DON'T CRY šššš
THEME: A STORY THAT TALKS ABOUT HER HIDDEN DARKNESS š³ļøš³ļø
CHAPTER 21&22
Jasper POV
After waiting for hours that felt like days, I finally caught sight of the Air Force team approaching from above. The rhythmic roar of their helicopters thudded through my chest, each beat echoing my determination and anger. I clenched my fists, the image of Cathy's terrified face haunting my thoughts. I wasn't just here to fight ā I was here to end it. To bring my Cathy and her children back.
Through my binoculars, I saw movement near the mansion. Luna and Lucas were led out first, both looking scared but trying to be brave. My heart twisted painfully at the sight of my love son. Even from afar, I could see the confusion in his eyes, the way he scanned the area like he was waiting for me ā hoping I'd come.
"I'm here, son," I muttered under my breath. "I'm not leaving without you."
Then, she appeared. Cathy.
She walked out in a white gown that should've made her look like an angel ā but instead, it broke me. Her beauty was overshadowed by the pain in her eyes, her lips trembling, her hands shaking slightly as Jude held her arm possessively. She looked so fragile, so afraidā¦ and yet, I could still see the fire in her. My Cathy was still in there.
When I saw them standing before the priest, my blood ran cold. I watched the man I once called brother smile proudly as if he'd achieved something noble. The bitterness in his smirk, the arrogance in his posture ā it was everything I despised.
The priest raised his voice:
> "Do you, Jude, take this womanā"
That was my cue.
I pushed through the door with the soldiers behind me, my heart pounding like thunder. "HOW DARE YOU!" I yelled, my voice slicing through the silence.
Everyone turned in shock. Gasps echoed through the hall. Cathy froze, her eyes widening in disbelief before tears spilled down her cheeks. "Jasperā¦" she whispered.
Jude's expression twisted from surprise to hatred. "Well, look who decided to show up," he sneered.
"Jude," I said, stepping forward slowly, my gun raised but my voice breaking. "Why are you doing this? Why are you destroying everything we built as brothers?"
He laughed bitterly. "Destroying? No, Jasperā¦ I'm taking back what you stole from me! You've always had everything ā the love, the respect, the success. Even grandfather's dying words were about you! And nowā¦ now, even Cathy belongs to you."
"She never belonged to anyone, Jude," I snapped. "She's not a trophy ā she's a person. And you're too blinded by envy to see it."
"Shut up!" he roared, raising his gun toward me. "You don't deserve her happiness. I'll take it ā just like you took mine!"
The guards immediately pointed their weapons at me, but I didn't flinch. I aimed my own gun at Jude's chest, my finger trembling slightly over the trigger. "You'll regret this, brother," I said quietly.
He smirked. "We'll see about that."
Before he could pull the trigger, I gave a sharp signal. The roof burst open as the Air Force team stormed in, surrounding the hall.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" the commander shouted.
But Jude's men didn't listen. One gunshot rang out ā then another ā and chaos exploded.
The once-elegant wedding hall turned into a battlefield. Bullets shattered the chandeliers, guests screamed and ran, smoke filled the air. I ducked behind a pillar, firing back at the guards while shouting orders to my team.
"James! Get the kids to safety! NOW!"
James nodded and dashed toward Lucas and Luna. I tried to cover him, shooting down two guards, but the crossfire was too heavy. The air smelled of gunpowder and blood ā and then, I heard it.
A scream.
"LUCAS!"
Cathy's voice tore through my soul. I turned sharply ā my heart stopped. Lucas was on the ground, clutching his stomach, blood pooling beneath him. Time froze. My breath caught in my throat.
"NOOOO!!!" Cathy screamed, struggling against the guards who held her back. "LET ME GO! THAT'S MY SON!"
My rage boiled over. I fired repeatedly, not caring about the danger, not caring about anything but saving them. "JAMES, GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"
But before James could reach them, Jude grabbed Cathy roughly, dragging her backward toward the hallway. "You're not going anywhere, Cathy!"
"LET ME GO, JUDE!" she screamed, hitting him. "YOU MONSTER! I HATE YOU!"
