Chapter 7

Silence fell over the hallway.

For one brief, terrifying moment, even the children seemed to forget how to breathe.

Dante Moretti stood at the end of the corridor, the barrel of his pistol still smoking slightly in his hand. His amber eyes were fixed on the masked man who had one arm wrapped around Emily, holding her firmly against him.

Dante’s expression was frighteningly calm.

He wasn’t shouting. He wasn’t making threats.

He simply looked at the man’s hand on Emily’s shoulder and said, in a voice so quiet that everyone heard it clearly,

“Take your hand off my daughter.”

Emily’s breath caught.

My daughter?

The words seemed to echo inside her head.

The masked man looked at Dante for a moment before letting out a low chuckle.

“And if I don’t?”

Dante’s mouth curved into a cold smile.

“Then today becomes the last day your family remembers your name.”

A shiver moved through the hallway.

Behind Dante, his men stepped forward as one. Dozens of weapons were raised almost simultaneously, the metallic clicks of guns being readied filling the corridor.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Only moments ago, the hallway had belonged to frightened children and terrified caretakers. Now it felt like a battlefield.

Emily instinctively pulled Ava closer to herself, trying to put her own body between the little girl and the armed men. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear it in her ears.

Who are these people?

The masked leader didn’t seem particularly frightened.

Instead, he laughed again.

“You still don’t understand, do you?”

His gaze moved toward Emily.

“We aren’t here for a war.”

His eyes narrowed.

“We’re here for what belongs to us.”

Emily frowned.

Something about those words made anger rise inside her despite her fear.

“I don’t belong to anyone.”

The man’s head tilted slightly.

“You believe that because you’ve been lied to.”

Emily’s brows drew together.

“Lied to?”

Before the man could answer, another pair of footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Slow.

Measured.

Confident.

Adrian Kingsley appeared from the opposite end.

His expensive suit was perfectly pressed despite the chaos around him, and his expression was almost unnervingly calm. He walked toward them as if the armed men surrounding the orphanage were nothing more than an inconvenience.

When he reached Dante, he stopped beside him.

The two men stood shoulder to shoulder.

One was a business empire’s most powerful figure.

The other was a man whose name was whispered throughout the city’s criminal underworld.

For the first time, they were standing on the same side.

Adrian looked directly at the masked leader.

“Leave.”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“You think money scares me?”

“No.”

Adrian calmly adjusted the cuff of his shirt.

“I think you’re intelligent enough to recognize a battle you cannot win.”

The masked man’s smile slowly disappeared.

“You sound confident.”

“I am.”

Outside the orphanage, the low rumble of engines suddenly grew louder.

Emily glanced toward the windows.

One black SUV entered through the gates.

Then another.

And another.

Within seconds, a long line of luxury black vehicles rolled onto the property.

The masked leader turned toward the windows.

His confidence faltered.

“What is this?”

The doors of the lead vehicle opened.

A man in a dark suit stepped out, followed by dozens of others. They wore earpieces and moved with military precision. There were no unnecessary movements, no shouting, no confusion.

Emily stared.

“You have bodyguards too?”

Dante didn’t even look at her.

“He has lawyers with muscles.”

Adrian gave him a sideways glance.

“They’re former special forces.”

Emily blinked.

She looked at the men outside, then at Adrian, then at Dante.

“So…”

She lowered her voice.

“…rich people are actually insane.”

For the first time that night, the corner of Dante’s mouth twitched.

Even Adrian looked like he was fighting a smile.

The moment didn’t last.

The masked leader slowly reached inside his coat.

Every weapon in the hallway immediately shifted toward him.

The children screamed.

Emily instinctively spread her arms in front of Ava.

“No!”

Mrs. Martha’s voice broke through the chaos.

“Not in front of the children!”

The masked man stopped.

Then, slowly, he pulled his hand from inside his coat.

He wasn’t holding a gun.

Instead, he held a tiny metal device no bigger than a coin.

Emily stared at it.

The man pressed a button.

Beep.

A strange sensation suddenly shot through Emily’s body.

She gasped.

Pain exploded across the back of her neck and traveled down her spine.

“What…”

Her knees weakened.

The hallway blurred around her.

“Emily!”

Adrian moved forward.

Dante immediately turned toward her.

Emily grabbed the wall, desperately trying to steady herself.

“What’s happening to me?”

Her voice sounded distant even to her own ears.

The masked man’s eyes lit with satisfaction.

“There it is.”

Emily looked down.

A strange blue light was beginning to glow beneath the skin of her wrist.

At first, it was barely visible.

Then it grew brighter.

A symbol slowly appeared.

Emily stared at it in disbelief.

“What… is that?”

Nobody answered.

The blue symbol pulsed beneath her skin.

Once.

Twice.

Then again.

The masked man’s voice was almost reverent.

“Subject Zero has awakened.”

Everything changed.

Adrian’s face lost its color.

Dante’s expression hardened, but Emily noticed something else behind his anger.

Fear.

Real fear.

It was the first time since he had entered the orphanage that Dante looked genuinely afraid.

Emily looked from one man to the other.

Why were they reacting like this?

What did they know?

And why did the symbol on her wrist seem to terrify them more than the armed men surrounding them?

She tried to speak, but another wave of dizziness hit her.

The hallway spun.

Adrian took a step toward her.

Dante looked at the glowing symbol again.

Neither man said anything.

But somewhere in the silence, one terrible truth settled over them.

They had both spent years hoping this day would never come.

They had really hoped Emily would never develop it.