𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈 everyone knows who she is. Worldwide model, covered in many vogue magazines, walked catwalks, and runaway. But people don't know what happens behind the curtains. Despite the many scandals that have plagued her reputation...
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My heart raced as we followed Winter, our excitement about the surprise gift turning into dread. We had seen her leave the party, her steps purposefully swift. When she passed the bathroom and headed for the elevator, my instincts screamed something was wrong. We trailed after her, a sense of urgency gripping us all.
We waited until the elevator came as we followed her, the elevator dinged open, and the sight that greeted us was like a punch to the gut. My Winter stood at the edge of the rooftop, her figure silhouetted against the city lights. My breath caught in my throat, my mind racing to piece together everything that had seemed off about her lately. Her behavior, her forced smiles, the way she'd shut everyone out—it all clicked into place now, a painful revelation of what I had failed to see.
Without a second thought, I lunged forward, my hands grasping her waist and pulling her away from the edge. The cold night air was harsh against my skin, but I barely noticed as I focused solely on Winter. My voice cracked with desperation as I begged, "Winter, please, don't do this." My words were raw, my heart breaking with each syllable.
Winter's body tensed, and for a moment, it felt like she was resisting. My grip tightened as I tried to pull her back, my voice breaking as I repeated, "I won't let you do this."
Her struggles intensified for a moment before she slumped against me, the sound she made—a gut-wrenching, feral scream—was the most haunting thing I had ever heard. It pierced through the numbness I had felt, sending shockwaves of fear through me.
I managed to pull her over the rail, my arms encircling her tightly. I guided her to the ground, sitting her on my lap as her sobs wracked her body. The sound of her cries was almost more than I could bear, each sob like a dagger to my heart. I held her close, trying to offer comfort in the only way I knew how, my own tears threatening to fall as I whispered soothing words into her hair.
The night was filled with the sound of her broken sobs and the occasional distant cry from Chloe and Bella, Travis and Jayden stood in utter shock, their voices a blurred backdrop to the personal devastation unfolding in my arms. In that moment, everything else faded away—the party, the gifts, the world beyond the rooftop. All that mattered was Winter, the girl I had failed to protect, and the unbearable weight of the reality we faced together.
Winter's sobs shook her entire body, her cries muffled against my chest. Her apologies were incoherent, a jumble of words that barely made sense amidst her emotional wreckage. "I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice barely more than a whisper. "He would've ruined you guys... he was threatening me... I'm so empty... so broken.." Her words were disjointed, her sentences fragmentary, and they only made my fear and confusion grow. I could barely process the intensity of the situation, the depth of her despair, or the gravity of what she was trying to say.
Then, through her choked sobs, she uttered a name that froze me to my core. "Sebastian.."
The name clicked in my mind, and everything fell into place with a brutal clarity. All those strange, messages Winter had received—it wasn't just paranoia. Someone had been actively targeting her, and that someone was Sebastian. The realization struck me like a punch to the gut, and my grip around Winter tightened instinctively. "I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you," I whispered fiercely into her ear, my voice shaking with rage and desperation. "I swear it." I meant every word. The thought of someone causing her such pain ignited a fiery anger within me, a vow to protect her at any cost. I'll gladly die protecting her.
