Security alarms screamed throughout the underground facility.
Red emergency lights flashed violently across the corridors while guards rushed into formation. The massive steel gate behind Adrian's car hung twisted and destroyed, smoke rising from the impact point as rain poured from above.
Inside the vehicle, Ariana's heart pounded so hard it physically hurt.
"Where's the medical wing?" Adrian demanded.
Ariana immediately pulled the blueprint closer with trembling hands. "Level three underground. East sector."
Adrian pressed harder on the accelerator.
The car sped through the narrow entrance tunnel while armed guards opened fire.
Bullets slammed against the vehicle.
Glass cracked.
Ariana flinched but didn't look away from the map.
"Left turn ahead!"
Adrian drifted sharply into the corridor.
Metal screeched against concrete.
More alarms.
More shouting.
Everything had become chaos.
But Ariana only heard one thing in her mind—
Lia crying for her.
Inside the medical chamber—
Lia struggled against the restraints, tears streaming endlessly down her face.
"It hurts…"
One of the doctors hesitated again. "Her neural activity is spiking dangerously."
Adrian's mother remained expressionless behind the glass.
"Continue."
"But if we overload the process—"
"CONTINUE."
The doctor immediately obeyed.
Machines intensified.
Lights flickered across Lia's small body as she cried out in pain.
And for the first time—
Even some of the staff looked disturbed.
Meanwhile—
Adrian and Ariana abandoned the damaged car and moved through the facility on foot.
Gunfire echoed around them.
Adrian took down two guards with ruthless precision while Ariana followed closely behind him.
"You know this place too well," Adrian muttered while reloading.
Ariana's face hardened.
"Because I was once trapped in places like this."
That answer hit harder than expected.
But there was no time to respond.
More guards appeared ahead.
Adrian fired instantly.
Chaos erupted again.
Ariana spotted a security panel nearby.
"Cover me!"
Adrian glanced at her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm opening the internal lockdown."
He frowned. "That'll trap everyone inside."
Ariana's eyes became ice cold.
"Exactly."
Her fingers moved rapidly across the system.
Seconds later—
Massive steel doors slammed shut throughout the facility.
Emergency locks activated.
The guards around them panicked immediately.
"We're sealed in!"
Adrian stared at Ariana for one brief moment.
Then—
A slow smile appeared on his face despite the chaos.
"There's the ruthless part of my wife."
Ariana didn't smile back.
"Save the flirting for after we save our daughter."
Level Three.
Medical Wing.
They were close now.
Very close.
Ariana's breathing grew uneven the nearer they got.
Then—
They heard it.
Lia screaming.
Everything inside Ariana shattered.
"MOM!"
Ariana ran.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just instinct.
She sprinted down the corridor while Adrian followed, shooting down anyone who tried stopping them.
The medical chamber doors finally appeared ahead.
Locked.
Ariana slammed against them desperately.
"LIA!"
Inside—
Lia heard her instantly.
"Mom!"
The little girl cried harder, struggling against the restraints.
Adrian reached the control panel.
"It's encrypted."
Ariana looked through the glass—
And saw her.
Small.
Terrified.
Connected to machines.
Something inside her snapped completely.
"Move."
Adrian barely stepped aside before Ariana grabbed a metal emergency axe from the wall and smashed it into the glass panel beside the door.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
The glass shattered.
She reached inside manually and forced the lock open.
The doors burst apart.
Ariana ran straight to Lia.
"Baby, I'm here—I'm here—"
Lia sobbed uncontrollably as Ariana removed the restraints with shaking hands.
"It hurt…" Lia cried.
Ariana's tears finally broke free. "I know… I know…"
Behind them—
Slow clapping echoed slowly through the room.
Adrian turned.
His mother stood there.
Perfectly calm.
Even now.
"You destroyed an entire facility for one child," she said.
Adrian stepped forward dangerously.
"She's not 'one child.'"
The woman's eyes shifted to Ariana holding Lia.
"You could've changed the world with her."
Ariana looked up slowly.
"No," she whispered.
Then louder—
"You were trying to own the world through her."
For the first time—
The woman's expression hardened.
"She was meant to be extraordinary."
"She was meant to be loved," Ariana shot back instantly.
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Explosive.
Adrian's mother looked at Lia one last time.
Then at Adrian.
"You would destroy your legacy for them?"
Adrian didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
That answer finally made something crack in her composure.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Then suddenly—
Gunshots echoed outside again.
More security teams approaching.
Adrian grabbed Ariana's hand.
"We need to move."
But before they could—
His mother quietly pressed another button.
Ariana noticed immediately.
"What did you do?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"If I can't control this project…"
Her eyes moved around the facility.
"…then no one will."
Adrian's face changed instantly.
"She armed the reactor."
The room went silent.
Ariana's blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian grabbed Lia immediately.
"It means this entire underground facility is about to explode."
Cliffhanger:
👉 Emergency countdown begins flashing everywhere:
05:00 MINUTES UNTIL CORE DETONATION 😈
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