Semua Bab Dawn Within the Twilight: Bab 1 - Bab 10

“Evan, are you even listening to me?”Rosie Nelson grabbed my arm tightly when she saw me standing there in a daze.The suffocating sensation of my last moments still lingered in my mind, and the pain made me come back to my senses.I stared blankly at the familiar scene of the press conference, unable to process what was happening. Rosie’s anxious face filled my field of vision.“Evan, everyone’s accusing us of plagiarism after the data leak. You can fix this, right?“You’ve been on this project from start to finish. You have to come up with something!”I did not have time to think about anything else. I yanked my arm free from her grip, shook my head, and said in a cold voice, “I was only in charge of overseeing the project timeline. I don’t know a thing about the actual research. What could I possibly do?!“Besides, only a handful of people had access to the final data. Who leaked it and caused this mess?”For a split second, Rosie’s eyes darted around nervously, but she qui

The next second, I heard Rosie’s tearful voice on the other end of the line.“Honey, where are you? I really need to talk to you!“Only you can save me now!”“I’m on my way home,” I said.When she heard my calm reply without a trace of comfort in my tone, Rosie’s sobbing paused for a moment. Then, her voice lit up with delight.“Then I’ll head home right now! Wait for me there. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”By the time I finished everything I had to do and returned home, Rosie was already sitting on the couch waiting for me.Sensing something was off, I pretended to pull out my phone to reply to a message but instead turned on the recorder.When she saw me come in, the impatience on her face vanished instantly. A smile spread across her lips as she hurried over, tugged me down to sit beside her, and handed me a document.“Honey! Sign this for me, please! You won’t just stand by and watch me go down, will you?”At the top of the document, two big, bold words jumped out at me: [Con

The next morning, just as I was about to leave the house, Rosie stepped in front of me with her brows furrowed.“Evan, this is a critical time. You can’t go out!”I looked at her calmly, my voice as cold as ice.“Where I go is my business. Move!”The sound of an entertainment news broadcast floated from the TV at that moment.“Shocking! The Quinn Group’s general manager has been caught plagiarizing groundbreaking research! How will the rising star of the scientific world fight back?”I let out a low laugh when I heard that. My face twisted with mockery as I turned to Rosie.“So this is the ironclad promise you made to me?”Her eyes darted away for a moment before she straightened her back, speaking with false righteousness.“It was going to come out anyway. Whether it’s sooner or later makes no difference!“Besides, this coverage gives Tyler an even bigger boost. The live-streamed trial in three days will be great for him, too!“And really, why should we care about something

“Stop! What are you doing?!”Rosie kicked open the basement door, storming in with her people. The moment her eyes landed on the scene in front of her, her face twisted in shock.She quickly barked an order at the bodyguards to pull us apart. Then, she shot me a look of pure disgust.“Evan! I was wrong about you!“Tyler has no grudges against you, yet you’re beating him like you want him dead. You’re going to pay for this today!”Without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed a heavy rod from the side and swung it down hard against my body.Smack! Smack! Smack! The specially-made rod carried a punishing weight. Within moments, I could feel warm blood soaking through my clothes. Rosie stood to the side, watching coldly as the strikes rained down.At one point, the pain was too much, and I blacked out—only to be jolted awake by a bucket of icy water being dumped over my head.The blows did not stop until she had counted all ninety-nine strikes. Only then did Rosie finally set the r

I never thought those words would end up becoming a prophecy.Over the years, our friendship had drifted apart until we barely spoke. After hearing about my engagement, she had cut ties completely.I admitted there was a part of me that was testing the waters, wondering if she would even pick up on the night I called her. I never expected her to agree to my request without hesitation.My gaze lingered on Jasmine as my mind drifted. I did not even notice how red the tips of her ears had turned.By the time I came back to my senses, the room was empty. She was gone, and all she had left behind was a bowl of cereal. It was still warm and smelled so sweet across the table.The sight of that familiar cereal made me chuckle. After all these years, she still could not cook. This was the only thing she could make that was edible.I thought submitting that ironclad evidence would bring everything to an end.However, I underestimated just how far Rosie’s father would go. Three months la