Ariana stopped mid-step.
Her hand was already on the door.
Adrian had already moved ahead.
But those words—
"There's something else you still don't know about Lia…"
Made the entire room feel frozen.
Ariana slowly turned around.
Her face was pale.
"What now?" she whispered, her voice exhausted and dangerously calm.
The man looked conflicted for the first time.
As if even he didn't want to say what came next.
Adrian's patience snapped. "We don't have time for riddles."
The man nodded quickly. "Then listen carefully."
He looked directly at Ariana.
"The final procedure they're preparing tonight…"
He paused.
And Ariana's heart pounded violently.
"…is irreversible."
Silence.
Dead silence.
Ariana stared at him.
"What procedure?"
His jaw tightened.
"They plan to permanently accelerate Lia's neural development."
Neither of them spoke.
He continued.
"The treatments were designed to rapidly enhance cognitive abilities—memory retention, processing speed, emotional control…"
Ariana's breathing became shaky.
"She's a child…"
"I know."
"What happens if they do it?" Adrian asked coldly.
The man looked at Lia's frozen image on the screen.
"She survives…"
Ariana's eyes widened slightly.
"But?"
His face darkened.
"She may lose parts of herself."
Ariana's voice cracked. "What does that mean?"
He swallowed hard.
"Memories could be damaged. Emotional connections could weaken. Her personality could fundamentally change."
Ariana felt physically sick.
"She might not remember me?"
He didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
Ariana staggered back slightly.
"No…"
All those years of separation.
All that pain.
And now—
Even if she saved her—
She could still lose her.
Adrian grabbed the man again.
"Why tell us now?"
"Because I owe her," he said.
Adrian frowned.
"Owe her what?"
The man looked at Ariana.
"Years ago… when you escaped…"
Ariana stared at him.
"You said you gave me a chance."
He nodded.
"That wasn't the whole truth."
Ariana's brows tightened.
"What are you talking about?"
He exhaled deeply.
"You were supposed to die during your escape."
Ariana froze.
"What?"
"I changed the order."
Silence.
"I couldn't save you directly… but I made sure you had a path out."
Ariana stared at him in disbelief.
"Why?"
For the first time—
His expression softened.
"Because when I saw you holding your newborn daughter…"
He paused.
"You begged them not to take her."
Ariana's tears returned instantly.
"And I realized…"
His voice cracked slightly.
"We had become monsters."
Silence consumed the room.
Adrian finally released him.
"Then help us fix this."
The man nodded.
"I will."
He rushed to a terminal and pulled up a blueprint.
A massive underground facility appeared on the screen.
Layers.
Security routes.
Medical wing.
Escape tunnels.
Adrian studied it quickly.
"Too many guards."
"There's another route," the man said.
He zoomed into an underground maintenance tunnel.
"It bypasses main security."
Ariana immediately focused on the blinking room.
Medical chamber.
That's where Lia was.
"How long until the procedure begins?"
The man looked at the countdown.
And his face turned pale.
"Fifteen minutes."
Ariana's heart nearly stopped.
Adrian grabbed her hand.
"We're getting her."
She nodded.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just purpose.
As they rushed out—
The man called after them.
"Ariana!"
She turned one last time.
He looked at her with genuine regret.
"If you save her…"
A pause.
"Tell her she was always more human than any of us."
Ariana stared at him for one emotional second—
Then ran.
Outside—
Rain had started pouring heavily.
Thunder exploded across the sky.
Their car sped through the empty roads like a bullet.
Ariana clutched Lia's photo tightly.
Her lips trembling.
"Please wait for me…"
Adrian glanced at her.
"We'll make it."
Ariana looked ahead.
"No matter what it costs."
At the underground facility—
Doctors prepared the machines.
Lia cried while struggling against the restraints.
"Mom!"
Adrian's mother watched silently from behind glass.
Cold.
Unmoved.
"Begin."
A doctor hesitated.
"She's unstable."
Her eyes turned deadly.
"I said begin."
The machine powered on.
And at that exact moment—
Far above—
Adrian's car crashed through the security gate.
Cliffhanger:
👉 Security alarms explode through the facility as Adrian whispers:
"We're out of time." 😈
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