Chapter 6 POV Mande

The night had turned into a nightmare of gunfire and blood, and we were barely holding on. Julianna was shaken, but even then, she made her choices fast, splitting us up to survive. She looked at me with those fierce, unbreakable eyes, and for a moment, I felt that familiar sense of respect and fear that only she could command.

"Go left with me, Mande," she ordered, glancing at Makidi with a silent farewell, a look that held years of love and trust. Then she turned to Bryan, her father's loyal guard, and nodded. "You and Makidi hold them back. Buy us some time."

Makidi hesitated, his jaw tight with the tension of leaving her. But he nodded, his face etched with pain. He touched her hand, briefly, and then he was gone, moving with Bryan back into the chaos. I could feel Julianna's eyes on his retreating figure, but she held her chin high, refusing to let herself falter.

We moved quickly, ducking through narrow hallways and weaving through shadowed corners, trying to avoid the gunfire and screams echoing through the compound. Every sound made my heart race, but I kept close to her, urging her forward. I'd served this family long enough to know that loyalty meant everything-and Julianna had always been more than just my employer. As we got finally out to of the tunnel we found a Lexus keep packed as if it has been expecting us, we quickly rushed in, Not quite long Bryan put a call through that Makidi has been seriously wounded, Julianna couldn't move the car I don't know how to advice her to at least start the car as we await the next decision.

But then it happened. The shot rang out like a clap of thunder, and Julianna stumbled forward, a sharp gasp escaping her lips. I caught her as she fell, my hands shaking as I pressed against the wound in her side. Blood seeped through her clothes, staining my hands as I tried to stop it, but deep down, I knew. She was hurt bad. Too bad to it.

She looked up at me, her face pale, her breathing shallow. "Mande," Julianna whispered, her voice barely audible over the chaos around us. "Listen to me... I don't have much time."

I shook my head, tears blurring my vision as I held her close. "Don't say that, Julianna. We'll get you out of here. Makidi will find us, he'll-"

"Yes," she cut me off, her voice weak but determined. "I'm sure Makidi will survive this but I won't make it. You have to... to promise me something."

I leaned closer, my heart breaking as her words sank in. "Anything, child," I whispered, my voice cracking.

Her hand reached for mine, trembling, but her eyes were steady, filled with a fierce resolve. "Find an orphaned child... adopt her as if she's mine. Give Makidi someone to love, someone to hold onto when I'm gone. Tell him..." She paused, her breathing ragged. "Tell him... she's our daughter."

My heart shattered as I listened, but I knew what this meant to her. In her final moments, she wanted to give Makidi something, a legacy, a piece of her that he could carry forward. She wanted him to believe he hadn't lost everything.

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak. I promised her, there and then, that I would do as she asked, that I would honor her last wish. I swore to her, knowing it was the final act of loyalty I could offer her.

Her eyes softened, a faint smile touching her lips. She relaxed in my arms, her breathing slowing as the life faded from her. I held her close, my tears falling as I whispered the words she could no longer hear.

When I left that place, I carried her memory and her promise with me. I found a little boy, an innocent child without a family, and raised him as if he were Julianna's own. And when the time was right, I found Makidi, after 3 years, now Makidi had refurbished the empire, I wondered why I didn't do too much research to find the "NEW JACKSON'S EMPIRE" which I saw at the front of the estate gate, I couldn't think straight as I was led by two hefty guys into "Makidi's Court" that was straight ahead of me, I couldn't turn around to look at my side in other for me to inspect the building, but then my expectations was to at least find not less than two women in the apartment as a wife and a maid, but I was shocked to find Makidi alone in the building standing in the opposite direction as if he was already waiting for us. He shooked my hands and look down on the young boy, letting out the pain and loneliness I had suffered for good 3years after the incidence I introduced him to the child who would become his son."Makidi," I said softly, my voice filled with the weight of my promise. "This is your son... Julianna's baby, she died at the point of giving birth."

He looked at the little boy, his face a mixture of sorrow and love. And in that moment, I knew that Julianna's wish had come true. Through this child, her legacy would live on, and Makidi would never have to feel the emptiness she'd left behind. I'd kept my promise, and as I watched him hold him, a bittersweet peace filled me, knowing I had honored her final wish.