Compt

. He had been shocked, truly shocked, when I told him the wedding was off. His face, usually so composed, had crum

d, his voice tight with barely suppressed anger.

antrum? Was that all our decade together meant to him? I fel

tled the cheap art on the walls. The sound echoed in the su

ved from the floor and placed there. I reached for it, my fingers tracing the smooth, familiar lines. But som

a gift from my grandmother, inscribed with my name and a single, ancient symbol. This was my real elephant, its hilt carved in the shape

le was a replica.

had thought I wouldn't notice. He had thought I was too broken to care, or too foolish

y comm unit, accessing Aegis' s internal network. With swift, expert movements, I initiated a series of protocols, shutting down all

the memory of that fake elephant. I found a small, nondescript apartment on the outskirts of the city, a plac

red to life. Hazen' s voice, urgent, demanding. "Echo, we have a critica

the offshore account Alston had so generously provided was frozen. A tempora

I w

n was already there, pacing like a caged beast. Bianca, looking disheveled but unharmed, c

iece of trash!" he snarled, his voice a low, furious growl. "Where the hell

eyes blazing back at him. "I abandoned nothing. I res

rom mine. "You traumatized her! Do you know what she'

Hazen," I shot back, my voice dangerously ca

ou dare, Echo! Bianca is a victim. You' re just a bi

a soft whimper, burying her face

t the girl I rescued, the girl I trained, the girl who systematically

. "Just more lies fr

them, Bianca. Tell them how you orchestrated all of this. Tell them ab

a step towards me, her face contorted in what looked like genuine horror. "Don' t you dare accuse me! You' re the monste

a thin line of fire. My instincts screamed danger, but before I co

with fury. "Just get out! You' re poison! Y

ith condemnation. "She attacked Bianca!" one

inor irritation compared to the gaping wound in my soul. I turned a

wipe from my emergency kit to clean the cut. It wasn' t deep, but it stung,

pped a few feet away, his chest heaving. "Are you okay?" he a

emotion. "Don' t pretend to care

s to get out of hand. Bianca... she' s just

rsh, brittle sound. "By speaking

ust apologize to her. Let' s put this all behind us. We can still...

g left to make work, Hazen. And I will never apolog

"Is that what you want? To just... walk

ce calm, resolute. My mind was already made up. The memory wipe

d again, this time with a frantic, garbled message. Bianca' s voice,

protective instincts roared to life. He didn' t hesitate. He turned and sprinted back in

akup speech. No final confrontation. Our relationship, our future, everything, h

erase Hazen, Bianca, Aegis, and every single painful memory. I wo

make my escape, a sudden, blinding pain exploded at the back of my he