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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

Penulis: Salma
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-10-27 13:42:58
The Daughter They Tried to Erase

​I had faced armed raiders without trembling. I had negotiated with men who would have sold their own children for a few extra days of survival. I had watched infected creatures claw at the walls of my fortress while I calmly gave orders to my soldiers.

​But nothing had prepared me for this.

​I stood in my office, the harsh glare of the clock face mocking me: 09:08 AM.

​Below in the cold, windowless holding cell, Marcus was waiting. He had been there for nea
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    ​I stared at the security photograph on the tablet screen.​The woman was wearing a standard medical scrub uniform, her face obscured behind a sterile white mask. Her body was turned slightly toward the lens, but the tarnished silver chain resting against her left wrist was unmistakable—the exact heirloom Daniel claimed had been buried inside Anna's primary vault twenty years ago.​I turned slowly to face Daniel. "Who is she?"​Daniel shook his head frantically, his face pale under the fluorescent lights. "I don't know."​"You expect me to believe that?"​"I'm telling you the truth, Clara!" he rasped, his voice cracking with desperation. "That bracelet was an internal tracking serial—an Asterion identification key! They used it to distinguish the original baseline subjects from their reconstructed digital profiles!"​Jonah stepped into the light of the medical bay doorway, his scanner clutched tightly in his hand. "That doesn't add up. The original hardware keys were destroyed when th

  • You Chose Her I Chose Revenge    CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: THE TRUTH HE CARRIED

    ​The silver bracelet sat on my bedside table like an accusation.​I had stared at its tiny engraved initials—A.W.—for nearly an hour while the settlement slept. Seven words on a scrap of paper had upended everything I thought I knew about my childhood.​Your mother did not give birth to one girl.​I remembered my mother's hands brushing my hair when I was little. I remembered her voice humming lullabies when nightmares woke me. I had grown up believing I was her only child, wondering why I never had a sister to share the weight of our quiet, sterile home.​Had she lied to me every single day?​A sharp knock broke the silence.​"Come in," I said, not turning from the table.​Miller stepped into the room, his jaw set tight. "Daniel is conscious."​I picked up the bracelet and slipped it into my tactical pocket. "Did he ask for me?"​"Repeatedly."​"Good. Bring him to the subterranean holding cell."​Miller studied my face in the dim light. "Clara, you need to sleep. You're running on fu

  • You Chose Her I Chose Revenge    CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: MY SISTER'S WARNING

    ​For several seconds, nobody spoke.​The security monitor went dead, casting a dull gray reflection across our faces.​I stared at the black screen, waiting for Anna’s face to reappear, waiting for her to tell me that what I had just seen was some sick, high-tech illusion engineered by Gabriel.​Nothing happened. Only the low, rhythmic hum of the command center’s ventilation system.​"Did everyone see that?" I asked, my voice barely carrying over the quiet room.​Miller nodded, his shotgun still held at a low-ready, his eyes fixed on the empty screen. Beside him, Jonah looked as though he had just seen his own grave dug.​"That was Anna Whitmore," Jonah whispered, his voice trembling.​I spun on him. "You recognize her?"​"Not personally. But I’ve pulled her files from the Asterion legacy vaults," Jonah said, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. "She was listed as a deceased subject. Died during the initial neural sync trials twenty years ago."​"Then explain to me how a gi

  • You Chose Her I Chose Revenge    CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: THE DOOR BENEATH MY FEET

    ​The three knocks came again.​Slow.​Deliberate.​Almost patient.​I stood completely still, my sidearm trained on the floorboards beneath my desk.​Jonah had stopped breathing beside me, his knuckles white around his frequency scanner. "Clara," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the emergency lanterns. "We need to clear the room."​I snatched the radio off my belt without taking my eyes off the metal hatch. "Miller, seal every entrance to the command building. Nobody comes in or goes out without my personal sign-off."​"Already done," Miller’s voice crackled back instantly. "Security teams are setting a perimeter around the block. What's happening in there?"​"Keep everyone away from the western shelter," I commanded, my jaw tight. "Lily stays under heavy guard. Do not move her."​"Understood."​I dropped the radio back into its holster. Another knock echoed from below—metal scraping against metal.​Jonah stepped carefully toward the corner of my office, hauling

  • You Chose Her I Chose Revenge    CHAPTER THIRTY: A BETRAYAL BENEATH MY ROOF

    ​I didn't sleep that night.​Every time I closed my eyes, the same harrowing sequence replayed behind my eyelids: the cold, rusted shelter gates; the snarling horde of infected closing in; Lily weeping against my chest; and Elias Voss standing silently behind Marcus, watching us like specimens under glass.​But the memory wasn't the worst part.​The worst part was knowing that someone living inside my fortress, breathing my air, eating my food, had watched it all happen—and had brought the nightmare back into our home.​I stood by the tall glass window of my command office, watching the settlement wake beneath a pale, frosty sunrise. Down in the courtyard, children carried steaming buckets from the water station, and scouts repaired the outer wooden barricades. It looked peaceful. It looked safe.​It looked like a lie.​A light knock snapped me out of my trance.​"Come in," I said, without turning.​Miller stepped into the room, his heavy boots sounding muffled against the rug. He hel

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