Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Night My Best-Friend Ruined Me: Kabanata 141 - Kabanata 150

Julian’s POVThe estate was quiet in the way that made me suspicious before it made me relaxed.That probably said more about me than it did about the place.The children were outside again by the garden, Leo and Lily moving around one another with the strange, easy concentration kids have when they have decided, without any formal discussion, that they are going to be friends for the afternoon. Their laughter kept drifting toward the house whenever the windows were open, and every time I heard it I felt the same strange mix of relief and envy. Relief because Leo was laughing. Envy because for a few minutes at a time he looked like a child again instead of a boy who had already seen too much.Aria had not said much to me since we arrived.That was fair.She was polite, but careful. She thanked me when I fixed the rear perimeter cameras, thanked me again when I tightened the motion alerts around the east side of the property, and then gave me the kind of look that said she was grateful

Adrian’s POVI found Julian near the edge of the estate grounds, where the old oak stood like it had been there long before any of us had made the mistake of thinking this place could stay untouched.He was crouched beside the tree with a tool in one hand, his expression fixed in that focused way he got when he was trying not to look like he was feeling anything at all. The surveillance device was already open in front of him, one of the pieces of housing resting in the dirt near his knee.He looked up when I approached, and I saw the shift immediately.Not surprise.Not guilt, exactly.Something between the two.That was enough.I stopped a few feet away and held up the device I had just pulled from the memory feed. His face went hard almost instantly.“You found one too,” he said.My jaw tightened. “Do not start with that.”He stood slowly, still holding the tool, and for one brief second I thought he might try to explain himself before I said anything. Instead he looked at me like

Aria’s POVThe first alert came in while I was sitting on the edge of Leo’s bed, pretending I was only checking his temperature and not watching the news feed open on the tablet beside me like it might bite.The headline was bad enough on its own.Then the next one came.Then the third.And after that, the world started moving too fast for my brain to keep up.I remember staring at the screen and not understanding it for a second. The words were all there, black and clear and impossible, but my mind refused to let them arrange themselves into anything real. It felt like looking at a stranger wearing my name.Breaking reports. Public panic. New virus strain. Mutated vaccine concern. Emergency closures. Market instability. International travel restrictions.The same lie, repeated three different ways, dressed up by different channels so it could sound more official each time.My throat tightened.No.No, no, no.I read the line again, then again, because maybe if I read it enough times

Adrian’s POVLeo’s voice cracked through the control room.“Mama.”It was barely a word, but it changed the room anyway. Veronica’s smile slipped for the first time. Edmund turned toward the screen so fast I thought he might break his own neck. The countdown on the wall stuttered, then flickered out of its clean rhythm. Aria moved immediately, hands already flying over the terminal, her face gone pale with focus. Julian shifted to the left side of the room, eyes on the guards, jaw tight. I felt my own chest go cold because Leo had spoken, and that meant he was awake enough to be afraid.Aria did not look at me when she said, “The synchronization just slipped.”“I see it.”The frequency Leo had triggered, or maybe echoed without meaning to, was disturbing the activation sequence. Not stopping it, not yet. Just throwing it off balance. I took one step toward the main console, and Veronica snapped, “Do not touch that.”I stared at her. “You already lost control.”“No,” she said. “I have

Aria’s POVLeo screamed.The sound hit me so hard my whole body stopped for a second. Julian was still at the relay console, one hand pressed against the override, his face twisted in pain. The screens around us flashed white, then red, then white again. Adrian was already moving toward him. Veronica had gone very still. Edmund looked offended, which made me want to hit him.Leo screamed again.That broke me out of it.I ran.“Aria,” Adrian called behind me, but I ignored him. The corridor lights had dropped into emergency red, and the floor vibrated under my shoes because the system was fighting whatever Julian had forced into it. I followed the route we had marked earlier, barely seeing straight. Every door felt too slow. Every turn felt too narrow.Then I heard it.A high, thin hum.The same sound Leo had described in his nightmares.I stopped so fast my shoulder hit the wall. The sound was coming from deeper in the facility, near the chamber, and the lights flashing through a brok