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The One He Cannot Touch

Penulis: Hannah Boniface
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-01 01:40:44

Julian did not move for a long time.

The room around him was quiet—too quiet for a place built on constant motion, data streams, and predictive noise. Every screen remained active, every system humming obediently, yet his attention was no longer on any of it.

It was due to absence.

The bond-lock had not screamed across the network.

It had not flared or announced itself.

It had simply… closed.

Julian pressed two fingers lightly to his wrist, feeling the steady rhythm of his pulse. For the first time in years, something unfamiliar stirred beneath his calm.

Not anger.

Not fear.

Uncertainty.

“That shouldn’t be possible,” he murmured.

Across the room, a subordinate shifted nervously.

“All readings confirm it,” she said. “The bond isn’t destabilized. It’s not fractured. It’s… consolidated.”

Julian’s fingers curled slowly.

“Say it plainly.”

She swallowed.

“They chose permanence.”

The word echoed louder than it should have.

Permanence meant choice.

Choice meant loss of control.

Julian exhaled
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