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Rise Of The Phoenix: Dylan’s Rebirth 44
44Panic spread like wildfire. The murmurs in the crowd turned into frantic shouts, people stumbling back, some pressing against the walls as the woman’s body thrashed uncontrollably.“She’s dying!” a voice shrieked.“Somebody do something!” another cried.Dylan didn’t waste a second. He gripped the woman’s arm tightly, his mind racing. The poison had accelerated. The sedative had weakened her body’s ability to fight, allowing the toxin to spread unhindered. If he didn’t act now, she wouldn’t survive the next minute.Gregory let out a loud scoff, shaking his head. “Look at this mess. The great ‘doctor’ can’t even handle a single patient. What a joke.” His words were laced with mockery, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of unease.“Shut up, Gregory,” Dylan snapped, his voice sharp as a blade. “This isn’t some damn game.”“Oh, but it is,” Gregory countered, crossing his arms with an arrogant smirk. “And you’re losing.”Dylan ignored him, turning sharply to the doctor, his expression like
Rise Of The Phoenix: Dylan’s Rebirth 45
45Dylan turned sharply to the assistant, his voice unwavering. “Bring me a clean knife and a small glass bottle. Now.”The assistant hesitated, his eyes darting nervously toward the doctor. “I—should I?”The doctor, still reeling from how rapidly the woman’s condition had deteriorated under his care—and just as quickly stabilized under Dylan’s—clenched his jaw. His pride screamed at him to refuse, but the proof was undeniable.“Do it,” he ground out, his voice tight with humiliation.Gasps rippled through the crowd at his reluctant admission. The same doctor who had barked orders with absolute confidence was now deferring to the man he had called an amateur.The assistant scrambled away, returning moments later with the requested items. The tension in the room was suffocating, the onlookers frozen in stunned anticipation.Gregory scoffed, crossing his arms. “Oh, so now you’re playing butcher? What next? Gonna do a rain dance too? Maybe chant a magic spell while you’re at it?”A few p
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46Once outside, Dylan took a deep breath, the weight of the boutique’s gaze still heavy on him. His heart raced—not from fear, but from the surge of adrenaline still coursing through him. He wasn’t surprised by what had happened, but the way the crowd had reacted still left him unsettled.Behind him, the door of the boutique creaked open, and murmurs trickled out.“Did you see that? Did he really just do that?” one voice whispered, barely audible in the cool night air.“I—I thought she was gone, I swear it,” another voice added, shaken. “One minute, she’s convulsing, and the next… just like that… she’s awake.”“That man… he’s no amateur,” a third voice said, filled with awe. “That was deliberate. He knew what he was doing.”Dylan’s hands clenched at his sides as the voices continued.Inside the boutique, the doctor could still be heard, his voice rising in frustration. “You don’t understand! That—what he did—it wasn’t science. It was—”“It was something,” someone interjected sharply.
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47Dylan froze, his hand already on the car door. He turned slowly, half expecting it to be one of the lingering skeptics, trying to further dissect his actions.The woman was rushing toward him now, her eyes wide with gratitude but still filled with confusion. Her steps faltered slightly, but she pushed through, her voice clear and urgent. “Please—thank you. For what you did. I… I need to know why you helped me.”Dylan stood still, his gaze meeting hers. For a moment, the time seemed to still, the chaos of earlier falling away as he looked into her eyes—eyes that held a mixture of disbelief, relief, and something else.He could hear her breathing unevenly, still recovering from the ordeal, but she stood firm.“Don’t thank me,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft for all the anger that still burned in him. “I didn’t do it for your gratitude. I just did what needed to be done.”The woman’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But… Gregory said—he said you were a fraud. That you were just pla
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48Dylan blinked, caught off guard by her request. The way she spoke, her voice so earnest and pleading, made it difficult to dismiss. But his first instinct was still to pull away, to avoid whatever this was, because he wasn’t sure what it meant.She was cute, sure, but that didn’t mean he had to complicate things.“What kind of thanks is this?” he thought, unsure of whether he was more confused or intrigued by the idea. Still, the thought of just slipping away quietly tugged at him. He didn’t owe her anything more than the help he’d already given. And yet, looking at her—at Olivia—he couldn’t deny the pull he felt toward her. The dimples, the warmth in her smile, the sincerity in her eyes. She wasn’t just offering a thank you; there was something more in her invitation.“Alright,” he said after a long pause, his voice low, though still hesitant. “I’ll come. But I don’t know what else I can do other than just show up and listen. I’m not one for grand gestures.”Olivia’s face lit up w
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49A few minutes later, they arrived at a large, wrought-iron gate. The gate was imposing—tall and intricately designed, the kind of thing you’d expect to see in a place that had been standing for decades, if not centuries. Olivia slowed the car, pressing a button on the dashboard to open the gate. It creaked open slowly, revealing a long, tree-lined driveway leading up to a massive mansion in the distance.Dylan’s eyes widened just slightly, though he tried to keep his expression neutral. The house in front of him was magnificent. It was a sprawling two-story estate, with gleaming stone and large windows that reflected the evening sky. It looked like something out of a dream—or a movie. He could feel the weight of the place, a kind of quiet opulence that commanded attention.As they pulled up in front of the house, Olivia parked the car and turned to him. “Welcome to my home,” she said softly, her voice almost reverent as she looked up at the mansion. “I know it’s a lot. But… it’s wh
