Chapter 11 - Eleanor’s Sacrifice: The Night She Took the Blow Meant for the Youngest Boy
The nursery door swung open. Little Toby stood in his pajamas, clutching his stuffed bear, staring wide-eyed at the chaos in the hallway.
The second gunman, realizing the operation had failed, panicked. He raised his suppressed weapon, aiming the barrel directly at Toby’s chest.
“No!” Eleanor screamed.
With a burst of desperate speed, Eleanor threw her entire body between the gun barrel and the nine-year-old child.
A muffled pop echoed through the hallway.
Eleanor gasped, her body jerking violently as a single bullet tore through her lower abdomen. She collapsed onto the floor, wrapping her arms tightly around Toby, shielding him beneath her body as blood began to bloom across her navy dress.
I reached the gunman a second later, blind with murderous rage. I tackled him to the ground, slamming his head against the oak baseboard until he went completely limp.
Down the hallway, Julian and the armed security team stormed the gallery, weapons raised. Ethan and Mason followed right behind them.
When Julian saw the blood pooling on the polished hardwood, his face turned ash-white.
“Toby!” Julian cried out, rushing forward.
Toby was unharmed, crying hysterically beneath Eleanor’s limp body. “Eleanor! Eleanor, wake up! Mama Eleanor, wake up!”
The word tore through the corridor like a knife.
Toby had called her Mama.
I dropped to my knees beside Eleanor, pressing both my hands against the bleeding wound in her side, my tears falling onto her pale face. “Eleanor! Stay with me! Keep your eyes open! Please, Eleanor, don't leave us!”
Eleanor’s fluttering eyelids opened weakly. She looked up at my sobbing face, her trembling, blood-stained fingers reaching up to touch my cheek.
“You... you boys are good boys,” she whispered, her voice fading like smoke. “Take care of... each other...”
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Her hand slipped from my face and fell heavily onto the floor. Her eyes closed.
“Call the paramedics!” Julian roared, his voice breaking into a desperate, agonizing scream that echoed through the entire mansion. “Get the trauma helicopter here NOW!”
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