Letting Go

LAUREN

The crack of the gunshot tore through the air, a deafening blast that left my ears ringing. Time seemed to slow down as smoke curled from the barrel of the gun in Ginny’s hand. My breath caught in my throat, paralyzed by the horror unfolding before me.

Both Mason and my father lunged toward Ginny at the same time, desperate to stop her. But they were too late.

I watched, helpless, as the bullet found its mark. My father staggered, his body jerking violently before crumpling to the floor in front of me. “Dad… no,” I whispered, my voice lost beneath the ringing in my ears.

Everything else faded—the sounds of the world, the chaos of the moment. All I could see was my father, lying there, the life draining from him. I tried to move, tried to scream, but it felt like I was frozen in place.

Ginny stood over him, gun still raised, smoke rising from the barrel like a snake, but my eyes were locked on the man who had always protected me. And now, he was the one who needed saving.

In one fluid motion, she turned the gun in his direction. My heart lurched. The world seemed to freeze for a split second as I watched her finger twitch toward the trigger. She was going to shoot him.

In my periphery, I saw Mason wrench the gun out of Ginny’s hands. He held her tightly against himself as he told her men to back away.

The only thing that mattered to me now though was trying to save my father.

“Dad!” I screamed, my body moving on instinct.

The world blurred as I lunged toward him, his name ripping from my throat. Blood soaked through his shirt, dark and spreading too fast.

~No, no, no…~

He had thrown himself in front of the bullet.

I fell to my knees beside him, my hands trembling as I pressed them to the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. The warmth of his blood coated my fingers, the slickness sending a wave of nausea through me. But I couldn’t stop. I had to save him.

"Stay with me," I whispered frantically, my voice breaking. "Please, Dad, just stay with me."

I pressed harder against the wound, but the blood wouldn’t stop. It kept pouring from my father’s chest, faster than I could hold it back.

His breath came in shallow gasps, but his eyes found mine.

“Lauren…” he whispered, his voice barely audible, fragile.

“Dad, don’t talk,” I pleaded, choking on my tears. “You’re going to be okay. I can fix this. Just hold on.”

But even as I said it, I could see the truth in his face. His time was running out, and nothing I did could stop it.

“No… listen to me,” he rasped, his hand weakly reaching for mine. His grip was barely there, his strength fading. “I love you, Lauren. I always have.”

“I love you too, Dad,” I sobbed, my heart shattering as the words left my lips. “Please, don’t leave me.”

He gave a faint smile, his eyes soft.

“Just… just…” he said, his voice straining with the effort. “Just be happy with Mason. He has always been working to protect you, even when you didn’t know it.”

My mind flashed back to that day in the hospital, when I could tell they were hiding something from me. They weren't being secretive to hurt me, they were just trying to keep me safe, protect me.

I shook my head, my tears falling harder. “You didn’t have to—”

“I did,” he cut me off gently. “It was my choice. I’ve lived a long life. And you… you’ve brought me so much happiness.”

My chest tightened, my throat closing as I clung to his hand. “Dad…”

“All I want,” he continued, his words fading as his strength slipped away, “is for you to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

I couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked my body. His hand went slack in mine, and I pressed it to my cheek, feeling the last traces of his warmth.

“I’ll be happy, Dad,” I whispered through my tears. “I promise.”

With one final breath, his eyes closed, his body stilling in my arms.

I couldn’t stop the tears, my body shaking as I clung to my father’s lifeless form. The warmth of his hand was already fading.

“Dad… please,” I whispered, my voice breaking as I wept over him. “Please don’t go.”

But it was too late. He was gone.

Footsteps approached, and I barely registered them until I felt Mason’s presence standing beside me.

Mason held onto Ginny, pressing the gun to her as her men looked frantically towards her, unsure of what to do. Clearly they hadn’t expected this turn of events. Her guards knew that any move they made towards me would result in Mason harming Ginny.

I sat crumpled on my knees, my hands soaked in my father’s blood. I couldn’t process what was before me. The only sound that broke through my stupor was Mason’s voice.

“I’m so sorry, Lauren,” he whispered after I managed to take a few deep breaths. “Your father, he loved you so much.”

I tried my best to hold myself together, but the tears came fast once more, my heart breaking all over again.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “You’re going to be okay. I will be with you every step of the way. Whatever you need, I will be here for you.”

Mason’s words should have brought me comfort, but the emptiness inside me was too vast. My father had sacrificed himself for me, for Mason, for my future, and I couldn’t stop the overwhelming guilt that crushed me.

And then, just as I felt like I couldn’t breathe, Ginny’s cold, mocking laugh cut through the grief like a knife.

“Vincent always had a flair for the dramatic, I’ll give him that,” she sneered, her voice dripping with venom.

Mason’s grip on her tightened, but she didn’t flinch. She reveled in the chaos, in our pain.

I pulled away from Mason to confront her. The woman who killed my father. She showed no remorse for her actions, not that I expected her to.

“You will never speak about my father again,” I spat at her. “You never deserved to have him in your life. He was too good for you and I think you always knew that. Deep down inside, you knew you didn’t deserve his love.”

Ginny scoffed.

