เข้าสู่ระบบAriana’s POVI forgot how to breathe.The woman standing across the laboratory couldn’t be real.She looked older than the woman in the photograph. There were silver strands in her dark hair now, and faint lines around her eyes.But I knew those eyes.I had spent my entire life wondering what my mother’s face looked like.I had imagined it a thousand different ways.Never once had I imagined this.Her standing in front of me.Alive.Looking at me like she had been waiting seventeen years.“Mom?”The word came out broken.She covered her mouth.Tears rolled down her cheeks.“You’re so beautiful.”That was it.No explanation.No dramatic speech.Just four words.And somehow they hurt more than everything else.I took one step forward.Then another.“You’re alive.”She nodded.“I am.”“You were supposed to be dead.”“I know.”“You let me believe you were dead.”Her face crumpled.“I know.”My anger came rushing back.“You watched me grow up thinking you abandoned me!”“I never abandoned
Ariana’s POVWe fell.For one terrifying second, there was no up.No down.No sound except my own scream.Then Damien’s arms wrapped around me.He twisted his body in midair, taking the impact when we crashed onto a narrow metal platform below.Pain shot through my ribs.I groaned.Damien didn’t move.“D-damien?”Nothing.My heart stopped.I pushed myself upright.“Damien!”His eyes opened.He winced.“That’s the third time you’ve screamed my name today.”I stared at him.“You almost died!”“Technically, I didn’t.”“You fell off a cliff!”“Small cliff.”I stared at him.He smiled weakly.“Okay. Medium cliff.”Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.It was shaky.Almost hysterical.But it was a laugh.Damien looked at me for a moment.“Good.”“What?”“You’re laughing.”I frowned.“You’re bleeding and you’re worried about whether I’m laughing?”“I like your laugh.”My face heated instantly.“You’re ridiculous.”“Probably.”He tried to sit up.I immediately pushed him back down.“Don’t m
Ariana’s POVThe photograph trembled in Gabriel’s hand.No.It wasn’t the photograph.It was me.Every muscle in my body locked as I stared at the woman smiling back at me. Her eyes were unmistakable. The same almond shape. The same stubborn warmth. The same tiny mole beneath her left eye that I’d seen every morning in my own reflection.My mother.Alive.Or at least…Alive when that picture had been taken.“No…” My voice barely escaped my lips. “You’re lying.”Gabriel didn’t argue.He simply held the picture a little higher.“You’ve spent your life believing she died beneath this facility.”He paused.“She didn’t.”My heartbeat hammered in my ears.Seventeen years.Seventeen years of grief…For someone who might never have been dead.“Ariana.”Damien’s voice broke through the storm in my head.“Don’t let him pull you in.”I looked at him.His face was streaked with soot. Blood ran from the cut above his eyebrow, disappearing beneath the collar of his shirt. Even injured, even exhaust
Ariana’s POVBefore Gabriel could lower his hand—Noah attacked.He shot across the tunnel like a missile, his fist cutting through the smoke.“NOAH!” Evelyn shouted.Too late.Gabriel didn’t flinch.He simply took one step to the side.Noah’s punch missed.The force behind it shattered the concrete wall instead.A deafening crack echoed through the tunnel.Dust exploded into the air.Christopher stared.“…He just dodged Noah.”Gabriel brushed a speck of dust off his sleeve.“I expected better.”Noah growled and swung again.This time Gabriel caught his wrist.With one hand.No strain.No effort.Noah’s eyes widened.“What… are you?”Gabriel smiled.“The man who came to finish this.”He twisted.Noah was thrown through the air like a rag doll.He crashed into a steel support beam hard enough to bend it.“NOAH!”Evelyn ran toward him.The tunnel erupted.“Take him!” Gabriel ordered.The Cleaners moved as one.Blue energy shields unfolded with a metallic hiss.Alina fired immediately.B
Ariana’s POVNobody moved.The little girl couldn’t have been more than eight years old.She stood in the center of the tunnel as though she’d been waiting for us all along.Her white hospital gown was spotless despite the dust and destruction surrounding her.Her bare feet rested on the cold concrete.Most unsettling of all were her eyes.They glowed silver.Brighter than mine.Brighter than Noah’s.Brighter than Ethan’s.The light within them didn’t flicker.It burned with quiet certainty.Christopher leaned toward Alina and whispered, “Please tell me someone recognizes the creepy glowing child.”Alina never took her eyes off the girl.“No.”Christopher sighed.“I was afraid you’d say that.”The girl’s smile widened slightly.“You’ve gotten taller, Ariana.”A shiver ran down my spine.“I don’t know you.”“No.”Her voice was gentle.“You don’t remember me.”Those words again.Don’t remember.Everyone seemed to know pieces of my past except me.I was growing tired of it.Evelyn sudden
Ariana’s POV“No!”The word ripped from my throat as I dropped beside Damien.The steel beam pinning him to the ground looked impossibly heavy.Blood stained the front of his shirt.His breathing was uneven.Yet somehow…He was still looking at me instead of himself.“You okay?” he whispered.I stared at him.“You are literally trapped under a steel beam.”He gave me the faintest smile.“I’ve had worse.”Christopher blinked.“I’m sorry…”He looked between us.“…is this the appropriate time to flirt?”Alina shot him a look.“Christopher.”“What?”He shrugged nervously.“I’m just saying if I’m dying underground, I don’t want romance delaying the rescue.”Despite everything…A tiny laugh escaped me.Damien looked satisfied.“There.”I frowned.“What?”“You laughed.”Even now.Even like this.He cared more about seeing me smile than about the beam crushing him.My heart tightened painfully.Ethan knelt beside the beam.“So… good news.”Christopher looked hopeful.“We have good news?”“No.
The church was more stunning than I had dreamed yet I was unable to appreciate it.I grabbed the arm of my father and my fingers shook as I tried to calm my heart. Each beat was louder than the music that was playing in the background and resonating in my chest.“You ready, huh?” my father said, his
“Where is she?” I questioned myself when I emerged out of the last house on my list, and, as usual, she was not there. “Where are you Alina?” I mumbled.I had already checked all possible places I could think of last night after father had left my room. I had called at the houses of the friends o
I walked to the bathroom. I had to take a hot bath to get myself calmed. My body was weak and my chest was sore whenever I inhaled. I switched on the shower and got into the shower gradually. The hot water flowed along my skin, but it did not soothe me. It just made me remember that I had turned so
I sat in the chair in the doctor office trying not to think too hard. I was a little shaky in the hands, and I managed to sit still. The white walls, the slight odor of antiseptic, and the quiet ticking of the clock did not help to soothe the pit in my stomach. Dr. Morrison, the expert who had trea