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50 Olivia’s voice cut through his thoughts, softer now. “It’s okay, Carmen. You can tell them I’ll be there soon.” She turned to Dylan, trying to lighten the mood. “Sorry about this. Family stuff. You know how it goes.” But Dylan didn’t feel reassured. Instead, he felt the sharp tug of suspicion. He’d seen people act a certain way when they were hiding something, and Olivia’s behavior, her way of avoiding his gaze, was one of those signs. Dylan stood there, his frown deepening as he watched Olivia carefully. She was clearly avoiding his gaze, her eyes darting to the floor, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her sleeve. Something was definitely off, and the unease in his chest was growing by the second. He took a step closer, lowering his voice. “Olivia, what’s going on? You’re not telling me something.” She hesitated, biting her lip and glancing up at him briefly before looking away again. “I… I didn’t exactly invite you here just to thank you,” she said softly, her voice
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51 “Alright,” he finally said, his voice steady but laced with uncertainty. “I’ll follow you. But you owe me an explanation.” Olivia’s face softened in relief, and for a brief moment, he could see the vulnerability in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered, squeezing his arm before turning toward the hallway. As they walked down the corridor, Carmen stood frozen in place, her face pale with anxiety. She didn’t move as Olivia and Dylan disappeared from view, but the worry in her eyes lingered long after they had passed. Dylan glanced over at Olivia as she led him down the hall, the mansion’s grandeur feeling almost oppressive now, as though the walls were closing in around them. The distant sound of footsteps echoed through the silent house. They reached a set of stairs leading to the upper floor, and Olivia’s pace quickened. Dylan’s steps slowed as he noticed the way she was moving—quick, yet careful, like someone who had done this many times before. “Olivia,” he began, his voice
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221: The Future in Flame “I wouldn’t have told you if I wasn’t.” Dylan nodded. “Then let’s burn the world down.” He typed the command. A loading bar began to climb. Lilith stepped up beside him and pulled a drive from her coat—sleek, unlabeled, humming softly. “My code’s on here,” she said. “It’ll mimic the framework of Ignis Core perfectly. I’ve even embedded some of your old code from before you joined Ash. They’ll think it’s legit. Familiar. But once it activates… recursive detonation.” She handed it to him. He plugged it in. The system blinked. Code spilled across the screen—lines upon lines of luminous, perfect deception. Lilith crossed her arms as she watched. “We’ve got one shot at this.” Dylan didn’t look away from the screen. “Then we make it count.” The lights dimmed for a moment as the system initiated a shadow crawl—spreading the false Ignis Core like a virus in slow motion. Unseen. Waiting. When it was done, Dylan stood back, eyes cold. “Now we wait for them
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220 Another pause. Then the faint sound of typing. “You want a paper trail?” “I want everything. Timeline?” “Standard turnaround is three days—” “Yesterday,” she cut in coldly. “I want to know everything.” The line stayed quiet for another beat, then the voice softened just a little. “Got it. I’ll be in touch.” Jane hung up before he could say anything else. She stood still for a moment, the city buzzing around her, oblivious. The ache in her cheek was fading now. But something else was forming beneath it. A plan. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. She might not have been the mother Molly needed—but she was still the sharpest weapon in the room. And it was time to cut through the lies. **** “God, that hurt,” Jane muttered under her breath, wincing as she touched her cheek again. Jane exhaled slowly, tucking the phone into her coat. Her fingers were trembling slightly, but not from fear. Anticipation. She turned to herself, muttering quietly, “Let them play the her
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219 Jane was a good actress.Always had been.The tears never came when they were supposed to, and yet she could conjure them on command. A trembling voice, a haunted look, a furious, grieving mother storming into the middle of someone else’s crisis like she owned it—she wore the mask well. She always had.She could remember the first time she learned how useful a lie could be. She was ten, maybe eleven. Her father had forgotten to pick her up from piano class. Again. When she walked home alone, cold and soaked from the rain, her mother demanded to know why she hadn’t called.“I dropped the phone,” Jane had said. “It broke.”Not true. Not even close.But her mother had sighed, pulled her into a towel, and mumbled something about how her father never remembered the important things. That day, Jane realized that people didn’t want the truth. They wanted a version of it they could live with.Molly’s disappearance? Tragic, yes. Maddening, of course. But gut-wrenching?Not exactly.She fe