I ran toward them, my heart pounding with fury and fear. "JUDE!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the chaos.
I was just a few feet away when someone caught my arm ā firm, cold, unrelenting. I spun around, ready to strike, but then I froze.
"Don't leave me"the strange woman said and on which the voice sounded familiar but I cared less about her and tossed her aside ordering the officers to hold her still while I chase after jude
While chasing Jude he entered a boat and started driving away in the sea fortunately for me I saw another boat and I started chasing after him with my own boat, I chased after him for over 3 hours with the navy's rescue boats following me from behind
The waves crashed violently against the side of the boat as I sped after Jude's boat. The night sky was wild ā clouds heavy with the promise of rain, wind howling like a curse. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst through my chest. Ahead of me, I could see them ā Jude at the helm, and Cathyā¦ my Cathyā¦ trapped inside, helpless.
Without hesitation, I accelerated, the engine roaring as I drew closer. The salt of the sea burned my lips, but I didn't care. When I got close enough, I leaped from my boat onto his, landing hard on the deck. Pain shot through my knees, but adrenaline drowned it out.
The moment Jude saw me, his eyes widened in fury. He shoved Cathy into a small cabin and slammed the door shut before facing me.
"So, you really came," he said, his voice filled with venom.
"I'll always come for her," I spat, moving toward him.
We collided like beasts, our fists meeting flesh, rage against rage. The fight was brutal ā thirty long minutes of pure chaos. Blood mixed with sweat; the sound of fists echoed across the waves. Every hit I took, I thought of Cathy's tears, of Lucas bleeding somewhere behind us, of all the pain this manāmy own brotherāhad caused.
Finally, with a desperate swing, I landed a heavy punch that sent Jude crashing into the railing. His body slumped, and I didn't wait. I rushed to the cabin, kicked the door open, and there she wasāCathy, shaking, crying, terrified.
"Jasper!" she screamed, running into my arms.
"I've got you, love. I've got you," I whispered, holding her as tightly as I could.
Smoke began to rise from the engine room ā the smell of burning fuel filled the air. "We have to get out of here!" I shouted. Without thinking, I lifted Cathy into my arms and jumped overboard with her. The cold hit me like a thousand knives, but I didn't let go. "Swim to the other boat!" I yelled, and she did, her strokes weak but determined. I watched her reach the navy's rescue boat safely before I turned back.
Something inside me told me I couldn't leave Jude behind ā not like this. So I climbed back onto his boat, coughing as the smoke thickened. The fire was spreading fast. That's when I heard him.
"Hey, brother," Jude's voice rasped from behind me. I turned, my heart sinking at the sight of himāhis face bruised, eyes empty.
"You think you can take me down? Don't worryā¦" He laughed bitterly, raising a pistol to his head. "We'll go down together."
"Jude, stop!" I shouted, stepping forward. "We can fix this, pleaseādon't do this!"
But he didn't listen. He fired twice ā the bullets whistled past me, one grazing my arm and searing into my flesh. I groaned, clutching the wound, but before I could reach him, he pulled the trigger again ā this time, turning the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.
The sound echoed across the water, louder than the storm itself. His body fell, limp and lifeless, blood staining the deck. My knees gave out, and I just stared, tears blurring my vision. Despite everything ā the pain, the betrayal ā he was still my brother.
A soft hand touched my shoulder. I turned to see Jane, her eyes red and trembling. She must have climbed aboard without me noticing.
"Don't worry, brother," she whispered, voice breaking. "The monster is gone now."
And that's when I broke. I fell into her arms, my chest heavy with grief, my heart torn between relief and sorrow. The rain finally came, washing away the blood, but not the pain. Not the memory. Not the bond that once existed between two brothers ā now separated forever by hate and tragedy.
The night was silent, except for the weeping waves. And as I stared into the endless dark horizon, I whispered to myself, "Rest now, Jude. Maybe in another life, things could've been different."
