CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
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Ren remained kneeling on the cold composite floor long after the door to the adjoining room slid shut.
The lock sealed with a soft hydraulic sigh.
Inside, muted sounds carried through the wall—fabric whispering against skin, metal clasps engaging, armor plates aligning with mechanical precision. Quiet, efficient movements. Li Xuefang resetting herself. Stripping away the woman and reassembling the General.
Helix stood several paces away, arms folded across his chest. He faced the window, not Ren—his posture instinctive, protective, as though the room behind it were a vault containing something too valuable to lose.
Minutes passed in silence.
Then Helix spoke.
Helix: You want to know why she's like this.
Ren didn't lift his head. He nodded once.
Helix exhaled slowly, as if choosing which memories to unseal.
Helix: She was eighteen when I met her. Already quieter than silence. Already dangerous.
Ren's fingers curled against the floor, knuckles whitening.
Helix: Ghost took her young. Too young.
Training. Conditioning. Augmentation.
Before she ever learned how to be human properly.
He glanced down at Ren—not unkindly, but without mercy.
Helix: Pain was her first language. Control was her second.
Ren swallowed hard.
Helix: I was twenty-two. Fresh. Angry. Stupid enough to think I could keep up with her.
A faint, humorless smile crossed Helix's face.
Helix: She outran me. Outshot me. Outthought me.
The smile vanished.
Helix: So I joined the Chinese military ahead of her. Not for the flag. Not for honor.
I joined because she was going to set her abode there one day.
He hesitated, then added more quietly—
Helix: I thought if I stood where she stood… maybe I could share her lifetime.
Ren finally looked up, eyes raw.
Jiang Ren: …You followed her too.
Helix nodded once.
Helix: The difference is—I knew what I was stepping into.
He shifted his stance, voice dropping.
Helix: On the battlefield, she didn't hesitate.
Not when allies screamed.
Not when the ground burned.
Not when command went silent.
Ren's chest tightened painfully.
Helix: She learned early that hesitation kills everyone around you.
He turned his gaze back outside the window.
Helix: That's why she shut herself in. Because if she lets herself feel freely… she becomes vulnerable.
Silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Then Helix turned fully toward Ren.
His eyes were calm—sharp with truth.
Helix: I love her.
The words struck Ren like a physical blow.
His breath hitched.
Helix: Not gently.
Not selfishly.
I love her the way soldiers love war—knowing it will never love them back, and choosing it anyway.
Ren's vision blurred, his jaw tightening to keep himself together.
Helix: And you… you love her like a civilian loves fire.
Ren flinched.
Helix: Warm. Sincere. Honest.
But fragile.
The word cut deepest.
Helix: You don't protect her.
She protects you.
Ren's shoulders trembled.
Helix: That's why Ghost used you.
That's why people died.
Ren clenched his fists, nails biting into his palms.
Helix: So give up the idea that she'll choose softness.
Or safety.
Or love the way you want it.
His voice softened—just enough to hurt more.
Helix: If you stay near her, you will be broken.
If she stays near you, she will hesitate.
He stepped back.
Helix: And hesitation will kill her.
Ren stared at the floor, each word sinking in like lead.
He hated Helix.
Not because he was cruel—
—but because he was right.
Slowly, Ren drew in a shaking breath.
Jiang Ren: (Low) …Enough.
His voice cracked despite himself.
Jiang Ren: You've made yourself clear.
Helix turned away, resuming his silent vigil by the window.
Inside, Li Xuefang finished dressing—armor sealed, posture corrected, expression reset to cold precision.
Unaware that beyond that door, two men loved her in entirely different ways—
And only one of them could survive loving her at all.
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