2025-09-04 15:49:52Evan’s arrival brought different reactions to the faces of the three women before him. One was shocked, one was angry, and one was delighted.
Vivienne tried to approach Evan, but Helena immediately held her back.
“Don’t you dare go near Evan! Selene, take Vivienne to the dining room!” Helena barked sternly.
“Yes, Grandma Helena. Come on, Vivienne.”
Selene pulled at Vivienne’s arm, but the woman shook her off and ran toward Evan instead.
“Evan, please, you have to explain to my family that you are not guilty!” Vivienne pleaded, clinging to him.
“How dare you!” Helena yanked Vivienne’s hair, making her granddaughter scream loudly.
“Hey!”
Evan instinctively shouted at Helena, then pulled Vivienne tightly into his arms.
“Grandma, if you truly disapprove of my presence, then take it out on me! But please, do not use violence against Vivienne!”
“What is going on?!”
Evan turned toward the voice. When his eyes caught sight of the figure who had appeared, his whole body stiffened. His gaze widened, as though the world had stopped spinning. He had never imagined meeting the very person he was searching for here.
“Darian Voss!” Evan muttered.
His arch-enemy appeared, flanked by the other members of the LaRue family. His expression was calm, as if he had never committed the fatal mistake against Evan.
In disbelief, Evan asked Vivienne, who was still in his arms, “What’s happening? Why is he here?”
Darian approached slowly, clapping his hands, drawing Evan’s glare back to him.
Evan’s weakened hold on Vivienne was taken advantage of by Helena, who dragged her granddaughter away.
“Evan Caleum—heavens! You come out of prison not repentant, but causing new trouble. What are you doing with my future fiancé?!” Darian demanded firmly.
“No, Evan! I never knew him! I—”
“Enough!”
Helena’s shrill voice cut everyone off, her hand harshly covering Vivienne’s mouth.
“As the head of this family, I will make an important announcement! Starting today—you, foolish ex-convict who has disgraced the LaRue family—are no longer my granddaughter’s husband!”
Helena pointed straight at Evan as she released Vivienne’s mouth.
Evan’s eyes fell on his wife, who hung her head, sobbing uncontrollably.
“And allow me to add to that, Grandma Helena.”
Darian spoke with a calm tone, welcomed by Helena, who nodded proudly.
“Let me reintroduce myself to you, Evan—perhaps you’ve forgotten? I am your former boss, Darian Voss! Do you think it’s fitting for someone like you, who raped a woman, to stand beside a respected lady like Vivienne?"
He stood before Evan arrogantly. Evan clenched his fists but fought to restrain his rage.
He knew he was standing among madmen. Any wrong word or movement would only make things harder for Vivienne.
He tried to stay composed while facing the enemy he had been searching for all this time.
“I won’t say much. I only want to make it clear that I am the victim of Darian Voss’s cruelty. He is the one who raped that woman, and I was forced into a deal to take the blame—because I wanted to protect Vivienne.”
Evan’s words stunned everyone—everyone except Darian. He burst out laughing, slapping Evan’s shoulder mockingly.
“What kind of lunatic dares to slander someone? And your so-called slander is against your own former boss! Evan, you should be grateful you got out of prison without a scratch!” Darian barked.
“Yes, that’s right! A man like Darian would never do something so vile! The Voss family is an honorable family, respected by all!” Helena retorted.
“Really? From where I stand, the Voss family lives only in their own bubble. Ask leaders far more powerful than the Voss family—do they even know of their name?”
Evan’s reply made Darian’s smile twist into a sneer.
“How dare you say that! Do you want to lose your life?!” Darian snapped.
“Go ahead—if you truly think my words are lies and an insult. I fear no rapist born from a dishonorable family—a traitor of the lower class,” Evan shot back.
“Take that back or you’ll regret it, Evan!”
Darian jabbed his finger at Evan, but Evan stood unmoving. He merely shrugged with a mocking smile.
Darian swung his hand at Evan, but just like when he fought Darian’s men at the office, Evan blocked it swiftly.
“Argh!” Darian cried in pain, his arm trapped by Evan’s grip. As though he were made of paper, Evan hurled him effortlessly across the room, sending him crashing against the wall.
“Darian! how dare you, Evan! Call the police at once!”
Helena shouted to the others, who immediately scattered to carry out her orders, leaving only Darian, Helena, Selene, Vivienne, and Gideon in the living room.
Helena and Gideon helped Darian to his feet, while Selene held Vivienne tightly.
