All Chapters of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

“At last, we’re home.”The voice inside Ava’s head sounded almost tender.That frightened her more than a scream ever could.She stood frozen in the center of the underground chamber, staring at the screen where the words CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER: SUCCESSFUL glowed in cold white letters.Black veins spread beneath the skin of her wrist.Then her fingers moved.Not because she wanted them to.Her right hand slowly rose toward her face, stopping just beneath her chin. Ava tried to lower it, but her muscles refused to obey.“Daniel,” she whispered.He was already moving toward her.“Ava!”He caught her left hand, holding it tightly between both of his. His eyes searched her face, desperate to find the woman he knew.“Look at me,” he said. “Whatever is happening, look at me.”Ava forced her eyes toward him.For one terrible second, she saw her own reflection in his pupils—but the woman looking back at her was smiling.Ava wasn't.Daniel's expression changed.“Who are you?” he demanded, star

The heartbeat grew louder.Thump.Thump.Thump.Ava stood frozen before the glass column, staring at the woman who had just called her little sister.Celeste.The name had haunted her family for years. Amara's dead sister. Grandmother's lost daughter. The woman whose biological material had helped create Ava.And now she was standing inside the original Serpent core, looking at Ava with the same eyes.It was too much.“No,” Amara whispered. “This isn't possible.”Celeste turned her head toward her.“Hello, Amara.”Amara stumbled backward.“No. I watched you die. I held you when you stopped breathing.”“You held my body.”Tears filled Amara's eyes.“Don't do this to me.”Celeste's expression softened, but there was something unsettling about the gentleness. It looked practiced, like a smile copied from an old photograph.“I know you suffered.”“Suffered?” Amara let out a broken laugh. “I spent years believing I had helped destroy you! Mother told me there was nothing left to save. She

“It's time to finish what we started.”The voice came from the original core.Ava turned toward the glass column, her heart pounding. The woman who had worn Celeste's face stood motionless inside it, while the screens surrounding her flashed with warnings.WARNING: COMMAND REQUIRES THE ORIGINAL SUBJECT'S DEATH.GLOBAL AUTHORITY SYNCHRONIZATION: 04:58.Daniel tightened his grip on Ava's hand.“No.”The word was quiet, but it carried a promise.He stepped between Ava and the console, his blackened veins pulsing beneath his skin.“Whatever that command says, we're finding another way.”Ava stared at the screen. “What if there isn't another way?”“Then we keep looking.”“Daniel, thousands of people could die if Evelyn completes the synchronization.”“And you think I'm going to let you die to save them?”“I'm not asking you to let me die!”“Then stop talking as though your life is the only one we can sacrifice.”His voice cracked.For a moment, neither of them spoke.Ava had seen Daniel an

The moment Ava stepped through the door, the sound of a newborn crying filled the darkness.She froze.The room beyond the doorway was nothing like the underground facility. There were no glass chambers, no wires, no screens displaying terrifying commands. Instead, she stood inside a small hospital room illuminated by a single yellow lamp. Rain tapped against the windows, and the air smelled faintly of antiseptic.A woman lay on the bed, sweating and exhausted, her dark hair clinging to her forehead.Amara.She looked younger, perhaps twenty years younger than the woman Ava knew. Her arms trembled as she reached for the tiny bundle beside her.“My baby,” the younger Amara whispered. “Please, let me see my baby.”A nurse stood beside the bed, holding a newborn wrapped in a white blanket. Another baby cried in a cot near the window.Two babies.Ava's heart began to pound.“No,” she whispered. “This isn't possible.”Celeste appeared beside her, her face unusually pale.“This is the first

Amara's scream tore through the chamber.Ava rushed toward her mother, but Daniel caught her wrist before she could reach the console.“Don't touch her!” he warned. “The network is reacting to your presence.”“That's my mother, Daniel!”“And Evelyn knows that. She's using your feelings against you.”Ava tried to pull free, but Daniel held on.Across the chamber, Amara's body convulsed. Black veins spread across her face, and the screens behind her filled with rapidly changing symbols.PRIMARY SUBJECT: AVA.SECONDARY SUBJECT: ISABELLA.CONSCIOUSNESS MERGE: READY.Isabella stared at the display, her face drained of color.“No,” she whispered.Ava turned toward her. “What is it?”Isabella shook her head as though she could force the words out of her mind.“I remember something.”“What?”“The laboratory. The night we were born.”Ava's heart pounded.“You were there?”“Not physically. I mean, I remember it from inside the network. I used to think the dreams were nightmares, but they weren'