All Chapters of Betrayed Before the Vows: Chapter 91 - Chapter 97

"You've been looking for this?"Camelia turned as Marko entered the archive room, holding a small metal key between his fingers."I couldn't find the maintenance records for the old communications tower," she replied, brushing a layer of dust from an ancient filing cabinet.Marko tossed her the key."They're probably in the basement archive. No one has opened those cabinets in years."Camelia caught the key with a grateful smile."Thanks.""Don't stay down there too long," Marko warned. "Half of those files belong in a museum."After he left, Camelia made her way downstairs.The underground archive beneath the Obersdorf research station smelled of old paper and damp wood. Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, crowded with forgotten documents, engineering blueprints, and boxes covered in thick layers of dust.She switched on a small desk lamp.The dim yellow light barely pushed back the darkness."So where did they hide those records..." she murmured.She unlocked the first cabinet.

"I turned it down."The room fell silent.Camelia slowly lowered the report she had been reading and looked across the conference table at Adrian."You... what?"Adrian offered a small smile, though there was exhaustion behind it."I declined the position in Zurich."Marko nearly dropped the mug in his hand."Are you serious? That's one of the biggest energy companies in Europe.""I know.""They offered you enough money to retire before you're fifty.""I know that too."Camelia frowned."Then why?"Adrian leaned back in his chair, folding his hands calmly."Because People's Grid isn't finished."His answer was simple, yet it carried undeniable conviction."I promised I'd help stabilize the network," he continued. "Walking away now would make everything we've built meaningless."Stefan looked genuinely impressed."Most people would have packed their bags before the offer letter finished printing."Adrian laughed quietly."I've never been 'most people.'"Camelia nodded politely."We app

“Are you going to tell her?”The question came without warning.Adrian didn’t look away from the valley below as he spoke. The wind on the balcony was sharper today, cutting through the quiet between them.William frowned slightly.“Tell her what?”“That I used to love her.”William exhaled slowly.“She already knows enough.”Adrian gave a faint nod, as if that answer didn’t surprise him.“I suppose she does.”A pause settled between them again. Not uncomfortable this time—just heavy with things neither of them needed to say aloud.Far behind them, inside the building, voices echoed faintly. Life continued as usual inside the People’s Grid headquarters, but out here it felt like another world entirely.William finally spoke.“Why are you telling me this?”Adrian leaned back slightly against the railing.“Because I think you’ve been waiting for a reason to hate me that doesn’t exist.”William didn’t answer immediately.The truth in that statement was too accurate to dismiss.“I don’t h

“William, don’t move closer—there’s an unstable current in the outer line!”The shout came too late.A sharp burst of energy crackled through the relay junction, lighting up the control panel in a sudden flash of blue-white light.William staggered back, one hand gripping the metal frame to steady himself.“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “Shut down the secondary feed—now!”Camelia was already at the console.“Doing it!”Her fingers moved fast, rerouting the flow through a backup channel. The system groaned—low, deep, like something resisting correction.Then, slowly, the lights stabilized.The humming reduced to a steady tone.Silence followed.Only the wind outside filled the gap.One technician exhaled shakily.“That was close…”William didn’t respond immediately. His eyes stayed locked on the diagnostic screen.“The distortion pattern changed,” he said.Camelia looked up.“What do you mean changed?”William zoomed in on the data stream.“It adapted.”That single word made the room col