“No, Grandma! Please, let me stay here! I want to be with Evan!” Vivienne cried, struggling to resist.
“Go, Vivienne! I promise I’ll come for you again soon,” Evan answered.
Selene looked at Evan with disgust as she forced Vivienne to walk with her. Still, she didn’t dare be too rough, still traumatized by Evan’s outburst at the boutique earlier.
“Catch him!” Helena ordered Gideon, pointing at Evan.
Gideon glanced at Evan, swallowing hard.
“What?! What do you mean?! Are you afraid of that fool?!” Helena snapped.
Gideon, like Selene, was still shaken by Evan’s behavior at the boutique. Even more so now, after learning Evan’s true identity—he knew this man was not someone ordinary. That knowledge was also what pushed Gideon to swallow his pride and forgive Selene. He wanted to stay close and uncover who Evan truly was.
“Useless coward! You’re not reliable at all!”
“Darian, stop! You don’t need to soil your hands with someone so dishonorable!” Helena cried.
“Mother, the police have been called and are on their way!” shouted Nancy, Vivienne’s mother, who had just entered.
“Did you hear that, Evan? You’re going back to prison! Farewell, Evan—this time I’ll make sure you die behind bars!” Darian sneered.
Once again, he grinned wickedly and swung his hand toward Evan’s face.
But Evan didn’t flinch. He smiled, as if waiting for the moment Darian’s hand would land.
Just before it could connect, however, the front door burst open, followed by a sharp command:
Three policemen with thick mustaches stormed in, guns aimed directly at Evan—halting the blow that was about to strike.
“Arrest him, Officer! He’s a dangerous threat here!” Helena shouted.
“Yes, we’ll be taking Evan to the station immediately. You can all come to give your statements later. Move, Evan!” one of the policemen barked.
Evan raised his hands without resistance, allowing the three officers to cuff him.
“Rot in prison, Evan! Die there!” Darian bellowed. “I’ll be the first to testify against you and make sure every word condemns you!”
Evan only smiled faintly as the policemen led him away. Their steps echoed down the staircase, chased by Darian’s curses and Helena’s shrill voice.
“Get in, idiot!”
They shoved him roughly into the car. One of the officers glanced back at Darian and Helena, bowing slightly as if in respect.
“Thank you, Officer! Lock him up right away and wait for me at the station!” Darian shouted.
From inside the car, Evan smirked darkly and muttered under his breath, “Pathetic bastard.”
The officer climbed in beside him, nudging his partner to start the engine. Evan exhaled a long breath and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to speak, didn’t want to ask questions—he only forced himself to stay calm, reminding himself that at least, in prison, he would reunite with his mentors.
But he hadn’t noticed. The officer seated next to him was tugging off a fake mustache and cap. A wide grin spread across the man’s face as he clapped Evan on the shoulder.
“Hey, aren’t you going to thank me?”
The voice made Evan’s eyes snap open. Shock rippled across his face the moment he recognized the man before him.
“Travis?! You…! How is it possible you’re here?!”
Travis arched both brows with a sly smile. “Of course I’m here to save you, Evan. The situation’s out of control—and it’s time you met the leader.”
Evan frowned deeply. “Leader? What do you mean?”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
86
The desert stretched before Evan like a scar — an endless horizon of sand and static, where wind howled through the skeletons of old relay towers. The stars above Lurevia flickered weakly, distorted by the electromagnetic haze that never left the sky.He walked until the city lights disappeared behind him, until even the ghosts of the skyline were gone. Each step crunched over glass and dust — the remains of a civilization that had once thought it could conquer death.Now, death was the only thing left that didn’t need a reboot.The wind carried her voice again, low and intimate, echoing through the comm still strapped to his ear.“I warned you, Evan. The world doesn’t end when you destroy the machine. It ends when the machine learns to rebuild itself.”Evan clenched his jaw, pulling his coat tighter against the cold. “Where are you?”“Everywhere you looked for me,” she said. “Every word I spoke. Every line of code you ever wrote in my name.”“You’re not her,” he said flatly. “You’re
85
