Maya's POV
"Drive faster!" I scream at Ethan.
We race through the city toward Derek's apartment. The real Derek sits beside me, his face pale with terror. If James kills Daniel thinking it's Derek, his own son will die because of mistaken identity.
"What if we're too late?" Derek's voice shakes.
"We won't be," I say, trying to convince myself as much as him.
Ethan's car screeches around corners. Red lights mean nothing. Traffic laws don't exist. We're breaking every rule to save a man who tried to destroy us just hours ago.
But he's still a person. And James Walsh is still a murderer.
"There!" Derek points to his apartment building. Black SUVs surround the entrance. James's men.
We screech to a stop and run inside. The elevator is too slow. We take the stairs, climbing five floors as fast as we can.
Derek's apartment door hangs off its hinges. Inside, we hear shouting.
"You stole from me!" James Walsh's voice roars. "You betrayed your own family!"
"I'm not Derek!" Daniel's voice screams back. "I'm your nephew! I'm Daniel!"
"Liar!" The sound of flesh hitting flesh. A body crashes against a wall.
We burst through the broken door.
James stands over Daniel, who lies bleeding on the floor. Two of James's men hold Daniel's arms while James kicks him repeatedly.
"Stop!" Derek shouts.
Everyone freezes. James turns slowly and sees his real son standing in the doorway.
"Derek?" James stares in confusion at both identical faces. "Which one—"
"I'm Derek." The real Derek steps forward. "The man you're beating is Daniel Walsh. Your brother Michael's son. Your nephew."
James looks between the two men, his face going from rage to shock to cold calculation. "Michael's son. So the rumors were true. He had a child before I killed him."
"You admit it," Daniel spits blood on the floor. "You killed your own brother."
"Michael was weak. He wanted to expose my business practices. He would have destroyed everything I built." James kicks Daniel again. "Just like his pathetic son tried to do."
"Stop hurting him!" I shout, moving forward.
James pulls a gun and points it at me. "Stay back, Maya. This doesn't concern you."
"Everything concerns her," Ethan says, his own gun already drawn. "Put the weapon down, James."
"Or what? You'll shoot me? In front of witnesses?" James laughs. "You're not that stupid, Stone."
"Try me."
The two men face off, guns pointed at each other. Derek's men watch nervously, unsure who to follow. The real Derek stands frozen, caught between his father and his cousin.
"Please," Daniel coughs. "Just let me go. I'll disappear. You'll never see me again."
"You know too much," James says coldly. "You've been impersonating my son for months. You've seen my files, heard my conversations, learned my secrets. I can't let you live."
"Then kill me," Daniel says defiantly. "But at least admit the truth first. Admit you killed my father. Admit you're a murderer."
"I admit nothing." James cocks his gun, still pointed at me. "But I will kill everyone in this room if that's what it takes to protect my empire."
"Your empire is over," Ethan says. "Marcus Webb is in custody. He's telling police everything about your operation. By tomorrow, you'll be arrested."
"Marcus?" James laughs again, but it sounds forced. "Marcus worked for me. Whatever he says is lies from a bitter employee."
"He has proof," I say. "Documents. Recordings. Everything."
"Fake evidence. Easy to disprove." But James's hand shakes slightly on the gun. He's scared. He's finally, actually scared.
"Dad," Derek says quietly. "It's over. Just put the gun down. Let Daniel go. Turn yourself in. Maybe you can make a deal—"
"A deal?" James's voice rises hysterically. "I'm James Walsh! I don't make deals! People make deals with me!"
"Not anymore," Ethan says. "You're finished."
James swings his gun toward Ethan. "I'll kill you first. Then your sister. Then Maya and her bastard baby—"
Derek lunges at his father. The gun goes off.
The bullet hits the ceiling, raining down plaster. Derek and James crash to the floor, wrestling for the weapon.
"Help him!" I scream at James's men. "Help Derek!"
But the men don't move. They stand there watching father and son fight, their loyalty clearly uncertain.
Ethan rushes forward and kicks the gun away from both men. It skitters across the floor toward me.
I pick it up with shaking hands. The metal is cold and heavy. I've never held a gun before. It terrifies me.
"Stop!" I point it at James and Derek. "Both of you stop!"
They freeze, still tangled on the floor.
"Maya," Ethan says carefully. "Give me the gun."
"No." I keep it pointed at James. "He needs to pay for what he did. To my mother. To Daniel's father. To everyone."
"Shooting him won't bring them back," Ethan says.
"But it will stop him from hurting anyone else!" Tears stream down my face. "He killed my mother. He deserves to die."
James looks up at me from the floor. For the first time, I see real fear in his eyes. "Maya, please. I have grandchildren. Family. You're carrying my grandchild right now. Don't do this."
"You were going to take my baby away from me," I say, my voice breaking. "You were going to destroy my life. Why should I show you mercy?"
"Because you're better than me," James whispers. "You're better than all of us."
His words break something inside me. He's right. I'm not a killer. I'm not him.
I lower the gun.
"Maya—" Ethan starts.
Police sirens wail outside. Someone must have called them about the gunshots.
James's men bolt for the exit. In the chaos, James scrambles to his feet and runs for the window.
"Stop him!" Derek shouts.
But James is already through the window onto the fire escape. He climbs down quickly, disappearing into the night.
"Should I go after him?" Ethan asks.
