Chapter 16
505words
Nolan's expression darkened. "She's been obsessed with me since college. When we broke up, she never really moved on, especially after I married you. She saw her chance and took it."
"And she succeeded perfectly," I said, the pain almost unbearable. "We lost five years together. Owen lost five years with his father. All because of her twisted obsession."
Nolan moved closer, his eyes filled with an emotion I hadn't seen in five years—the tenderness that had once been only for me. "Chloe, I never stopped loving you. Even when I thought you'd betrayed me, even when I tried to hate you."
His words broke the dam, and tears flowed freely down my cheeks. "I never stopped loving you either. I left because I thought you'd found someone else, that you'd fallen for Emma."
Nolan pulled me into his arms—our first embrace in five long years. "We were both victims of her manipulation. But now we know the truth."
In his arms, I felt a sense of homecoming so powerful it made me dizzy. The wall of misunderstanding between us had finally crumbled. We had a second chance.
Just as we were absorbing this moment of reconciliation, my phone rang shrilly. The hospital security number flashed on the screen.
"Ms. Chloe, Emma's in the building! She's completely out of control—security can't contain her!"
Nolan grabbed the phone from my hand. "This is Nolan Pierce. Lock down that room now. No one gets near my son. We're coming immediately."
Ending the call, Nolan's face hardened with determination. "We need to move. Emma's desperate, and that makes her dangerous."
We raced back to Owen's room, Emma's unhinged screams echoing down the corridor before we even turned the corner.
"Nolan belongs to me! That brat needs to disappear! Let me through!"
When we reached Owen's room, we found Emma fighting against three security guards. Her designer outfit was torn, her hair wild, her perfectly maintained facade completely shattered.
"Emma!" Nolan's voice cut through her screams. "Stop this madness!"
At the sight of Nolan, Emma instantly calmed, her face lighting up with an unnatural joy. "Nolan! You came for me! I knew you would! Let's go away together, just us—no more interference from her or that mistake of a child!"
Nolan regarded her with cold pity. "Emma, you need professional help. You're mentally ill."
"I'm not sick!" Emma shrieked. "It's her! She stole you from me! She's using that bastard child to trap you!"
Without warning, she pulled a scalpel from her pocket and lunged at me. "I'll kill you! Then Nolan will be mine again!"
The security team tackled her to the ground, but she thrashed violently, her eyes burning with hatred and insanity.
"You don't understand! She destroyed everything! That child is a mistake! Nolan is mine! He's always been mine!"
Nolan shook his head, his expression a mixture of disgust and pity. "Call the police. And get a psychiatric evaluation ordered immediately."
