Time slowed.
Ethan didn't think.
He moved.
The gunshot echoed.
Pain exploded in his shoulder as he threw himself in front of Ava.
Blood sprayed across the rain-soaked marble.
Ava screamed.
Miranda's face didn't change.
"You always ruin my calculations," she said coldly.
Ava dragged Ethan behind the SUV, hands shaking.
"Why?" she cried. "You were family!"
Miranda's eyes hardened.
"Your father was weak. He wanted to expose financial restructuring."
"Stealing," Ava whispered.
Miranda stepped closer.
"I built Blackwood. I sacrificed everything. He wanted to hand it over to outsiders."
Ethan forced himself up despite the blood loss.
"You manipulated the board."
"Yes."
"You forged my signature."
"Yes."
"You destroyed her father."
Miranda's silence was the answer.
Ava's heart shattered.
This wasn't business.
This was personal greed.
Police sirens wailed closer.
Miranda smirked.
"Kill the girl."
Her men raised their guns.
But Victor — bleeding, furious, betrayed — grabbed one of Miranda's men and pulled the trigger wildly.
Chaos erupted.
Gunfire everywhere.
Ava pulled Ethan away.
But as the police lights flashed—
Miranda vanished.
She escaped.
And Victor collapsed into police custody.
But as officers secured the scene, one whispered:
"Sir… Miranda Vale has diplomatic immunity."
The war had just turned international.