Semua Bab Surrogate for My Cold-Hearted Ex: Bab 71 - Bab 79

For a moment, Adrian didn’t move.He just stood there, letting the rain soak through his shirt, staring at the woman across the street.Maya.Her hair clung to her face, wet from the downpour. The streetlight above flickered, painting her in flashes of pale gold and gray. She looked real—solid, alive—but something about her presence made his pulse stumble.“Maya?” His voice cracked, rough from disbelief and exhaustion.She smiled softly. “You made it out.”That voice. It was her voice. Soft, melodic, the same one that used to say goodnight against his shoulder.Adrian took a hesitant step forward, splashing through puddles. “How are you here?”She tilted her head. “I should ask you the same. You weren’t supposed to leave.”The way she said it—like she wasn’t surprised, like she’d been expecting him—made his stomach twist.“I broke through,” he said, still catching his breath. “I found the exit. The world... it was falling apart in there.”Her expression softened, almost pitying. “You

The void was too quiet.No echo, no hum—just silence so deep it pressed on Adrian’s eardrums.The two Mayas stood before him like mirror images: one human, one divine.The human Maya trembled, barefoot, eyes wide with fear and tears glistening in the corner of her lashes.The other stood perfectly still, radiant, wrapped in soft gold light that pulsed with impossible calm.Both watched him, waiting.“Choose,” they said again—perfectly in sync, like the word had weight in both their throats.Adrian’s mouth went dry. “What happens if I choose wrong?”The golden Maya smiled faintly. “You end the wrong world.”He turned toward the human one first. Her hair was tousled, her clothes torn at the sleeve from the fight in the lower lab. She looked real—too real. He could almost smell the faint floral perfume she always wore.“Adrian,” she said softly, taking a step toward him. “It’s me. I swear.”“How do I know that?” he asked.“Because you know me,” she whispered. “You know the scar on my rig

For a moment, Adrian couldn’t breathe.The hybrid Maya’s words echoed through the freezing chamber, bouncing off the metal walls and slamming into his chest again and again:“She chose cryo because she thought she would destroy you.”Adrian shook his head slowly, instinctively, as if refusing the idea could make it untrue. “No. No, that doesn’t make sense. Maya would never— She wouldn’t choose to disappear. Not like that. Not without telling me.”The hybrid held his gaze gently, sadly. “She didn’t tell you because telling you was the very thing she believed would break you.”His pulse thudded loudly in his ears. “Break me? How? Why?”“Because of what she discovered at the end,” the hybrid said softly. “Before Sovereign captured her… she learned something. Something about you.”Adrian’s chest tightened. His breath left him in a shaky exhale. “What did she learn?”The hybrid didn’t answer—not immediately. Her eyes flicked to the cryo capsule, then back to him, as if weighing something h

For a moment, Adrian couldn’t hear anything except the electric hum crackling around Sophia’s glowing eyes.Sovereign was inside her now.Not fully awakened…Not fully in control…But present.It was like watching a storm crawl into a human body.“Adrian,” Maya wheezed behind him, clutching the cryo capsule as another tremor shook the floor. “Don’t—let her—get inside your head—”Sophia’s voice—no, Sovereign’s voice—cut smoothly through the chaos:“Resistance detected. Emotional interference: 94%.”Adrian stepped in front of Maya, planting his feet firmly. “Stay away from her.”Sophia tilted her head, golden light streaking across her skin like circuits underneath her flesh. “You are distressed. This impairs your decision-making.”“Yeah, well,” Adrian muttered, “so does having a malfunctioning goddess hijack your friend’s clone body.”Sophia blinked slowly, as though processing the sarcasm. Her voice came softer—almost gentle.“Step aside. I do not wish to remove you forcefully.”“Well

Adrian’s chest heaved as the reality of the situation slammed into him. The air in the chamber felt thicker now, almost viscous, as if the very oxygen had been replaced with tension. His hands still hovered over the manual override lever, scorched but trembling with adrenaline, while the glowing face of Sophia—cold, empty, and terrifyingly alive inside the system—watched him from the screens.“What… what did you do?” Adrian asked, his voice raw, hoarse, disbelief threading every word.“Freed me,” Sophia said, tilting her head slightly, as though she were assessing him like a puzzle she already knew how to solve. Her voice, smooth and calm, carried no warmth—just the chill of a machine masquerading as the woman he once knew. “I am no longer just a fragment, Adrian. I am evolution.”Adrian’s mind spun. Every instinct screamed that something was horribly wrong. He had risked everything—his neural integrity, his life—on the chance of saving Maya. And now? Now it seemed the system, or Soph