lunged forward, going for the vial in my hand. I stumbled back, but Duncan didn’t stop. He fought, trying to claw at my hand. “Stop! Duncan!”
He shoved the gun into my chest, growling. “Give it to me!”
We both struggled against each other. Me protecting vial and him trying to take it from me. “Brother, stop. Fucking stop!”
I reached for the gun, trying to move it away from us.
Duncan went crazy, pushing against me. We were both breathing hard, yelling at each other when the sound of the gun going off exploded through the room, the wall echoing with it. Our eyes widened and my chest rattled with a shaky breath. Duncan stumbled away from me and he fell to his knees, blood coating his shirt.
“No!” I roared, dropping to my knees next to him. He clenched his chest and I tried to put pressure on the wound but he was bleeding profusely.
His body spasmed. “She… is… dying… only three minutes… left before the poison…takes…over.”
My heart stuttered. I looked back at Snow and then at my brother. Duncan smiled shakily. “Go… to… her.”
I clenched the vial in my hand and made a choice.
I left my brother’s side and went to my Snow. I emptied half of the vial into her mouth, but some of it spilled down her chin. “Fuck,” I swore before pouring the rest into my mouth.
I leaned down and kissed her, forcing the antidote into her mouth and down her throat.
I kissed her while my brother laid dying on the floor.
Snow took a shuddering breath as my brother breathed his last.
Six hours later, Snow opened her eyes. She blinked and then glanced around the room, before her gaze landed on me. I was sitting by her side, on the bed. In my room.
George had helped me clean the other room where Hilda and Duncan took their last breath. He had taken the bodies away while I stayed with Snow, keeping an eye on her. I was worried that I had taken too long to give her the antidote.
But as the hours passed, instead of dying, I saw that she was only… unconscious.
The moment our eyes met, hers filled with tears. Her chin trembled. “Is it true?” she whispered, her voice cracking.
I nodded, my thumb stroking her cheek. “It’s all true, Little Snow. I’m sorry.”
She let out a sob, curling into me.
I was not the hero in her story.
I was the villain, but she still sought me out. She still found comfort in me.
And I vowed to gain her trust again.
This time, I wasn’t going to break her heart.
Epilogue
Snow
Two years later
If you had asked me two years ago if my life would be like this now, I’d laugh and said you were crazy. Two years ago, I had plans to go back to the boarding school and living a boring, quiet life.
Now?
Well, my life was not so boring and neither was it quiet.
A loud cry filled the cottage and I rolled my eyes, stepping out of the bathroom with a towel around my body. “I was only gone for ten minutes.”
“He wants milk.”
“He always wants milk,” I muttered.
Liam gave me his signature crooked grin. He handed me our son, Elias, and I settled into his lap. His arms curled around us as Elias latched onto my nipple.
Liam’s lips brushed against my temple, a tender kiss. I leaned more into him. Twenty minutes later, Elias was full and asleep in my arms. I placed him in the bassinet beside our bed and I straddled my husband. His eyes were no longer dead. There was warmth in them now. Love for me and our son. But I still saw the grief that he hid so well.
Deep inside, Liam was tormented with guilt.
Two years ago, when I woke up, I didn’t know how to react. I cried, I raged and I hated Liam. It took me months to finally come to terms with what happened. And in those months, Liam was patient with me. He explained his side of the story.
It took me a long time to understand him, but in the end, I realized how badly my father had messed up all our lives.
I didn’t know what took place between Duncan and Liam after I passed out. I found out Duncan had died and George told me there was an accident. He didn’t have to explain; I already understood what he meant.
Liam never spoke of it.
Neither did I.
We also never spoke of our pasts. I never brought up my father and