Semua Bab I Devoted Myself to the Nation After His Betrayal: Bab 1 - Bab 7

Ten minutes later, I finally pulled myself together and went inside. The private dining room was warm and cozy. Madison Calder wore a pale blue mini dress, and my brother, Brandon Lewis, was peeling grapes for her.As soon as Madison saw me, her eyes lit up, and her smile was dazzling. "Adeline, you're finally here!" She immediately stood up, looked around, and feigned awkwardness. "Oh no, my friend had just arrived earlier, and there's no seat left for you. I'm so sorry."Brandon didn't even look up as he chimed in, "There's a folding stool by the door. Just sit there."I followed his gaze and finally noticed the tiny stool near my feet. If I remembered correctly, that was where the servers usually sat to wait for customers' instructions. "That doesn't seem right..." Madison appeared sympathetic, but a sly glint flashed in her eyes. It was obvious that she was doing this on purpose. When Nicholas saw I wasn't moving, he couldn't help but frown. "What, you have a seat and s

Even Brandon turned to Nicholas, disbelief written all over his face. "You burned it just like that?"Nicholas frowned impatiently. "You said we could throw out whatever we wanted. You're her brother, weren't you the one who said it didn't matter?"It was strange. I should've been furious, screaming and lashing out at both of them. Yet, what I felt wasn't rage—it was emptiness.Something inside me had finally broken for good, and I didn't bother listening to them argue over who was more to blame. Instead, I grabbed my suitcase and began packing.Madison watched me with barely hidden anticipation in her eyes, though her voice came out soft and pleading. "Adeline, don't go."She stumbled away from Nicholas' arms, held onto my hand, and dropped to her knees. "It's all my fault. I never meant to come between anyone. If someone has to leave, it should be me." Her crying grew louder, like I was the villain forcing her to walk away.Just as expected, Nicholas and Brandon's guilt vanis

Outside the house, Madison's cries and shouts continued. Nicholas, feeling frustrated, started calling every number he could find for my college. Each call was answered quickly, but very few knew what program I had joined.Finally, a senior who shared my mentor, Kieran Brookes, picked up the phone. When he heard the reason behind the call, he simply said, "Oh, you mean Adeline Lewis? She really did join the program." A glimmer of hope flashed in Nicholas' eyes, and he couldn't help but ask, "Do you know where she went? We'd like to contact her." Kieran sighed deeply. "That's not possible as this is a classified government research program that can't be made public, and those who have joined have absolutely no contact with the outside world." He added, "Remember what happened to Adeline's mom? She was allowed to stay in touch with the outside world, and that's how those criminals found her. She died along with them. The government won't risk another incident like that ever again.