---- Chapter 27 Amira Osborne POV: My head whipped around. Chloe was on the ground, crying, a long, bloody gash on her leg. Standing over her was Francine 's son, his face twisted in a malicious sneer. | rushed to Chloe, scooping her into my arms. "What happened, sweetie?" "He pushed me!" she sobbed. "He said his mommy told him | was a little monster trying to steal his daddy!" My gaze shot to Francine, who was watching from the sidelines with a satisfied smirk. She sauntered over, feigning concern. "Oh, dear. Boys will be boys. My son is just protective of his father. You can' t blame him for seeing you and your... daughter... as a threat to our new family." She spat the words like venom. A white-hot rage, purer and more intense than anything | had ever felt, surged through me. | was about to lunge at her, to claw that smug look off her face, consequences be damned. Arjun caught my arm. "Don't," he murmured, his voice a low warning. "She wants you to react. Someone over there is filming.". He nodded towards a guest | didn' t recognize, holding up their phone. ---- | looked at Chloe' s tear-streaked face, at the blood welling from the cut on her leg, and felt a wave of helpless fury. Arjun pulled me into his arms, his own eyes blazing with a cold, protective anger. "Don' t worry," he whispered against my hair. "Her karma is coming." He was right. Carter, who had witnessed the whole exchange, strode over to Francine. His face was a mask of thunderous rage. He slapped her, hard, the sound echoing across the suddenly silent yard. He threw a piece of paper at her feet. "He' s not my son," he snarled. "I had another DNA test done. A real one this time. You lied to me. You lied about everything." Francine' s face went pale. Her carefully constructed world was crumbling around her. Seeing her plan in ruins, she snapped. Her eyes, wild and crazed, landed on me. "This is all your fault!" she shrieked, grabbing a fruit knife from the refreshment table. She lunged towards me, the blade glinting in the sunlight. "You ruined everything! I' m going to kill you!" Time slowed down. Arjun shoved me behind him, shielding me with his body. | saw the knife arc through the air. | heard a sickening thud as it found its mark. But it wasn't Arjun who fell. It was Carter. ---- He had thrown himself in front of me, in front of Arjun, taking the full force of the blow. The knife was buried to the hilt in his chest. He looked at me, a surprised, pained expression on his face. He crumpled to the ground, a pool of dark red blood spreading rapidly across the pristine green grass. He looked up at me one last time, his eyes filled with a profound, soul-deep regret. His lips moved, forming words that were lost in the chaos of screams and sirens. But | knew what he was saying. I'm sorry. Then, his eyes went vacant. The hero uncle was gone. The party ended in a blur of police and paramedics. Francine was dragged away, screaming and spitting, her life over. | stood there, holding a wide-eyed Chloe, whose innocent question hung in the air: "What happened, Mommy?" | looked at Arjun, at his kind, worried face, and then at my daughter, the beautiful, resilient little girl who was my future. Carter' s final act, a senseless, tragic sacrifice, had given me the one thing | thought |' d lost forever: a clean slate. | finally understood. The past was a ghost, and the only way to banish it was to turn and face the future. To cherish the love that was right in front of me. | looked at Arjun, a real, genuine smile spreading across my ---- face. "It' s okay, sweetie," | said to Chloe, pulling her into a hug. "Daddy and | are here. Let' s go home."