President's Daughter's Bodyguard-Chapter 77: Go Theo…?

Chapter 77: Go Theo

Darkness had a taste...so bitter and cold. It stuck to the tongue and refused to leave.

Theo floated somewhere between life and death, but death refused to take him. It was too easy and probably too peaceful.

And Danielle was still breathing somewhere in the world. That thought alone was enough to ignite fire inside his broken chest.

He forced his eyes open.

A ceiling he knew too well stared down at him. Smooth stone and cold trim.

Oh, so he was back in his father’s mansion. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He was back in hell...

Theo tried to sit up but pain ripped through his ribs and his stomach. A groan escaped him before he could stop it.

Two maids gasped near his bedside. One rushed forward to keep him from moving.

"You are injured badly. Please stay still."

Theo blinked slowly, trying to piece together time.

"How many days..." His voice cracked like glass.

"Three," the maid whispered. "You lost a dangerous amount of blood. The doctor said you should have died."

Theo wanted to laugh or maybe even yell at them for talking this nonsense, but he did neither.

He only thought of Danielle.

His worst decision was his greatest failure. His only light.

Danielle was like water that Theo told himself never to fall.

But she grabbed his wrist the way the ocean grabs the moon. Pulling him deeper and dragging him from the edge of control into a place where he would drown willingly just to feel her breath again.

The maid dabbed his forehead with a damp cloth. "Your fever is high but improving. Master Zack demanded updates every hour."

Theo closed his eyes, trying to swallow the pain.

Knowing Ethan, he knew that his bunny was probably strapped to a table, yelling, screaming...

Danielle calling for help...

He would kill Ethan for every breath she lost.

"She’s in that danger because of my failure..." Theo didn’t realise when he said that out loud.

Zack stormed inside wearing a suit that cost more than entire homes. "You survived," Zack said flatly, like it irritated him.

Theo exhaled weakly but mockingly. "Do not sound too heartbroken."

Zack grabbed a chair and dragged it closer, sitting with casual power. "You should have stayed down, little one. You are too reckless for your own good."

Theo stared at him. "Where is she?"

"Alive..I hope... For now."

The words sliced Theo deeper than any blade Ethan used.

His fists clenched together, and his jaw followed after...

"You know who took her. You know where."

Zack nodded. "Of course. I know everything."

Theo tried to swing his legs off the bed but agony shot through his body like fire and he nearly crumpled.

The maids rushed to stop him but he shoved them away.

Zack placed a boot against the side of the bed and pushed him right back down with little effort.

"You cannot save anyone if you die for real this time," Zack said with utter calm. "You think with your heart. It makes you weak."

Theo glared in a rough voice. "It makes me feel normal..."

Zack smirked. "Normal ones die easily."

Theo’s breath shook like wind around his throat. "Let me go."

"No," Zack replied simply.

Theo’s teeth gritted strongly until it trembled. Hatred pulsed like a second heartbeat.

"You do not care if she dies," he hushed, not knowing what exactly was happening outside that mansion.

"I do care. But I care more about winning. Danielle is a useful piece. I will not throw her away yet."

Theo grabbed Zack’s wrist even as pain tore through him. "She is not a piece. She is..."

He stopped.

Zack studied him with amusement. "She is what, Theo?"

Theo looked away because Danielle was his everything...

She was the only reason Theo still breathed, and the only person who ever made him wish to stay alive.

But he was never going to give Zack those words.

Zack patted his shoulder in a quite mocking gesture. "You will recover. Then we will remove Ethan and remind the country who holds the real power."

"I will remove Ethan but not for some power...only for Danielle."

Zack chuckled. "Love ruins kings before they rise."

After seeing how Theo wasn’t reacting, Zack stood up, fixed his cufflinks. "Heal quickly because Danielle is running out of time." And then, he left Theo alone.

Theo stared at the ceiling again, breathing raggedly and for some reason, Danielle’s face flashed in his mind.

He cursed under his breath, slamming his fist into the mattress.

He tried so hard not to fall.

But she made him fall beautifully...

His heart that was trained for war, could not survive her kindness. His walls, built with trauma, cracked the moment she whispered his name like it mattered.

Theo dragged himself upright again, ignoring the hands trying to stop him.

He ripped the IV from his arm and blood trickled but he did not care.

Theo was ready to kill God himself if that is what it took. No one would hurt her again.

His voice was gravel. "Bring me a gun."

The maid froze like water in the winter time. "Sir, you can’t-"

"Bring me a gun!" Theo shouted at her as rage exploded from him like thunder.

The maids fled.

Theo placed one shaking hand against the wall to stay upright and sweat broke down his temples. His vision spun like he had anemia.

Footsteps returned and the maid held a gun in trembling hands. Theo took it, sliding a magazine in place.

He limped forward, "Hold on, Danielle. Just hold on."

But before he reached the door...

It flung open again.

A man burst inside, he looked so panting, pale with fear.

"Master Theo... the bomb... it did not explode... but..."

"What bomb?" Theo raised an eyebrow.

"The one where Ethan threatened to unleash!"

Of course, he would. Danielle served Ethan not only for revenge towards him but also his past...

Theo grabbed the man by the collar. "But what? Finish it!"

The man swallowed hard.

"There was gunfire.."

Theo’s heart stopped..."What happened to Danielle?"

The man shook his head slowly.

"We... we do not know... everyone inside...died."