LOGINChapter 302Chloe’s breath hitched, her eyes widening in genuine alarm as Ethan’s grip tightened on her wrist. The bones in her forearm ground together.She had never seen this look in his eyes before. For five years, Ethan had been cold, calculating, and distant, but he had always treated her with a detached, polite tolerance. He was the amnesiac fiancé, and she was the devoted savior who had stood by his bedside.But right now, the man looking back at her wasn't the broken billionaire she had molded. He looked like a predator that had just remembered how to hunt."Ethan..." Chloe whimpered, a bead of sweat breaking out on her flawlessly powdered forehead. "It’s... it’s just your vitamin compound. From Dr. Miller. To help your brain trauma. You know this!"Ethan stared at the small white pill trembling on the porcelain tray.Every instinct in his newly awakened mind screamed at him to wrap his hands around her throat. He wanted to drag her out of this hospital by her designer hair. H
Chapter 301The needle pierced Ethan’s vein, but he barely felt it.Lying in the sterile donation chair adjacent to the operating room, Ethan watched his dark blood flow through the tubing, knowing it was on its way to save Leo’s life. The physical toll of the rapid blood loss, combined with the severe chemical withdrawal of the memory-suppressing drugs, was wreaking havoc on his central nervous system.His vision blurred. The edges of the room began to bleed into blackness."Mr. Cole, your blood pressure is dropping dangerously low," a nurse warned, hovering over him with a frown. "I need to slow the draw.""Don't," Ethan gritted out, gripping the armrests until his knuckles popped. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "Keep going. Take enough.""Sir, you might pass out.""Do it," he barked, his eyes rolling back slightly.The darkness finally swallowed him whole.But it wasn't a peaceful sleep. It was a violent plunge into the locked vault of his own mind.He was running through a field of
Chapter 300Ethan didn't remember the drive. He didn't remember abandoning his multi-million dollar Aston Martin directly on the curb outside the emergency room, leaving the keys in the ignition and the door wide open in the pouring rain.He only knew he had to reach them.He sprinted through the sliding glass doors of City General, his custom-tailored suit dripping with rainwater, his chest heaving. The withdrawal symptoms were screaming at him to lie down, but adrenaline and sheer, primal panic kept him on his feet.He found her in the VIP pediatric ward on the fourth floor.Zara was pacing the hallway. She looked so fragile it broke something fundamental inside him. Her hair, usually styled in a perfect, intimidating blowout, was damp and tangled. She was wearing a trench coat over pajamas, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stared through the glass window into the ICU room.A team of doctors was surrounding a tiny figure on the bed."Zara," Ethan breathed, stepping int
Chapter 299The withdrawal was tearing Ethan’s skull apart from the inside.He stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of his private penthouse, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of his mahogany desk. Outside, a torrential thunderstorm battered the city of Seattle, but the violent weather was nothing compared to the storm raging in his bloodstream.It had been forty-eight hours since he stopped taking the little white "vitamins" Chloe insisted he needed for his post-coma recovery. Forty-eight hours of blinding nausea, cold sweats, and strange, disjointed auditory hallucinations. He kept hearing a woman’s laugh. A soft, breathless laugh that smelled like vanilla and rain.It wasn't Chloe’s laugh.The private elevator dinged, breaking the heavy silence. Dr. Harrison, Ethan’s oldest friend and the only physician not on the Cole family payroll, stepped out. The doctor looked soaked, terrified, and utterly exhausted."Did you run it?" Ethan’s voice was a low, gravelly rasp. He didn't
Chapter 298The Command Hub, Aegis Citadel.The heavy blast doors of the command center were designed to withstand a direct missile strike. They were utterly immovable.Ethan Cole stepped back from the sealed door, his knuckles bloody from pounding against the titanium. He turned around, his chest heaving, his gray eyes scanning the room.The air scrubbers had already shut down. The subtle, hissing sound of the oxygen being actively vented from the room echoed ominously."Leo! Can you override the environmental controls?!" Ethan barked, his voice tight with rising panic.Leo was frantically ripping the front panel off the primary console, exposing a labyrinth of wiring. "I can't, Dad! She locked the physical hardware array! Nyx isn't just hacking the software; she’s overriding the mechanical relays! The whole room is slaved to her algorithm!"Zara stood beside the console, holding three-year-old Jules tightly against her chest. The toddler was whimpering, frightened by the red flashin
Chapter 297The Following Day. 2:00 PM. Aegis Citadel Library.The Citadel library was a sprawling, multi-level archive of physical books and isolated data terminals. It was heavily guarded, but Aria was allowed free roam of the room for her daily study session, provided she didn't access the external network.She sat at a heavy oak table, a stack of history textbooks piled high around her.Standing ten feet away, leaning casually against a bookshelf, was Marcus. The security chief watched her with fond, protective vigilance.Aria casually slid her hand into the pocket of her oversized hoodie, her fingers wrapping around the cold, smooth wood of the music box. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She felt sick.She looked up at Marcus. "Uncle Marcus? Can I get a glass of water?"Marcus smiled warmly. "Sure thing, kiddo. I’ll radio a steward.""No, I want the sparkling water from the kitchen upstairs," Aria said, injecting a perfect dose of teenage petulance into her voice. "Please?"M







