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r crinkling under the pressure of her damp palm. She stood before the heavy oak doors of Aloys
did little to calm her
small car, his focus entirely on a document before him. The lamplight carved sharp angles
flat, the tone he used for a sub
ard, the thick rug swallowing the sound of her footsteps, a
embled, a traitor to her
nd white text, but no flicker of joy, no hint of surprise, registered in them. Only a cold, analytical assessment. He slid the r
is tone unchanged. "She needs a bone marrow
ike being plunged into ice water. "A bone marr
lder across the desk. It landed next to her pregnancy report.
e inside out, spread through her body. He didn't care about t
ysius," she said, her vo
re brutal than any blow. "Mine? Izora, you know exa
onths ago, a drink that tasted wrong, a disorientation she couldn't fight. Wak
hadow over her. "I don't know whose bastard you're ca
se, surgical cut. Her
d of it. Then go to the hospital and donate to El
ed blood. A raw, desperate defia
was the look one gave a malfunctioning piece of equipment. "You
ng the lapels. He adjusted his cuffs, a small, meticulous gesture that screamed
?" The cry was ripped from h
"Trust? The moment you schemed your way into
zora's legs gave out, and she sank to the floor, her hand instinctivel
l, cosmic joke. She pulled out her phone, her fingers trembling as she opened a news ap
He wasn't just disowning their child. He was
there, broken on the floor of his monument to power, a tiny, hard ember of resolve began to
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