Chapter 2
695 Words
Sebastian let go of Vivienne and walked toward Elara.
He stopped in front of her.
Only the iron bars separated them.
Did he recognize her?
Hope flickered in Elara's eyes again.
Yet Sebastian casually pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and pushed it through the bars.
"It's my son's birthday. Take it and move along."
Elara did not take it.
She reached for Sebastian's hand, desperate, but he pulled away as if repulsed.
The bill slipped from his fingers and drifted to the ground.
While she stood frozen, Vivienne walked over and slipped her arm through his.
"Honey, what is it?"
Her gaze fell on Elara's face, and something shifted in her eyes, a flicker of recognition edged with caution.
She recognized her.
What cruel irony.
Sebastian, who should have known her at a glance, dismissed her like she was nothing.
Yet Vivienne saw through her first.
Elara let out a faint, bitter smile.
Vivienne tugged at Sebastian's arm and turned him, so his back faced Elara.
"Honey, let's go inside. Leonard was asking for you."
Sebastian followed without protest as she led him away.
The children trailed after them.
Elara noticed that Lucas kept glancing back at her before going inside.
Then, under her desperate gaze, the door shut.
The sound hit her chest like a blow.
Like a hollow shell, she crouched down and picked up the bill from the ground.
Seeing that she still had not left, the security guard sneered.
"You are still here? Staring at Mr. Blackwood like that, huh? Do you actually think you stand a chance? Stop dreaming. He is announcing his engagement to Ms. Hale tonight," he said.
"Even if his wife came back from the dead, she would still have to step aside for Ms. Hale, let alone someone like you."
Elara's chest tightened as pain flared through every wound on her body.
She trembled uncontrollably, her limbs refusing to obey.
Disgusted, the guard lifted the hose and blasted her with a jet of water.
The force knocked her to the ground. Gasping through the pain, she dragged herself forward on her hands and knees.
Soaked through, she could feel blood seeping through the thin fabric of her clothes.
By the time she reached the alley beside the estate, she could not hold on any longer and blacked out.
She did not know how long she had been unconscious when a cloying sweetness pulled her back.
Her empty stomach twisted painfully.
Following the scent, Elara saw a cake tossed beside a trash bin.
She did not hesitate. She grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth.
A sharp pain tore through her tongue.
Elara spat out a mouthful of blood. Mixed in it was a small shard of a razor blade.
There was a razor blade hidden inside the cake.
Who would do something like this? Who would leave it right beside her?
Elara forced herself not to think about it.
Suddenly, fireworks exploded across the night sky.
Brilliant bursts formed glowing words, "Vivienne, marry me."
Elara stared at them.
Then she laughed.
She had survived everything, holding on to nothing but the hope that he would never abandon her.
Now the fireworks burned away what little hope she had left.
With the hundred-dollar bill, she bought a prepaid phone and activated it on the spot.
She had long memorized her superior's number. She sent a coded message requesting contact.
The call came quickly.
Her voice was ruined, each word scraping out with effort, yet her tone remained steady.
"Sir, I request to join the Immortal Project."
The government had been developing mechanical replacements for failing organs. If successful, a person could retain their appearance and memories but lose the capacity for emotion, becoming something cold and functional.
Most of Elara's organs had already been damaged by the syndicate's toxins. At best, she had five years left.
She had once planned to spend those years with Sebastian and make up for what Lucas had lost.
Now, she understood that her life could serve another purpose.
Lowering her gaze, she forced the final words out through her ruined voice.
"Sebastian, I will not stand in your way anymore."
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