FATE'S GAME | | BTS FF (18+)

CHAPTER TWELVE

KIM ISHITA

I've heard gunshots before.

On TV. In the distance. In hushed stories told by people who had seen too much. But nothing prepares you for the sound when it's real.....when it's close.

The music didn't fade out. It stopped. Abrupt. Like someone had cut the strings of a violin mid-bow. Glass shattered somewhere near the bar. People froze. And then, for one long second, the world stopped breathing.

Taehyung moved before I did.

One moment we were dancing, the next, his arm was around my waist, pulling me behind him. His body angled like a shield, one hand already reaching for something—maybe a weapon, maybe control.

I didn't scream. Couldn't. My throat locked, heart slamming so hard against my chest I thought it might break through. I gripped the back of his suit jacket, not just because I was scared though I was but because I needed to hold on to something solid.

To someone I trusted.

And I did. I trusted him.

The thought hit me harder than the sound had.

I trusted him. A man who reminded me every day that our marriage was built on business, not love. A man who kept his walls so high, even I stopped trying to climb them.

But in this moment, there were no walls. No rules. Just instinct.

His.

Mine.

Ours.

"Stay behind me," he said, low and sharp the voice he only used when he was giving orders on the phone, speaking to people he never introduced me to. The voice of someone who didn't bluff.

I nodded.

Around us, people were starting to panic. Some shoved toward the exits. Others froze like statues, waiting for someone else to move first.

"Security will be here in less than a minute," Taehyung muttered, scanning the room. "Don't let go of my hand. No matter what."

Before I could reply, he started moving forward, eyes sweeping the ballroom like he was hunting something only he could see. His grip on me never loosened.

Then I saw him.

A man at the far end of the room, standing near the broken glass of a fallen champagne flute. He wasn't hiding. He didn't need to. The gun was still in his hand.

No mask. No rush.

Because this wasn't an attack.

It was a message.

Taehyung stopped walking. I felt the tension ripple through his frame like a storm waiting to break. He knew this man. I could tell by the way his jaw locked, the way his shoulders squared.

"Who is that?" I whispered, though deep down, I already knew he wouldn't give the answer.

He didn't respond.

The man smiled. Calm. Slow. He lifted the gun slightly not to shoot. Just to remind us it was still there.

Taehyung's voice was gravel. "You shouldn't have come here."

"Why not?" the man said, taking a step forward. "You didn't think I'd let you keep everything you stole from me, did you?"

Taehyung didn't flinch. "You were never meant to have it."

"I built it," the man snapped. "This empire was mine before you even knew how to tie a damn tie."

Taehyung's fingers tightened around mine. "You destroyed it. I saved what was left."