Chapter 4

"Liam, are you crazy?!"

Olivia' s shriek cut through the air. She rushed forward and slapped my phone out of my hand. It clattered onto the grimy pavement.

"That's Lucas's money! That's his future! You can't just give it away!" she hissed, her face contorted with rage. She didn't care about her grandmother's life; she only cared about the money.

I bent down slowly to pick up my phone, my expression one of pained sincerity.

"Olivia, please," I said, my voice gentle, a stark contrast to her hysteria. "This is your grandmother we're talking about. Her life is on the line. Money is just money, we can always earn more. But we only have one Grandma."

My words were for her, but my message was for the old woman tied to the chair. I saw her flinch as if Olivia's greed had physically struck her. She stared at her granddaughter, then at Ethan, who was standing by dumbly, and the contempt in her eyes deepened into disgust.

"This has nothing to do with you, Liam!" Ethan finally found his voice, stepping up to me. "You're a nobody. You have no right to make decisions here. This is Reed family business." He jabbed a finger at my chest. "You couldn't even give Olivia a child. You have no stake in this family's future."

I just looked at him, my face calm. His insults didn't matter. The seeds of doubt I had planted were already sprouting.

That's when Grandma Reed finally broke.

"Enough!"

Her voice, though weakened by fear, echoed with the authority of a matriarch who had been pushed too far. All heads turned to her.

"Ethan Hayes," she said, her voice dripping with ice. "You are a disgrace. You flaunt your money, you endanger this family, and then you haggle over my life like I'm a piece of furniture."

She then turned her furious gaze on her granddaughter. "And you, Olivia! I am ashamed to call you my blood. You would let me die for a pile of cash? For this... this coward and a child whose future you care about more than my life?"

The air crackled with tension.

"After this is over," Grandma Reed declared, her voice ringing with grim finality, "Ethan, you are to have no more contact with my granddaughter. And Olivia, I am calling my lawyers. You are being cut out of my will. You will not see one cent of the Reed fortune. Not you, and not your son."

Olivia' s face went white. The threat was real. The Reed fortune, the legacy she had been banking on her entire life, was about to vanish. The five million dollar ransom was nothing compared to the tens of millions she stood to lose.

Ethan looked like he had been punched in the gut. His connection to the Reed family, the source of his elevated social status, was being severed.

"No, Grandma, please!" Olivia begged, her arrogance crumbling into desperation. "I didn't mean it! I was just... scared!"

"The only thing you're scared of is being poor," Grandma Reed retorted coldly. "Liam," she said, her voice softening as she looked at me. "Pay them."

The power had shifted completely. I was in control.

Olivia, seeing her inheritance slipping away, scrambled to fix her mistake. She turned on Ethan. "Pay them! Pay them now, you idiot! Use your money!"

Ethan, under the full weight of Grandma Reed's wrath, fumbled for his phone. He made a few panicked calls. The kidnappers watched, amused by the family drama.

Minutes later, a text message confirmed the transfer. The leader checked his phone and grunted. "Alright. The money's here."

Two of his men went and untied Grandma Reed. They pushed her forward, and she stumbled out of the warehouse, weak and shaken. Olivia and Ethan rushed to her, but she shrugged them off, her eyes fixed on me.

The kidnappers, having gotten what they wanted, started to back away towards their van. "Nice doing business with you," the leader sneered.

I knew this wasn't over. In my last life, in the confusion, one of them had lunged at her. This time, I was ready.

As the leader passed by me, he made a sudden, angry move, perhaps frustrated by the whole ordeal. He shoved Grandma Reed hard.

"Get out of here, old woman!"

She cried out and stumbled backward, right towards me. I didn't hesitate. I moved to shield her, positioning myself to take the brunt of the fall. But as I did, I saw one of the other men, a wiry one with a knife, make a lunge. It wasn't for her. It was for me. Perhaps he saw me as the one who ultimately cost them a quicker payday.

I could have dodged it. Easily.

Instead, I let the knife slice across my arm.

Pain, sharp and hot, shot up from my bicep. I grunted, clutching the wound as blood began to soak through my shirt sleeve. But I made sure I was still holding onto Grandma Reed, steadying her.

"Liam!" she screamed, her eyes wide with horror as she saw the blood. "You're hurt!"

"I'm okay, Grandma," I gasped, putting on a convincing show of pained bravery. "As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

I looked her directly in the eyes, letting her see the pain, the blood, the "sacrifice."

The kidnappers scrambled into their van and sped off. Ethan and Olivia just stood there, frozen, useless.

But I had done it. I had saved her. I had bled for her. In her eyes, I was no longer just Olivia's quiet, docile husband. I was her savior. The foundation of our new alliance was sealed in my own blood.