The world stopped.
Everything stopped.
The gunfire.
The shouting.
The battle.
The chaos.
None of it mattered anymore.
Because only four words echoed inside Aarya's head.
Your mother volunteered you.
"No."
The whisper escaped her lips.
Weak.
Broken.
Disbelieving.
Chairman Han watched her carefully.
Like a scientist observing an experiment.
Like a predator watching wounded prey.
"You're lying."
Her voice shook.
Han smiled.
"Am I?"
The answer wasn't enough.
The certainty in his eyes made it worse.
Much worse.
Because for a moment—
for one terrible moment—
Aarya doubted.
Her mother.
The woman she had spent years mourning.
The woman she had spent years missing.
The woman she desperately wanted to believe in.
What if Han was telling the truth?
"No."
She shook her