I said as the rescue team carried me and Jane to the shore
Cathy POV
I waited anxiously for Jasper's call, praying silently that he was safe. The sound of gunshots echoed in the distance, each one piercing through my chest like a blade. My hands trembled uncontrollably as I clutched the edge of the boat, staring into the vast, endless sea. Every second felt like an hour. Every wave reminded me that Jasper was still out there ā fighting, bleeding, surviving.
"Please, Jasperā¦ please come back," I whispered, my voice cracking as tears rolled down my cheeks.
Then suddenly, a sharp pain hit my chest. I started coughing uncontrollably, each cough stronger than the last. My throat burned, my lungs ached, and I could barely catch my breath. The world around me spun like a storm, my vision blurring as I reached out weakly for help that wasn't there.
"Jasā¦perā¦" I tried to call his name, but the words barely escaped my lips.
My body grew heavier, my knees gave way, and darkness began to swallow my sight. The last thing I remembered was the cold breeze brushing against my face and the sound of waves crashing gently against the boat before everything went black.
Jasper POV
When I and Jane finally staggered onto the shore, the salt still clinging to our hair, the first thing I demanded was Cathy. My voice sounded hoarse even to my own ears. A man with tired eyes looked up from a radio and told me what I already feared.
"when they pulled her and the boy out of the water,she fainted" he said. "And they were rushed in an ambulance to the hospital."
Surprise hit me like a physical force. For a moment I couldn't move; the world narrowed to that single, terrible fact. I asked to go with them, to see her, to make sure she was breathing, but the nursesābusy, efficient, focusedāstopped me. They said my arm needed attention; they said I'd been injured; they would treat me first. I stood there, stripped of action, forced to let them stitch and bind while my mind ran in circles.
A doctor cut through the haze then, calm and blunt. "She's stable," he told me. "It looks like a panic attack from inhalation and shock. She's okay." The words hit me like an anchor. For a breath, my chest unclenched. She's okay. The thought steadied me enough to breathe.
While a nurse dabbed at the graze on my arm, moving with practiced hands, a sound rose in the corridorāa voice I knew too well, the same shrill arrogance I had thought I'd left behind with the past. She came forward like a dark bloom pushing through concrete, having somehow broken free from the guards who'd brought her in.
"So, Jasper, you cannot recognize me?" she asked, slow and theatrical, as if she expected a bow.
Recognition struck me hard. I didn't answer with disbelief; I answered with one word like a verdict. "Cecilia," I said, my eyes wide and my voice flat with the memory of everything she had taken.
Her smile was too smooth, her face too rehearsed. I couldn't help the barb that slipped out of me, half-anger and half-need to unnerve her. "Why do you look so artificial?" I said, tasting the insult. It was meant to needle, to show her that whatever she'd bought with knives and money could not make a soul.
She recoiled like a woman scorned, but then fury twisted her features. "I did all this for youāso I could look more beautiful for youāand this is what you have to say?" she screamed, and the sound was almost animal. Then, with a wild, graceless motion, she slapped me.
The slap stung in a way anger never hadāmore humiliating than painful. I stood there while nurses turned, while the corridor filled with sudden oxygen and murmurs. My disgust was a cold thing that settled in my bones. I forced my voice steady. "Take her away," I said, not to anyone in particular but to the world that still moved when everything inside me had frozen. "To the dungeon. Secure her. I want her detained."
My words landed like commands; men moved fast, seizing her by the arms and dragging her back the way she had come, her protest a ragged soundtrack down the hall. I watched until she was beyond sight, the echo of her heels and the final, infuriated shout burning in the sterile air.
I closed my eyes for a second and whispered, not sure whether anyone heard me or whether the sea would carry it to where it mattered most: "Lord, please save Cathy and her son." The plea was small, honestāless a prayer than a raw, private mercy I wrapped like an amulet around their names.
Blood loss, exhaustion, the searing ache in my arm and the weight of everything I'd seen pressed on me like a tide. My legs went weak. The world folded at the edges and the lights smeared into a smear of white. I promisedāsomewhere between consciousness and the pull of blackāwhen I wake up, I will make them pay for what they did today. Then the darkness took me.
Watch out for 23
To be continued...š„¹š„¹
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