(Hazel POV)
The morning of the wedding felt too still.
Too perfect.
As if the world was holding its breath, waiting for something to break.
Ryan had left early with the elders to finalize the last ceremony protections. Bella and Klara were downstairs screaming over decorations again, and Sera had already warned everyone not to "trigger Hazel's emotional instability today."
I was alone for exactly five minutes.
That was enough.
Because I felt it.
That shift.
That wrongness in the air.
Before I even reached the window—
the alarms outside the mansion blared.
Red security lights flashed across the grounds.
Voices.
Shouts.
Movement.
My heart dropped.
Then I saw him.
Kyle.
Standing at the inner gate.
Inside.
He had gotten past the outer security.
Past the guards.
Past everything.
And he was looking directly at me.
Not pleading this time.
Not broken.
Desperate in a violent way.
Dangerous.
"Hazel!" he shouted.
Guards rushed toward him immediately.
"STOP!" one of them yelled.
But Kyle reached into his coat—
and pulled out a gun.
Everything froze.
Even the air.
Bella's scream echoed from somewhere inside the house.
Kyle's voice shook.
"No one moves!"
His eyes locked on me.
"I'm not leaving without her."
A guard stepped forward.
Kyle aimed instantly.
"Back off!"
Hazel—
don't move.
don't breathe.
don't—
But then he said it.
His voice cracked violently.
"If anyone tries to stop me… I'll shoot her."
The gun tilted.
Directly at me.
My body went cold.
Bella screamed my name.
Guards hesitated.
Kyle's breathing was uneven.
Madness.
Obsession.
Collapse.
"Hazel," he whispered, like I was still his world.
"Just come with me."
My voice didn't come.
Because I saw it.
Not fear of him anymore.
But finality.
He had crossed something irreversible.
Then—
a sound cut through the air.
Sharp.
Instant.
A gunshot.
But not from Kyle.
Not from the guards.
From behind him.
Kyle's body jerked violently.
The gun slipped from his hand.
Silence dropped like a stone.
He turned slightly—
slowly—
confused.
And then collapsed forward onto the ground.
Dead quiet.
No movement.
No breath.
Only shock.
For a second, no one understood what had happened.
Then—
I saw him.
Ryan.
Standing near the main steps.
Gun still raised.
Smoke faint in the air.
His expression was unreadable.
Cold.
Controlled.
Final.
The guards stepped back immediately.
Bella stopped screaming mid-breath.
Even the wind felt like it stopped.
Ryan lowered the weapon slowly.
His eyes never left Kyle's body.
Then he looked at me.
And everything in me broke and steadied at the same time.
He walked forward.
Step by step.
Until he reached me.
His hand cupped my face immediately.
Checking.
Confirming.
Breathing me in like I was real.
Then his voice came low.
Final.
"No one will ever disturb you again."
I swallowed hard.
"Ryan…"
He didn't let me finish.
His thumb brushed my cheek.
Soft.
But his eyes were still dangerous.
"I told you before," he said quietly.
"And I meant it."
"I will burn down anything that tries to take you from me."
Silence.
Then—
he pulled me into his chest.
Strong.
Steady.
Alive.
For the first time that morning, I exhaled fully.
Kyle was gone.
Not running.
Not returning.
Gone.
Ryan's voice softened only for me.
"You are safe now."
His hand tightened slightly around me.
"I will always protect you."
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time…
I believed it completely.
Behind us, the mansion slowly came back to life.
Voices.
Movement.
Shock fading into relief.
But Ryan didn't move.
And neither did I.
Because in that moment—
the world finally stopped trying to take me away from him.