess what would happen? He’d want to cause him as much pain as he felt when he captured Leonara. Jay, I don’t think I’d survive if anything happens to my baby.”

Only then did the gravity of our situation sink into my brother. His eyes widened for a fraction before he cupped my cheeks and stroked reassuringly. “The only way that’ll ever happen is if they go through me first, and I swear on everythingwe hold dear, I’d die first before I let anything happen to you. I promise, Serena.”

****

The air in the room felt heavier with every passing hour, suffocating in its stillness. On my request, Jay loosened the ropes holding me to the chair and brought in a blanket for me to lie on the cold floor. I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to suppress the growing panic clawing at my throat. My head ached, and my throat was raw from unanswered pleas. The only sound was the occasional scrape of footsteps outside the door.

Then, the door swung open. Enzo marched inside, the heels of his polished leather shoes leaving resounding echoes behind him as the door swung shut. Like before, he carried an aura that made the space seem smaller and more claustrophobic. Behind him, Jay stood silent, his expression tight and unreadable.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this, and my heart sank deeper when Enzo aimed a remote at a small television on the wall that I hadn’t noticed before.

“Time to witness history.” He glanced at Jay, a smirk playing on his lips. “You’ll want to see this: the sight of Timur Yezhov falling apart.”

“No!” I crawled to the edge of the blanket, digging my nails into the fabric. My stomach churned, bile rising at the thought. “No, I don’t want to see this. Please—Jay, do something!”

My voice cracked as tears welled in my eyes, but Enzo ignored me, pressing the power button. The screen flickered to life, static giving way to an ominous live broadcast. A camera panned across a darkened warehouse, showing Timur surrounded by armed men. My breath hitched at the sight of him, blood on his hands and shirt, but his posture was stillstrong, defiant. His face, set like stone, bore no fear, only resilience.

“You see?” Enzo sneered, pointing to the screen. “Your knight in shining armor is not so invincible now, is he?”

Tears blurred my vision, streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably. “Stop this! Please, don’t do this.” I turned to Jay, desperate, pleading. “Jay, don’t let this happen! You can’t let him do this.”

My brother’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, his gaze fixed on the screen. I could see turmoil in his eyes, the way his hands trembled at his sides. But he didn’t speak. He didn’t move.

“Don’t waste your breath, darling,” the older man mocked. “It’s already in motion. Nothing you say or do will stop it. Your phone led him right where I wanted him—to his end.”

“What…what do you mean?”

Enzo didn’t hesitate to give me the details, proudly telling me how my brother and his sons had rigged the entire place after they managed to make me conscious and set my phone in the middle of the warehouse, knowing Timur had activated a tracker in my phone. That bomb was going to detonate the moment he returned to his car, and Timur didn’t even know.

My legs would have given out if I wasn’t already on the floor. Unable to bear the pain that mercilessly wrapped through my entire being, I yelled, screamed, and hit the floor, thrashing violently for him to stop.

Timur and his men left the warehouse, and they all approached the vehicles parked outside. They were leaving because he didn’t find me there. His tight jaw and focused gaze meant he was coming for me, just like we all knew he would.

“No!” I screamed again, a vain but desperate attempt to stop them. “Turn around! Don’t come!”

But he got into his car and revved the engine.

And then it happened.

A deafening explosion shattered the air, the blast so powerful it rattled my bones. My ears rang, and my vision swam, but the image of Timur’s car engulfed in flames burned itself into my mind.

“No…no….” I crawled backward, wrapping my stomach with trembling hands, my gaze fixed on the screen.

Timur was gone.

The world started spinning around me. I wanted to scream more, to cry harder, to do anything to make this nightmare end, but all I could do was lie there, staring at the wreckage, as the cold realization settled over me.

Timur was dead, and there was nothing I could do to change it.

****

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