“You seem to think the only thing that matters in life is love,” she said. “But the truth is, love doesn’t mean a thing. Power. Power is the only thing that matters. Power can get you whatever you want.”

“Do you really think you’re holding any power right now?” Mason hissed at her, his voice low and sharp.

Ginny’s lips curled into a twisted smile, her eyes flicking toward her guards still standing by, their guns now hanging loosely in their hands but not yet dropped. Her gaze lingered on them, and for a moment, I felt a ripple of unease. She might have been restrained by Mason, but her influence lingered in the room like a dark cloud.

“Oh, sweet boy,” Ginny rasped, her voice dripping with malice. “You think this is over? Those men still answer to me.” Her eyes glinted with something sinister, almost triumphant, as she addressed the guards. “Do you really want to face the consequences of leaving me unprotected?”

One of the guards shifted, his grip tightening on his weapon as he pointed it towards me. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face, but it wasn’t enough. Mason tensed as he saw the guard point his weapon towards me. If either of us made a move to leave, I had no doubt that the guard would shoot me.

I could see it, the loyalty Ginny had bred into these men. Even now, they were still waiting for her command, their eyes flicking between her and us, uncertain, but not entirely free of her grasp.

Ginny’s laugh was sharp, grating.

“I hold more power than you could ever know,” she said smugly. “The Omens are on their way now. It’s only a matter of minutes before they get here and when they do, Mason, you will see exactly how much power I have.”

Mason’s arm stayed firm around Ginny, the cold steel of the gun pressed against her temple. She might have been smiling, but he wasn’t going to give her the chance to slip away. Not after everything.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you,” Ginny purred, glancing at both of us, her voice sickeningly sweet. “When the Omens arrive, I’ll be welcomed back with open arms. The prodigal mother, delivering the traitor and reuniting Anthony Brown with his long-lost daughter.”

Her words hit like a punch to the gut. Anthony Brown, my real father and the leader of one of the most ruthless gangs in the country. A man I never wanted to meet. I had a father. His name was Vincent Hart and no one would ever take his place.

Ginny’s smile widened, triumphant.

“You see, Lauren, I’ll have power again. More than I’ve ever had and I’ll finally have my place back at the top. And all I had to do was bring the Omens what they wanted most: Mason and you.”

My blood ran cold, but I refused to let her see my fear. I stood, facing her squarely, my voice shaking but steady.

“You’ll never have enough, will you, Ginny? No matter how much power you gain, it’ll never fill that emptiness inside you.”

Her smile faltered, just for a moment, but this time it didn’t snap back into place. The mask didn’t return. Instead, something dark and ugly broke free. A twisted hurt, like a festering wound she’d kept hidden for years. Her lips trembled as her sneer crumbled, and for the first time, I saw her as she really was.

Ginny’s eyes flashed with fury. Her face contorted, a sneer pulling at the corners of her mouth, but it wasn’t that cold, hollow grin she wore like armor. This was something uglier, realer.

“You think you’ve won?” she spat, her voice breaking, but not with weakness, with venom. “You think you’re better than me?”

She took a step forward, and for the first time, I wasn’t sure if she wanted to attack me or break down in front of me. The cracks in her facade were showing, and I could see the monster beneath.

“We’ll see about that,” she hissed. “When the Omens arrive, I’ll show you just how much power I can take.”

The sound of engines rumbled in the distance, growing louder with every passing second. My heart pounded in my chest, fear crawling up my spine like ice.

They were coming. The Omens. My birth father. A man who was nothing but a monster in the stories I’d heard, and now he was here, closing in.

I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t ready to face him.

Ginny’s cold, mocking laugh echoed through the warehouse, cutting through my rising panic.

“Your time’s up,” she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. “The Omens have arrived.”

I could feel Mason tense beside me, his grip tightening on the gun he still had trained on Ginny. But it didn’t matter. The odds were stacked against us, and we all knew it.

I glanced at Mason, my heart clenching. I’d already lost my father tonight and I wasn’t ready to lose him too.

The thought of him being taken from me tore at my insides. I couldn’t let it happen.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep the fear from choking me. But it was there, gnawing at me, threatening to consume me whole.

Anthony Brown meant nothing to me, he was just a ghost from the past, a man I didn’t want to know. But Mason was my future, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

Not now. Not ever.

The sound of car doors slamming shut outside sent a jolt through me.

They were here. There was no more time.

Ginny’s smile widened, like a predator who’d cornered her prey.

“You should’ve taken the easy way out, Lauren,” she taunted. “Now, you’ll see what real power looks like. Anthony will be so pleased to meet his little girl.”

My stomach churned.

But then, I looked at Mason. And he… he was smiling.

Confusion flickered through me, cutting through the fear. What was he doing? Why was he smiling?

The tension in the air was palpable, the danger closing in, and yet he looked almost calm. No, more than that, he looked like he knew something the rest of us didn’t.

I didn’t understand it. But deep down, I trusted him. Something about the way he held himself, the way his eyes met mine, it made me believe he had a plan.

The tension in my chest loosened, just a little. I didn’t know what Mason was thinking, but if he was smiling in the face of this, maybe we weren’t doomed yet.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, the doors to the warehouse burst open with a deafening crash. The cold night air swept in, and the world seemed to freeze.

They were here.