Seconds *COMPLETED*

Chapter 21

Darien Caruso

Raymond reached forward and grabbed a fistful of my hair. He was about to bang my head into the wall when I swiftly locked his arm. I swept him off his feet and landed on my knees beside him, pinning his arms to the floor.

I knew Ray had a soft spot for Tiara. That was the last resort left for me to tackle him now.

"But you don't love Tiara. You were ready to kill her."

"Yes, and that's because of you! Now I have no choice but to kill her too! She's not the Tiara I loved anymore." He shoved me away and the two of us jumped back onto our feet again.

"So what if she's not? She doesn't deserve death! Have you forgotten how much she cared for you? At least you had someone like her who cared for you like a mother, a sister as well as a friend in your childhood! How can you have the heart to even think of killing her, Ray?"

"You made me lose her and live all these years without her. Now, I want you to feel the pain of losing her and die."

As he stepped towards Tiara, I lifted him by the collar against the wall. "You won't be able to harm her more than this as long as I'm alive. I won't let you. You have done enough and your last chance is over."

"Last chance? Who are you to give me a last chance, huh?"

"I believed in you as you were my brother but your last chance is over. The ten minutes I had requested to the people outside this room has passed. Your time is up."

Raymond frowned and stepped a little nearer to the bed, where Tiara still appeared unconscious.

I stepped back when I saw the door to the room opening at the precise moment, through the corner of my eyes. Perfect timing. Thanks, Narissa.

A few police officers entered the room, followed by Narissa.

"Mr. Raymond Caruso, you are under arrest for the storage and distribution of illicit drugs. The appropriate reliable evidence has been provided by your former employee, Ms. Narissa Eliza."

One second, the police officer had been speaking; a few seconds later, I was lying on the floor, holding my shoulder, where blood was gushing out of a gunshot wound.

A lot had happened too quickly in those few seconds.

Raymond first shove the oxygen mask off Tiara's face. As he raised his hand towards his coat, Tiara's right hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. He tried to shake her hand off his wrist but her grip was firm. Not allowing her grip to slow him down, he drew a gun from the inside of his coat and fired straight at me before raising the gun to the side of his head.

The police officers were swift in seizing Raymond's gun and locking his arms before he shot himself.

Tia... she needs the oxygen mask! Why isn't anyone tending to her? I tried to stagger towards her; she was struggling to breathe; her chest was heaving up and down with her irregular breathing.

I stopped in my tracks as a searing pain shot through my shoulder. I remembered Isma's warning to me, to ensure that I never lost too much blood at any time as it would be a danger to my life after the past accident that almost killed me. I held my shoulder, trying to suppress the pain if only I could.

"Dan!" Narissa rushed to my side, seeing the blood soaking my clothes all the way down from my shoulder.

"Narissa, please save her."

"Dan-" Narissa started to speak when I interrupted her, "Save my Tia!"

Narissa stared at me, taken aback for a moment, before turning away. She hurried to Tiara and placed the oxygen mask back into place on her face. Narissa called a nurse to check on Tiara before standing near the bed with her back towards me.