No Longer Yours to Break novel Chapter 26

Connor drifted in a long, hazy dream.

He knew he was dying–and didn’t fight it.

His whole life… he’d always owed it to Zoe.

But she’d once looked him dead in the eye and called it filthy. Said she didn’t want it.

That moment was burned into him, every second playing back like a slow–motion

reel.

When the blade flashed, sharp and blinding, only one thought hit him:

Zoe can’t die. Not again.

He lunged on instinct–only to see her already throwing herself in front of Lucian.

Zoe and Lucian clung to each other. Connor stood alone, wide open as the blade came

for him.

His eyes locked on their hands–tight, steady. A bitter fist clenched at his side.

Blood kept gushing from his chest, warmth slipping away with every drop.

Yeah… he probably wasn’t making it past today.

What a shame.

Zoe had really let him go.

Fragments of memory flickered in Connor’s mind.

Something from way back–when they were just kids.

Zoe had saved him once, too.

Everyone in Southport used to know the Buxtons and Hertberts were tight. Their enemies knew it, too.

One of them had waited outside the school gates. As the final bell rang, he knocked

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them out and dragged them off.

Called both families for ransom.

But now Connor saw it clear–they were never meant to survive.

The plan was simple: take the cash, kill the kids anyway.

But Zoe hadn’t known.

When the kidnappers loosened their ropes–pretending to set them free while actually shoving them toward the fire–six–year–old Zoe somehow found the strength to hurl Connor straight into the arms of the SWAT team.

They stormed in, but not fast enough.

Zoe’s tiny body was already covered in burns.

Connor had sat beside her hospital bed, fighting tears, voice barely holding.

“Zoe… does it hurt?”

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