Prime Priority - Chapter 8

---- Chapter 8 "Vivian," I said calmly, my voice steady and cold." This is a private workspace. Please leave." She let out a hysterical laugh. "Leave? Laurel, you filthy bitch! You ruined my marriage and my reputation! And now you want to act like you're above me? If not for you, I wouldn't have ended up like this!" Her eyes burned with hatred, as if she wanted to tear me apart. "Even Ethan doesn't care about me anymore because of you! You bitch! You think you've won?" Before she even finished, she lunged at me, nails aimed straight for my face.

I barely had a second to react before a figure stepped in front of me. It was Clayton Hickman, the cafe regular who brought me here, and the true owner of this atelier. "Miss, control yourself." His grip closed around Vivian's wrist, firm and unyielding. ---- Vivian shrieked and fought like someone completely unhinged. At that moment, the door swung open again. Several bodyguards in black surrounded a familiar figure, worn and breathless from travel. It was Ethan.

He was thinner and hollowed out, but the moment he saw me, the exhaustion and madness in his eyes were replaced by raw, overwhelming relief. His lips trembled. His voice cracked as he said, " Laurel, I finally found you." When Vivian saw Ethan, she latched onto him like he was her last lifeline. But the very next second, her sanity snapped completely when she saw that his eyes were fixed only on me. He didn't even notice her. "Die, Laurel!" she screamed. She yanked free of Clayton's hold, grabbed a marble sculpture from the worktable, and hurled it at me with everything she had.

It all happened in a split second. ---- I saw Clayton turn, wrapping his arms around me without hesitation. I also saw Ethan's pupils contract in terror. There was a sickening thud. The sculpture crashed into Clayton's back. He took the full force of the blow to shield me. He let out a low, painful groan and collapsed with me to the floor. "Clayton!" My own voice startled me. It was raw with panic that 1 didn't know I still had. Ethan's anguish twisted into pure fury. He snapped at his bodyguards, his voice like thunder.

"Call the police and get that lunatic out of here!" The bodyguards rushed forward, restraining the screaming Vivian and dragging her away. "Clayton, stay with me. Please stay awake!" I kneeled beside him, holding his unconscious body, my hands trembling with a fear I hadn't felt in years. ---- "Call an ambulance!" I shouted at the security rushing in. At that moment, the only thing left in my world was the man who had fallen to protect me. "Laurel..." Ethan's desperate, hoarse voice came from behind me. But I didn't turn around. I didn't even spare hima single glance.