“You wouldn't," Elara said, her heart hammering against her ribs with such force it felt like it might fracture. The midnight air was thin and bitingly cold, carrying the scent of the nearby river and the metallic tang of exposed rebar. "You’re a doctor, Marcus. Your entire life is dedicated to the sanctity of breath. You save lives. You don't take them."
"I saved yours for five years!" he screamed, the sound echoing upward through the hollow steel skeleton of the New Dawn tower. His face was distorted, a terrifying mask of resentment that had been festering in the dark. "I was the one who found you shivering in that clinic in London! I was the one who worked double shifts to make sure you had food and Leo had medicine! And how did you repay me? The moment he whistled, you ran back to t
