MY HUSBAND OWNS HALF THE CITY

Breaking point

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then Daniel laughed.

It wasn’t nervous laughter. It was genuine, contemptuous laughter—the kind that came from someone who’d never faced real consequences in his life.

“Are you kidding me?” He stepped forward, his earlier humiliation completely forgotten. This was his chance to look strong again, to prove himself in front of Lila. “Do you idiots have any idea where you are right now? This is Apex Club. Do you know who comes here?”

Around him, the crowd’s shock began to fade, replaced by irritation and anger. These were people raised with wealth and privilege. Masked men with guns did not scare them. They annoyed them, like street performers who’d wandered into the wrong neighborhood.

“Yeah!” someone shouted from the crowd. “Get out before you embarrass yourselves!”

“This is private property!”

“Someone call security!”

Daniel’s confidence swelled with the crowd’s support. He straightened his jacket, taking another step forward. “I’m Daniel Cross, Cross Industries. My family has connections you can’t even imagine.” His voice dripped with privilege. “You lay one finger on anyone here, and you’ll spend the rest of your pathetic lives rotting in prison. Now get out before I make a phone call that ruins you.”

The masked leader didn’t respond with words.

His boot came up fast, catching Daniel square in the chest. Daniel flew backward, crashing into a table, shattering glasses. He hit the floor hard, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.

Before he could even process what happened, the leader was standing over him. Another kick to the ribs. Daniel curled into a ball, his expensive suit covered in spilled drinks and broken glass.

“Still want to make that phone call?” the leader asked calmly.

Daniel’s face was white, his earlier bravado completely shattered. He wheezed something that might have been a plea.

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder—nervous now, uncertain. This wasn’t supposed to happen. These people were supposed to recognize who they were dealing with and back down. That’s how the world worked.

Daniel managed to lift his head, blood trickling from his split lip. His voice came out hoarse, desperate. “Maya… Maya Carter is here. She’s a national champion. You don’t want to mess with her. Just—just leave before she—”

“A champion?” The leader’s voice held amusement. He looked around the room. “Where is she?”

Maya stepped forward. Her face was still flushed from the earlier fight, her jacket wrapped tight around her shoulders. But her eyes were cold, calculating. These weren’t professional fighters. They were thugs playing dress-up with weapons. She’d dealt with worse in the ring.

“You should’ve left when you had the chance,” she said quietly.

She moved fast—faster than most people could follow. Her first strike went for the nearest masked man’s throat. He blocked it, but barely. She spun, her kick aimed at his knee.

He caught her leg.

Maya’s eyes widened. That shouldn’t have been possible. She twisted, trying to break free, but his grip was iron. He yanked her forward and drove his elbow into her ribs.

The air left her lungs in a rush. Pain exploded through her chest. She stumbled back, gasping, and immediately launched another attack. Desperation replaced technique. She needed to end this fast, before—

The second masked man caught her from behind. His arm wrapped around her throat. She threw her head back, trying to break his nose, but he anticipated it. His grip tightened.

Maya clawed at his arm, her vision starting to blur. The first man stepped close and slammed the butt of his gun into her temple.

She dropped like a stone.

Lila screamed. “Maya!”

The masked leader looked down at Maya’s crumpled form, then back at the crowd with cold contempt. “Anyone else want to play hero?”

The room was silent. Even the earlier bravado had evaporated. These weren’t amateurs, these were professionals.

The leader raised his weapon and fired into the ceiling.

The gunshot was loud and sudden. Bits of plaster fell from above. Someone screamed. The noise broke the crowd’s calm, turning it into raw panic.

People stampeded toward the exits. Designer shoes trampled over broken glass. Someone fell and was nearly crushed in the rush. Tables overturned, drinks shattered.

“SIT DOWN!” The leader’s voice cut through the chaos. Several masked men raised their weapons, pointing them at the fleeing crowd.

Everyone froze. Some collapsed where they stood. Others pressed against walls, trembling. The reality had finally penetrated their privilege—they could actually die here.

“Last chance,” the leader said calmly. “Hand over Lila Hartley, or I start putting bullets in people. Your choice.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Then a shaking hand rose. A man in his thirties, his face pale with terror. “There. That’s her. The woman in the black dress.”

“Yes!” Another voice, eager to save himself. “That’s Lila Hartley! Take her! Just take her and leave us alone!”

More hands rose. More voices joined the chorus of betrayal.

“That’s her!”

“Take her and go!”

“Please, just leave the rest of us alone!”

The crowd that had been drinking and laughing with her minutes ago now scrambled over each other to offer her up. Their fear had stripped away every pretense of civility, every social grace, leaving only the animal instinct to survive—even if it meant feeding someone else to the wolves.

Lila’s face went white. She looked around at the sea of pointing fingers, the eyes that refused to meet hers. Maya was unconscious on the floor. Daniel was still curled up, whimpering. And everyone else was selling her out to save their own skin.

The leader’s eyes locked onto her and sneered. If they’d done this earlier, things wouldn’t have gotten so troublesome. He stepped forward and delivered a vicious kick to Maya’s chest where she lay on the ground. Her body jerked from the impact, a pained gasp escaping her lips even in unconsciousness.

Then he turned, advancing coldly toward Lila.

Until Kai stepped between them.

He didn’t say anything, didn’t announce himself. Just moved into their path and stood there, calm as still water.

The leader stopped. For a moment, he just stared at Kai—this slim, plain-looking kid in cheap clothes who looked like he’d wandered in from a college cafeteria.

Then he smiled.

“You?” The leader’s voice dripped with mockery. “The guy who just got his ass handed to him by a woman?” He gestured toward Maya’s unconscious form. “What exactly do you think you’re going to do?”

Kai looked at him calmly. “You have three seconds to leave. After that, I’ll take your life.”

For a heartbeat, the room was silent.

“Did I hear that right?” the leader drawled, his tone mocking. “You want my life?”

“Well, I’ll give you that—you’ve got guts.”

His harsh laughter scraping against everyone’s ears. To anyone listening, Kai’s words sounded utterly ridiculous.

Even Maya, barely conscious on the floor, cracked her eyes open at those words. Through her haze of pain, one thought cut through crystal clear: Is he insane? He couldn’t even beat her. These men had demolished her in seconds. This wasn’t bravery. This was suicide.

The leader raised his gun slowly, deliberately, pressing the barrel against Kai’s forehead. The cold metal dimpled Kai’s skin.

“I’m really scared,” the leader said, his voice mocking. “So tell me—how exactly are you going to take my life? You going to bore me to death with that dead expression?”

Kai’s eyes didn’t blink, or waver. “Three seconds are up.”

The leader’s smile widened. He pressed the gun harder against Kai’s skull. “Then do—”

Kai moved instantly, one moment the gun was pressed to his head. The next, Kai’s hand caught the weapon, twisting it away, his other hand shooting up in a brutal arc.

The crack echoed through the club like a gunshot.

The leader’s head snapped to the side at an angle that shouldn’t exist. His body stood there for one impossible second, the gun falling from nerveless fingers.

Then he crumpled, dead before he hit the ground.

The entire fight had taken less than three seconds.

The crowd stared in absolute shock. 

Wasn’t Kai defeated by Maya before? How the hell did he pull this off?!