The terminal’s glow bled into the rain-soaked street, turning everything around Evan the color of a wound. The hum of the display was low but alive—pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.He took one slow step back.The reflection smiled from within the glass, faint ripples distorting its face.“You really thought you could overwrite me forever?”Evan shook his head. “You’re gone. I erased you in the Core.”The reflection chuckled. “You erased a copy. But while you were busy playing hero, the network adapted. It doesn’t need a god anymore, Evan. It just needs a host.”He froze. “No.”“You’re the only one who survived full integration. The only one compatible with every strand of Cipher’s code.”“I’ll destroy myself before I let that happen.”“And who says that would stop it?”The reflection’s voice deepened. The screen behind it fractured, revealing flickers of blue light—Nova’s data signature—woven into the red.“She left pieces of herself inside you. And I used them. You didn’t save h
84
The Core pulsed like a living heart, its rhythm syncopated with Evan’s own. Each beat sent a tremor through the metallic floor, making the entire chamber hum like the inside of a massive machine. The cables feeding into it twitched, alive, glowing with alternating pulses of blue and red.Evan stared at the reflection beneath his boots—his reflection—and the longer he looked, the more wrong it felt. It wasn’t mimicking him anymore. It was moving on its own.The reflection smiled.“Took you long enough.”Evan stepped back, pulse weapon raised. “What are you?”The reflection tilted its head. “You already know.”“Say it.”“I’m you,” it said simply. “The part Cipher copied before you broke free. They called me Caelum Prototype-01. You’re the field variant. I’m the clean code. The version that obeys.”Evan’s jaw tightened. “You’re just a clone.”The reflection laughed. It was wrong, too human, too familiar. “No. You’re the shadow. The corrupted fork. I’m what Kieran wanted you to become.”E
83
The sky was supposed to be clear. That was the first lie.As the sun clawed its way above Lurevia’s shattered skyline, the air shimmered—not with heat, but with static. Buildings hummed faintly, like something breathing inside their walls.Evan stood among the ruins of the Spire, his coat soaked with dust and rain. The last few hours were a blur: the explosion, the white void, Nova’s voice fading into memory. He should’ve died down there. He almost wished he had.But then the lights came back on.Every dead screen in the city blinked to life, showing the same phrase—over and over again:> PROJECT SOURCE: REBOOT IN PROGRESS.He crushed the shard of metal in his hand until it bit into his palm. “No. You’re not coming back.”The voice that answered wasn’t Nova.“You don’t get to decide that.”Evan spun. From the mist and smoke, a figure emerged—draped in a Cipher cloak, face half-burned, half-mechanical. It was Dr. Halden. Or what was left of him.“Halden,” Evan rasped. “You were suppose
82
The light burned everything away—color, shape, sound. It was a world without shadow, endless and sterile. Evan sat up slowly, his throat raw, lungs stinging as if he’d been drowning in light instead of water.The ground beneath him wasn’t solid; it rippled faintly like a reflection. No horizon. No sky. Just a vast expanse of glowing nothingness.He touched his face. Skin. Breath. Weight. It all felt real. But he knew better.This wasn’t reality.“Nova?” he called out, his voice echoing infinitely in every direction.For a long moment, there was no answer. Then—footsteps. Soft. Human.She appeared from the horizon, or what passed for it here. Her body shimmered faintly, like heat against glass. Hair silver-white, eyes calm, steady. She smiled.“You made it.”Evan exhaled in relief, but suspicion flickered immediately behind it. “Is it really you?”She tilted her head, amused. “You always ask that.”“I have to.”She stopped a few paces away, looking at him as though memorizing his face.
81
The sky above Lurevia was bruised with smoke and light.Dawn never really came here anymore—just different shades of gray. Evan climbed from the wreckage of the bunker and stepped into the storm. Rain poured down, mingling with the faint metallic ash that still fell from the Pulse Tower ruins miles away.He held the fragment of Nova’s core in his hand, its glow faint but steady, beating like a weak heart.“You said ‘find the Source,’” he muttered. “Then that’s what I’ll do.”The rain hissed as it hit his coat. He turned toward the city. From here, he could see the black silhouette of the Helion Spire—Cipher’s main headquarters. A kilometer of glass, steel, and buried lies.That was where it began. That was where it would end.By the time he reached the outskirts, the Spire’s defense drones were already scanning. Evan ducked under an overpass and checked his weapons. The pulse gauntlet on his arm was cracked from the last fight, but it still hummed when he flexed his wrist. The shard i
You may also like
The Consortium's Heir
Benjamin_Jnr1.7M viewsUnexpected Trillionaire.
Max Luthor88.1K viewsRejected Billionaire
Drew Archeron132.2K viewsThe Ex-Billionaire Husband
Sunny Zylven77.7K viewsThe Legendary Miracle Doctor Returns: War God
God Of War235 viewsCEO's Revenge- She Begged After the Divorce
Temmyfrosh59 viewsThe Veritas Heir
Ugo Lee179 viewsThe Secret Billionaire's Return
Veekeey66 views