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218Her cheek was on fire.The skin throbbed beneath her fingertips, every heartbeat pumping more heat into the wound Lilith had left. Jane could feel the swelling already—tight and raw, as if a thousand needles were pricking her at once. Her ears rang from the sound of the slap, but louder still was the pounding of her own pride, screaming at her that she couldn’t—wouldn’t—let this end with her standing there, humiliated.No.Not like this.Not with Dylan between them, not with Lilith standing there looking like some righteous, self-important goddess. Not when her cheek was burning like it was trying to peel off her damn face.Jane’s eyes locked on Lilith—and without a second thought, without hesitation or grace, she struck.Her hand shot out fast and furious, an explosion of motion that cracked across Lilith’s face with a sickening sound. Her palm connected hard, and the impact shuddered down her arm like a jolt.Lilith’s head snapped to the side. Her hair, half-loose from the earli
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217Jane’s chest heaved, her breath coming fast and shallow. Her eyes burned—wild, furious, and unrelenting. She pointed a shaking finger at Dylan, voice trembling but loud enough to draw the attention of a passing couple across the street.“I left you, Dylan. You. Not Molly.”Her voice dropped, turning venomous and precise, like she was lashing each syllable across his face. “Both of you were the chains wrapped around my neck. You—some pathetic, broke, useless excuse of a man. A man with no future, no plan, no spine. Every day I spent in that house was like dying slowly. I did the right thing leaving. And guess what? I’m better for it. Stronger. Smarter. And soon, I’ll be a very rich woman. Not just locally. Not just nationally. Internationally. Bobby’s making it happen.”Dylan blinked, once, then twice. For a second he said nothing, just looked at her—really looked at her. At the expensive earrings, the glossy lipstick, the clothes tailored to perfection. All the glitter piled on to
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216 “I left Molly,” she whispered. “I left her behind. I thought she’d be better off without the mess I was making. I thought Dylan—God—he was supposed to protect her.” “I think he’s been trying,” Lisa said softly. “But he’s hiding something. Maybe a lot of things.” “And he brought Lilith into this,” Jane muttered. “Of course he did. Of course.” There was venom in her voice when she said Lilith’s name. Jane had met the woman twice—both times by accident, and both times left her with the distinct impression that Lilith was a wolf smiling in a fur coat. Jane’s breathing became shallow. She looked around her kitchen like she was searching for something to punch. The cabinets were too sturdy. The walls were too silent. “She’s just a little girl,” Jane said, her voice cracking. “She still calls bees ‘buzzies’ and thinks thunder means God’s bowling. How the hell could he keep this from me?” Lisa didn’t speak. “I’m going to find him,” Jane said suddenly, moving. Her voice was low and
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215Her hand slowly dropped from her cheek. “You’re talking about her like she’s a monster.”“She’s not,” Dylan said. “She’s human. But that doesn’t make her a mother.”A long silence stretched between them.Lilith said nothing, letting the space breathe, letting the weight of truth settle.Lisa looked at her, and for once, there was no bite in her voice. Just a raw kind of confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me?”Lilith looked back evenly. “Because you were too busy setting the stage.”Lisa’s lip trembled. “I didn’t know…”“No,” Dylan said, softer now. “You didn’t want to know.”He stepped past her then, toward the street, toward whatever came next. He was done with the confrontation. Done with the theater. There were more important things to do.Molly needed him.Lilith followed without a word, falling into step beside him.Lisa stood in the middle of the sidewalk, surrounded by the remnants of her own performance—watchers gone, the spotlight faded.She was alone now.And the weight of
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214 Infact it was her shady car buyers and Dylan mistook them as people there to try to kill him. “Who are they?” Lilith asked. Lisa didn’t answer. She turned back to Dylan instead. “Don’t play dumb. Don’t pretend you’re in danger. You’re not the victim here. You never have been.” “Then what’s the show for?” Lilith asked. “I told you,” Lisa snapped. “People deserve to know what kind of man he is.” “People already think they know,” Lilith said. “You’re just hammering it in. Why now? Why here? What’s happening that you don’t want anyone to see?” Lisa’s jaw clenched. She took another step back. But Dylan had already started mentally mapping the exit points. The alley to their right. The cafe entrance. The fire escape four buildings down. He wasn’t just seeing Lisa anymore—he was reading the whole board. This wasn’t random. And the moment he’d seen her, standing there with her coat too perfect, voice too loud, eyes too bright, he’d known. It was all wrong. It wasn’t grief or
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213“She finally divorced you,” Lisa said, the words slicing the air like glass. Her voice was calmer now, but only because she knew she’d drawn blood. “Finally. And thank God she did. Jane is building a life now—a future. Something you would have ruined if she’d stayed. You dragged her down long enough.”The words settled over the sidewalk like ash. A few onlookers had stopped, heads turning, phones subtly raised. The city had its own rhythm—cars hissing by on wet asphalt, neon lights flickering in windows—but all of it dimmed under Lisa’s voice.Dylan stood frozen for a beat too long. His hands curled into fists, not out of anger, but restraint. His heart pounded like a war drum behind his ribs. He wanted to yell, to peel back her lies in front of everyone, to lay out the complexities of what had really happened—what Jane had chosen to ignore, what she had run from long before any betrayal.But he knew how this would look.Lisa always knew how to hold a stage. How to paint herself i
