saw, the rhythmic beep of a heart monitor the first thing I hea

nal detachment. "You collapsed from extreme emotional distress and physic

into my mind, a permanent scar. Love-sick puppy. So desperate for validation. Th

sely by Ben. She had her professional mask on, her face a carefully

at the wall. I didn't want to

ut what happened," Sarah b

he beeping of the mo

rah and casually draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. It was

ndescension. "You did a good job. The agency is grateful for your.

ed no resistance. She just stood there, l

Industries," Sarah added, her voice cool and detached. "The intell

red with to betray me, and called my utter humiliation a worthy

" I said, my voice raspy. I

lt weak, unsteady. As I stood, I tried to walk past them.

d, using my old codename like an insult. "Wou

want to engage, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. But as I m

cally, his arms flailing, and crashed into a small medical cart. Vials and instruments clatt

le

hed to Ben's side instantly, completely igno

was a performance, and a masterful one. "He just..

laying the vic

t me before. "What the hell is wrong with you? After everything we've done to stage th

tage this. She was admitting it to my face, defending the man w

contempt. "You can't stand to see me with a real man, so you resort to pett

othing but a vast, empty coldness. The last flicker of love, of hope, was

. Explanations were pointless. She had alre

with undeserved rage, I turned around. I walked out of the med-bay, the sound of the heart monitor's stea

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