Oscar looked terrible, trembling uncontrollably.
"Oscar, come work for me! I'll forgive the past!" Melvin pleaded.
Oscar and Melvin locked eyes.
"None of us wants to be dead," Melvin said. "Drop your weapons and work for me. I swear I'll treat you fairly."
The guards, however, remained hesitant, their guns still trained on Melvin, though they held back. They knew that a single shot could trigger a deadly exchange. Fear of death gripped them all; survival was paramount. A tense standoff ensued, neither side speaking.
After a moment, Melvin pressed Oscar. "Oscar, are you sure you don't care about Hannah and the baby?"
Oscar, swayed by the threat, stared at Melvin.
"Are you still a family man? Do you deserve to be a father if you abandon your child? Can you live peacefully knowing Hannah and the baby are dead?"
Oscar's eyes blazed with fury. He gritted his teeth.
"I said I wouldn't retaliate if you return to work for me," Melvin insisted, his tone firm and sincere. "You can stay with Hannah and the baby."
After a protracted struggle, Oscar dropped his gun. The Collins family guards glared. Melvin smiled smugly. Oscar had surrendered.
"Freeze!" Melvin commanded. "Anyone who shoots will doom us all!"
The remaining guards hesitated. Oscar approached Melvin.
Melvin smirked coldly. "Oscar, a wise man submits to fate! Work for me—"
Before he could finish, Oscar lunged, initiating the firefight. Gunshots erupted.
Oscar quickly gained control of Melvin, rolling them both to the ground. He pressed a hidden blade to Melvin's throat. "Cease fire!" he roared.
Both sides took cover behind their vehicles. Two men lay dead on each side, the air thick with the scent of blood. Oscar's shout had silenced the shooting, leaving them in a deadly stalemate.
"I have Melvin! I'll kill him if you fire!" Oscar shouted.
Silence descended. Oscar, holding Melvin captive, stood.
"Oscar, you set me up!" Melvin raged.
"I'm with the Collins now!" Oscar declared.
"So, you'll abandon Hannah and your child?" Melvin pressed.
"Things have gone too far! Returning wouldn't change anything; we'd all be killed. I'm not that stupid!"
"Hannah will hate you forever!"
"She'll understand. She knew this was a possibility when I left her."
"You're a ruthless monster!" Melvin seethed.
"So are you! Who are you to judge?" Oscar responded calmly.
"Oscar, I assure you—your family will be safe if you let me go!" Melvin pleaded.
"Interesting," Oscar said, a smile playing on his lips. "Save it, Melvin. Hannah means nothing to me now."
Melvin was taken aback.
"Mr. Collins wants to set me up with Lillian Collins," Oscar stated slowly.
"You're insane!" Melvin scoffed. "You'll sacrifice your wife and child for a happy life?"
"If you were in my shoes, you'd do the same," Oscar retorted. "No one can refuse power and money. That's why our families are at war!"
"You…" Melvin began, but Oscar cut him off.
"Enough!" Oscar's voice was ferocious. He addressed Melvin's hidden bodyguards. "Come out!"
They remained still. Oscar pressed the blade harder, drawing blood.
"Come out, or I kill Melvin!"
"Come out!" Melvin urged, his voice laced with panic.
Melvin's loyal bodyguards only emerged at his command. The Collins guards immediately opened fire.
Oscar and Melvin, still locked together, rolled to the ground as the shooting resumed. Melvin hid behind a car. Oscar again attacked, launching into a brutal hand-to-hand fight. Both fought fiercely, desperate to kill the other.
The gunfire continued, men falling until only one Collins guard remained. The Balderston family had lost.
Melvin, momentarily distracted, was knocked down by Oscar. He rolled away just as Oscar prepared to strike again. The lone Collins guard, aiming at the fallen Melvin, fired as Melvin leaped from the cliff. The guard followed, also falling to his death.
Oscar and the guard reached the cliff's edge, the darkness concealing the scene below. Only the relentless pounding of waves filled the air.
Oscar felt the tension. He could have killed Melvin, but hadn't. Hannah's safety remained paramount.
He'd hidden his phone in the car. While tending his wounds, he read a message from Manuel. In the end, he chose Hannah. The lifetime of blame he might endure didn't matter. He heard the guard's report from behind: "Mr. Collins, Melvin fell off the cliff and died."