CHAPTER 9 — Adrian's Final Choice
The abandoned Arctic data center stood beneath endless snow.
Inside, Camille held Aurora while dozens of armed mercenaries surrounded the room.
Then another voice echoed through the darkness.
"Let the child go."
Adrian.
Older.
Thinner.
Prison had broken his body.
But somehow...
He had escaped.
Camille laughed.
"You came."
"I always knew you would."
Adrian looked at Aurora.
For the first time in his life...
His eyes filled with tears.
"I spent years blaming everyone else."
"I blamed Mara."
"I blamed you."
"I blamed money."
"But I finally understood something."
Camille smiled.
"Too late."
She aimed a pistol at Aurora.
Before anyone could move—
Adrian stepped between them.
The gunshot echoed through the frozen facility.
He collapsed instantly.
Blood spread across the white floor.
He looked toward me.
"I'm sorry..."
The words barely escaped his lips.
Then he closed his eyes forever.
The man who had once tried to murder his own child had just died protecting her.
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No one in the room knew how to react.
Not even me.
