Inside the civil affairs office, the air felt heavy. The walls were painted a dull cream color, and the fluorescent lights overhead buzzed softly. A wooden desk sat in the center of the room, and behind it, a middle-aged clerk with reading glasses perched on her nose shuffled through a stack of documents. Two chairs faced the desk, and in those chairs sat a man and a woman who looked like they belonged in two different worlds.The woman wore a designer coat, her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. Even with sunglasses covering half her face, there was no mistaking the elegance she carried. The man beside her wore a simple jacket, clean but worn at the elbows. His hands rested on his knees, fingers tapping nervously.The clerk looked up from the papers and glanced between them.“You both have five minutes to reconsider,” she said. Her voice was calm, professional, like she'd said these same words a thousand times before. “Once you sign these documents, the divorce is final. There's

[ACCEPT OR DIE]At that moment a timer appeared below the words. It started counting down.[10]Immediately Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs.[9]“What the hell is this?”[8]He didn't understand. He didn't have time to understand, all he knew was he was dieing, he was losing blood.[7]At that time Emma's face flashed in his mind again, he couldn't want to die, not after hearing what Sophia had planned for her, she was too innocent to experience such life.[6]“I have to save her, matter what, no matter what the timing was heading to.[5]“I have to live.”[4]At that moment his hand twitched. His fingers moved, trembling, reaching out toward the glowing screen even though it wasn't real.[3]“I can't die here, not when Emma is waiting for me”[2]“Not like this.”[1]Immediately he pressed yes.The screen flashed white. Blinding. Then it vanished.For a second, nothing happened, then the pain hit.It felt like his entire body was being ripped apart and put back together all at

At that moment, accompanying what the young mistress just said, Victoria's jaw tightened.She couldn't believe what she had just heard.She really wanted them to allow this... this goofy, poorly-looking thing whose body looked like it hadn't seen soap or water in days to touch the young miss?He looked like somebody who had literally just crawled out from inside a gutter.Soaked to the bone. Hair plastered to his face. Clothes hanging off him like wet rags.This was the kind of person the young miss wanted them to depend on? Even though Victoria knew the young miss was in pain dying, even—she couldn't stop herself.She leaned down close to the young woman's ear and whispered urgently, her voice tight with barely restrained panic.“Miss, the ambulance is going to be here very, very soon. They're on their way. I would prefer we wait for them than to give this... this good-for-nothing thing any avenue to even touch you.”At that moment her eyes flicked toward Ethan, cold and suspicious.

At that moment Ethan said nothing at first.He simply stood there, looking down at the injured woman on the floor, then at the two women kneeling beside her, then at the bullet lying discarded on the tile.Finally, he spoke, his voice was calm. Flat. Matter-of-fact.“It's done,” he said. “But you still need to get her to a hospital for stitching. The wound needs to be closed properly. That's all.”He turned to leave.But before he could take more than a step, Grace scrambled to her feet and moved toward him.“Wait,” she said quickly. "Please, wait."Ethan paused but did not turn around.She bowed slightly, her voice thick with emotion.“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much for helping us. Thank you for doing this. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't—”“It's fine,” Ethan said, cutting her off gently. “No problem.”At that moment Victoria didn't know what she was going to say at this point, she didn't actually believe Ethan at the first glance.He doesn't look like

At that moment in time, Victoria and Grace's jaws tightened as their eyes went wide with shock, their gazes locking onto one of the security guards standing nearby.The realization hit them like a physical blow."Kevin?" Victoria's voice came out sharp, disbelieving, trembling with a mixture of rage and betrayal. "So you're among them?"Her hand shot up, pointing at him with a trembling finger, her face contorting with fury."So you're the one that literally set us up? You crazy piece of shit!"Victoria's shout tore through the air, echoing across the station. The few remaining bystanders who hadn't already fled turned their heads, their eyes widening at the scene unfolding before them."I should have known," Victoria continued, her voice cracking with emotion. "I should have known it was you, Kevin. Everything was just so clear. Everything was so obvious. But yet, I literally kept a blind eye toward it."She took a step forward, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles had turned whi