His Bride in Chains-Chapter 197: Complications
Eliana’s knees hit the pavement with a crack, the cold concrete biting through her skin as her entire body folded over her father’s fallen form. She clutched him like a fragile lifeline, her slender frame trembling uncontrollably, collapsing over him the way a flower bows under the weight of a violent storm.
Hot tears streamed down her face in shaking rivers, blurring the world into smears of color and panic. The metallic scent of blood hit her next. Not just his blood but—her blood. A warm, horrifying wetness seeped through her jeans, crawling down her thighs. The realization sliced through her heart: her baby... something was wrong.
The push—her father’s final instinct to save her from the speeding van—had thrown her hard onto the road. Pain bloomed viciously through her lower belly and between her legs, sharp and twisting, the kind of pain no mother should ever feel. Five months... five months of hope, of whispered dreams into quiet nights, of tiny kicks that had just begun. Now that hope felt as fragile as shattered glass beneath her hands.
But none of it—none of the agony tearing her apart—mattered beside the terrifying stillness of the man in her arms.
"Papa..." The word fractured out of her, small and broken. She lifted his face with trembling fingers, her curly hair falling like a dark curtain around them, shielding him from the world—or maybe shielding her from the truth. "Oh God, Papa, please... please wake up." Her voice shook, raw and cracking. "You can’t leave me. You can’t. I need you... we need you."
Her breath hitched violently as she looked at him—Frank, her gentle, frail father. His silver-streaked hair was matted with blood, the blue sweater she’d helped him button that morning now torn and stained. The SUV’s impact had left angry bruises spreading across his shoulder like storm clouds.
Neighbors began to spill out of their houses, voices rising in shocked murmurs, but they sounded impossibly far away—as if she were underwater, drowning in her own fear.
Eliana pressed her ear to his chest, praying—begging—for movement. For life. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
There it was. A breath. Weak, fragile, but real.
"Hold on, Papa," she whispered, rocking him despite the agony screaming through her own body. "Please... just hold on."
Around her, the golden morning sun kept shining, warm and bright—as if mocking the darkness swallowing her whole. The world was still turning while hers was breaking apart on a blood-stained patch of pavement.
From the shadows of a parked car two blocks away, Rafael’s security team erupted into motion the very second they spotted the impact. Jax—sharp-jawed, sharp-eyed, and always impossibly fast—was already sprinting toward Eliana before the others had even registered what happened, his phone pressed to his ear. Oliver tore after him, weaving through pedestrians with controlled precision. Will thundered down the street next, the tools in his pockets clattering like metal bones. Liam’s gaze swept across the chaos, dissecting every movement, every threat. Kai glided forward in near silence, a ghost among noise. And Viktor, solid as a mountain, brought their SUV roaring to life in one smooth motion.
"Miss Bennett! Step back—we’ve got this!" Jax barked as he dropped to his knees beside her. His tone was commanding, but the urgency beneath it trembled with fear he refused to voice. One hand checked Frank’s pulse; the other flew across his phone screen. "Boss, it’s Jax. There’s been an incident—hit and run. Frank’s down, bad head injury. Eliana’s injured too, but she’s conscious. We’ve secured the area. We’re handling it."
On the other end, in the quiet luxury of his London home, Rafael’s world cracked open like fragile glass. The phone slipped from his fingers, clattering against marble as his knees buckled. His tall, athletic frame folded in on itself, collapsing under the weight of sudden horror. His chest constricted painfully—love, fear, and helplessness tearing through him like a blade. His usually cold, piercing grey eyes widened in a way no one ever saw—stripped of sarcasm, stripped of control... just a man terrified of losing the woman he loved and the child she carried.
"No... Eliana... the baby..." he choked out, the words barely escaping his lips.
James burst into the room just in time, catching Rafael’s arms before he hit the ground. "Sir—Rafael—talk to me! What happened?" His voice was firm, steady, but his eyes betrayed the worry rippling through him.
He grabbed the fallen phone. Jax’s voice crackled through the speaker, sharp with adrenaline. "Sir? Sir—are you there?"
"Jax, it’s me," James replied.
"James—listen. It was deliberate. SUV came out of nowhere and aimed straight for them. Frank pushed Eliana out of the way and took the hit. Eliana’s bleeding—looks like from the fall. Ambulance is on their way. We’ll follow them to the hospital. I’ll keep you updated."
James’s face paled, but he kept his composure. "Understood, Jax. Keep them safe. We’ll be there." He ended the call and turned to Rafael, who was trembling on the floor, chiseled jaw clenched in fury and despair. "Rafael, pull yourself together. Eliana needs you strong right now. We have to go—help her, the baby, and Frank."
Rafael’s eyes blazed with a madman’s fire, his dark hair disheveled as he surged to his feet like a storm unleashed. "Move!" he roared, bolting for the door, his crisp designer suit rumpled from the fall. James raced after him, keys in hand, shouting, "Wait, Rafael! The car—I’ll drive!"
Sirens clawed through the night, slicing open the stunned silence that had swallowed the street. Red and blue lights washed over the pavement as the ambulance skidded to a stop, tires screaming against asphalt. Paramedics spilled out instantly, a whirlwind of practiced urgency.
"Ma’am, we need room—let us help him," one of them said, voice gentle but unwavering as he carefully loosened Eliana’s trembling arms from around her father’s body. Her fingers clung to Frank’s shirt for a moment longer, desperate, refusing to let go until they physically guided her back.
Another paramedic knelt beside her, eyes widening at the blood trickling down her legs. "She’s injured—possible miscarriage risk! We need her on a stretcher now!"
To be continued...