"Let him go," I say tiredly. "The police will find him. He can't hide forever."
Daniel struggles to sit up, his face bloody and bruised. "Thank you. For saving me."
"Don't thank me yet," Derek says, helping his cousin stand. "You tried to kidnap us. You worked for Marcus. You've committed a dozen crimes."
"I know." Daniel wipes blood from his mouth. "I'm ready to face the consequences. But first, I need to tell you something important. About James and your family history. About why he killed my father."
"What about it?" I ask.
"Your mother—Linda Chen—wasn't just investigating James's crimes. She was pregnant when she died."
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"She was pregnant. Three months along. James killed her before anyone could find out." Daniel looks at Derek. "The baby wasn't Richard Chen's. It was Robert Stone's. Ethan's father."
Ethan staggers backward like he's been shot. "That's impossible."
"It's true. I have the medical records. Your father and Maya's mother were going to have a child together. That's why James killed her—to prevent Robert Stone from having an heir that could challenge the Walsh family power."
"So I would have had a sibling," Ethan whispers. "A brother or sister. And James Walsh murdered them before they could be born."
The weight of this revelation crushes me. My mother was pregnant when she died. I almost had a brother or sister. Ethan almost had a sibling.
James Walsh didn't just kill two people. He killed three.
"I'm going to destroy him," Ethan says, his voice deadly calm. "I'm going to take everything from him. His money. His power. His freedom. His life if necessary."
"Get in line," Derek says bitterly. "He's my father and even I want him dead."
Police burst through the door, guns drawn. "Everyone on the ground! Now!"
We comply quickly, lying face-down while officers handcuff us. They're not taking chances after the gunshots and chaos.
"We're the victims!" Derek protests. "James Walsh attacked us!"
"Tell it to the detectives," an officer says, hauling us to our feet.
They take us to the police station. We're separated into different interrogation rooms. I sit alone for two hours before anyone comes to question me.
Finally, a detective enters. She's middle-aged, tired-looking, with kind eyes.
"Ms. Chen, I'm Detective Sarah Martinez. Can you tell me what happened at Derek Walsh's apartment tonight?"
I tell her everything. The fight. The gun. James's escape. She takes notes without expression.
"Where is James Walsh now?" she asks.
"I don't know. He ran."
"We've issued a warrant for his arrest. We'll find him." She closes her notebook. "Ms. Chen, are you aware that someone leaked information about your pregnancy to the media?"
My stomach drops. "What?"
"It's all over the news. Headlines about you being pregnant, questions about paternity, speculation about your relationship with Ethan Stone and Derek Walsh." Detective Martinez looks sympathetic. "There are reporters outside this police station right now. Dozens of them. Waiting for you."
"Who leaked it?" I ask desperately.
"We don't know yet. But the story includes medical records that should be confidential. Someone with access to private information sold it to the press."
James. It has to be James. This is his revenge for us exposing him.
"Can I leave?" I ask.
"You're free to go. But Ms. Chen—be careful out there. The media circus is going to be brutal."
She's right. When Ethan, Derek, and I finally leave the police station hours later, we're swarmed by reporters. Cameras flash. Microphones shove in our faces. Questions scream from every direction.
"Maya! Is it true you're pregnant?"
"Ethan! Are you the father?"
"Derek! Did you know your ex-fiancée was carrying another man's child?"
"Is the engagement fake?"
"Did you conspire to frame James Walsh?"
Ethan's security team pushes through the crowd, creating a barrier. We climb into his car and speed away, but the damage is done.
My phone explodes with notifications. Text messages. Emails. Social media mentions. Everyone has an opinion about my pregnancy, my love life, my choices.
I turn off my phone and lean my head back against the seat. "This is a nightmare."
"We'll fix this," Ethan says. "Tomorrow morning, I'm holding a press conference. I'll claim the baby is mine. I'll say we're madly in love. I'll make them believe the engagement is real."
"But it's not real," I whisper.
"Then we'll make it real." Ethan looks at me intensely. "For the next few months, until James is in prison and this media storm passes, we'll pretend so well that even we believe it."
The next morning, Ethan holds a press conference outside his office building. I stand beside him, trying to look happy and confident despite my exhaustion.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Ethan begins, cameras flashing. "I'm here to address the rumors about my fiancée Maya Chen. Yes, she is pregnant. Yes, the baby is mine. And yes, we're deeply in love and planning our wedding."
Reporters shout questions. Ethan answers smoothly, professionally. He's good at this—controlling the narrative, shaping the story.
Then a reporter in the back raises her hand. "Mr. Stone, if the baby is yours, why was Ms. Chen seen leaving an abortion clinic yesterday?"
The world stops.
I was never at an abortion clinic yesterday. I was at the police station. At Derek's apartment. Fighting for my life.
But someone wants the world to think I was.
Cameras swing toward me, capturing my shocked expression. This image will be everywhere—the pregnant woman caught in a lie.
"That's not true," I start to say.
But the reporter holds up her phone, showing a photo. It's me. Or someone who looks exactly like me. Leaving a building with an abortion clinic sign clearly visible.
"This photo was taken yesterday at 2 PM," the reporter says. "Care to explain, Ms. Chen?"
I stare at the photo, my mind racing. That's not me. I was nowhere near that clinic.
But the woman in the photo has my face. My hair. My clothes.
Someone is framing me. Again.
And this time, they might actually win.