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Chapter 217

Penulis: Anthony
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-06-13 20:26:16

Snow churned under the wheels of the van as they raced through the outskirts of Sofia. Inside, tension rippled like a live wire.

Zehra drove, white-knuckled, knifing through winding roads toward the Bulgarian border. Roman was beside her, scanning rear cameras.

No one spoke.

Not until Ember broke the silence.

“I wasn’t lying,” she whispered. “I didn’t send that beacon.”

Alma nodded, though her gaze was fixed on the floor. “I believe you. But someone still tracked us.”

Ezra leaned forward from the backseat. “There’s only one person with the clearance to activate Project Caldera without Ember’s input.”

Zehra didn’t look away from the road. “You think it’s Ash Phoenix?”

“No,” Ember said softly, like the truth had just dawned on her. “It’s worse. He’s dead.”

Roman blinked. “Then who the hell activated the beacon?”

Ember met Alma’s eyes. “His partner. The one no one ever knew about. The architect of Caldera.”

Zehra snapped her head around. “Wait. Are you saying there was someone above Phoe
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  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 230

    The private island Alma now called a hideaway was far from peaceful.Seagulls circled in the blue Mediterranean sky, but her heart remained stormy. The ocean breeze carried both salt and secrets. At her back, the villa gleamed white and gold, Julian’s gift to her, a refuge from the ashes of betrayal. But even paradise couldn’t silence the questions that haunted her.Who were the others ARES had mentioned?Were they like her, hybrids of flesh and engineered thought? Were they time bombs waiting to be triggered?Or worse, were they already watching?Inside the Villa, MorningJulian leaned against the granite island in the kitchen, sipping his espresso as Alma scrolled through the decrypted files from ARES's backup. Blanche had helped them salvage a portion of the drive before the EMP melted it entirely. What remained wasn’t just useful. It was terrifying.“ARES wasn’t lying,” Alma murmured, her eyes skimming lines of code and embedded logs.Julian looked up. “About what?”She turned the

  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 229

    Julian dropped to his knees beside Alma, his fingers trembling as they searched for a pulse.Nothing.Her skin, once so full of life, had turned pale. Her chest still. Her lips parted as though caught mid-breath.“Alma!” he yelled, shaking her shoulders. “No, don’t do this, not now!”Gasps echoed around the auction room. Billionaires in silk and velvet, accustomed to controlling empires, now stared in awe at the fallen goddess.ARES stood on the stage, holding the encrypted drive like a trophy. A self-satisfied smirk curled his lips. “She’s not dead. She’s paused.”Julian’s blood boiled.“You monster!”ARES descended the stairs leisurely, stepping over golden carpets like a king at coronation. “She’s a machine, Julian. Built to withstand fire and war. But one phrase, and she crumbles.”He stopped two feet from her body, looking down as if at a masterpiece. “She needed this. Now she’ll listen.”Julian stood, eyes burning. “What gives you the right to control her?”ARES tilted his head.

  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 228

    The blizzard roared like a beast awakened, its breath painting the world in hues of gray and white. Alma staggered through the snow, Julian beside her, supporting the weight of the frozen data core strapped to his back. The escape pod had crash-landed deep in the Siberian wilds, miles away from civilization, and even further from safety.Behind them, the Vault had collapsed into a smoldering tomb.In her heart, Alma knew ARES had planned it all the invitation, the reveal, the data. It was a test. And she had passed it just not in the way he expected.But what chilled her wasn’t the cold.It was the look in his eyes before she fled the promise.“You’ll regret this.”She hadn’t yet. But she knew the regret would come.Julian fell to his knees, gasping. “We, we need shelter.”Alma scanned the horizon, eyes burning from wind and grief. “There,” she pointed to a cluster of dark pine trees. “We’ll set up the emergency tent.”As she helped him up, she couldn’t shake the echo of her mother’s

  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 227

    The fire crackled softly inside the abandoned mining outpost, but the cold had a way of creeping into bones and memories. Alma sat in silence, turning ARES’ chip over in her hand. Each metallic edge felt like a blade against her conscience.Sebastian lay unconscious on a makeshift cot, barely breathing. His skin pale, colder than it should be.Julian watched from a distance, arms crossed, his jaw tight with unspoken worry.ARES stood near the doorway, barely illuminated, a living shadow. He hadn’t moved since revealing his price, Sebastian’s life.Alma finally spoke, her voice low. “You want me to kill the man who raised me.”ARES didn’t blink. “I want you to reclaim your freedom. He built your cage, Alma. The moment you understand that, everything changes.”She turned to face him. “And what happens when I outlive my usefulness to you? You kill me too?”He smirked. “That’s the difference between us. I don’t pretend to love anyone. But I would never betray you. Because without you, I’m

  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 226

    The silence that followed his appearance was thick, almost sentient.Alma stared, gun raised, but her fingers didn’t tighten on the trigger. Her heart pounded. The resemblance was unmistakable. Same eyes, same bone structure. But his presence, his aura was darker, colder, honed like a scalpel.He stepped forward slowly, bare feet echoing on the metal floor of the lab, frost clinging to the hem of his black cargo pants. His movements were calculated, deliberate.“Alma,” he said, voice smooth but laced with venom. “It’s strange meeting yourself, isn’t it?”Julian flinched beside her. “Who are you?”The man tilted his head. “I’m what she was supposed to be. The perfect weapon. The unbroken one.”Sebastian stepped forward, leaning on his cane. “ARES I terminated your chamber years ago.”ARES smirked. “You tried. But Hekate saved me. Trained me. Improved me.”Alma finally spoke. “You're not me.”He turned to her, a glint of mockery in his eyes. “I know. I’m better.”The ground trembled fai

  • My Father's Rival Is My Lover    Chapter 225

    The air in the private clinic was crisp, sterilized, and eerily silent. Snow powdered the balcony outside, muting the world into a blanket of white. Inside, the soft hum of medical monitors broke the hush.Alma sat at the foot of the hospital bed, eyes rimmed with sleeplessness, fingers absently scrolling through encrypted files on her tablet. The only sounds were Sebastian's slow, steady breathing and the soft crackle of logs burning in the fireplace.She hadn’t left his side in over twenty-four hours.Julian was resting in the room next door. The doctors had stabilized his vitals, but whatever Hekate had done to him in that compound, chemically, psychologically, left shadows behind his eyes that Alma recognized. The same kind of darkness that used to live in hers.And yet, there was something more. Something urgent.She tapped open a new folder: Protocol V: Project EchoCore.It was buried deep in the Von Richter Foundation's closed archive, under false flags and shell labels. Sebast

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