Chapter 24 –
Lyra's POV
Morning came with a headache stitched in silk.
The hotel suite was far too pristine for the chaos humming beneath my skin. I sat upright, every muscle protesting, ankle still wrapped in white gauze, mocking me like a scarlet letter of weakness.
The robe I wore was monogrammed. Egyptian cotton. Perfect. I hated it.
A knock at the door sliced through the silence.
I opened it.
Callie stood outside with eyes too wide, holding out my phone like it had turned radioactive.
"You… need to see this," she whispered.
I took it, brow arched.
Screen unlocked. Notifications exploded.
Trending: #LyraValeReturns
BREAKING: Leaked photos spark scandal at NexaTech
Who is Lyra Vale—really?
I clicked one.
And the world slowed.
There it was.
A photo of me—barely conscious, blood-stained, strapped to a hospital bed. My eyes half-lidded, skin ghostly, IV in my neck.
Below it, another.
An enhanced, zoomed-in image of my injuries on my left wrist. The one I kept hidden beneath cuffs, bracelets, lies.
The one that could burn everything down.
A flood of photos. Documents. A spreadsheet with my name in red beside a series of lab codes.
Subject LV-03
I didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
Didn't move.
Kieller stormed in, half-dressed in a black shirt still unbuttoned, eyes storm-dark. "Callie, out."
She fled like her heels were on fire.
He turned to me. "We have a situation."
"Oh, do we?" I said, tossing the phone onto the couch like it hadn't just detonated my entire life. "Didn't notice."
"Someone leaked it," he said, jaw clenched. "Medical records. Security footage. All timestamped from the hospital."
"Impossible. That place was locked tighter than a military bunker."
"Exactly." He paused. "Only one person had clearance besides me."
I froze.
Gray.
The bast**d.
My eyes narrowed. "Find him. Now."
Kieller pulled out his phone. "He's already gone. Disconnected everything. Jet left from a private hangar an hour ago."
Coward.
I staggered toward the wardrobe, grabbed my dress for the day—black silk with gold chains laced at the sides. I pulled it on like armor.
"You can't go out," Kieller snapped. "Not like this."
"Watch me."
He moved, blocked my path. "Lyra. You're not thinking."
"No, Kieller. I'm finally thinking."
I walked past him, each step powered by betrayal and venom.
He gave them my blood. My history. My name.
He exposed me—not just as a survivor.
But as something… made.
Downstairs, the lobby was chaos. Reporters swarmed, flashes exploding like fireworks.
Questions hurled like knives.
"Is it true you were a test subject, Miss Vale?"
"Are you part of Project Echo?"
"Did NexaTech fund human experimentation?"
Security tried to hold them back.
Kieller shielded me, arm tight around my waist, shoving through the mob like a warpath.
But I held my head high. Smiling.
Like they hadn't just carved open my past for the world to devour.
In the car, silence reigned until Kieller finally said, "They'll use this to take everything."
I turned slowly, voice cutting glass. "Then let them try."
He stared at me like I'd grown fangs. "You don't get it. The board will investigate. Stockholders will riot. And you—you'll be called a lie in heels."
"I've been worse," I whispered. "I've survived worse."
The car screeched to a halt in front of NexaTech.
And there he was.
Gray.
Standing on the front steps in a pristine suit, hands folded like a politician begging for forgiveness.
The audacity.
I got out.
He had the nerve to smile. "Miss Vale. I can explain—"
"Shoot him," I said to Kieller.
Kieller blinked. "I don't have a gun."
"Then use mine." I turned, reached beneath my coat, and handed him the one from my thigh holster.
Everyone froze.
Kieller stared at me like I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had.
Gray paled.
I smiled.
"What's wrong, Gray? Scared of your own handiwork?" I asked. "You sold my blood for what? Power? Money? Or were you just bored?"
"I—It was a business move—"
"Oh," I said, my smile turning sharp. "Then allow me to teach you the cost of doing business with a monster."
Kieller stepped between us. "Enough. We're not killing him."
I stepped back, lips twitching. "Fine. Ruin him instead."
He nodded once. "Already in motion."
Inside the NexaTech boardroom, chaos waited like a stage lit too early.
Every director stared at me with masks of concern painted over pure calculation.
I walked in, head high, pain blazing behind my eyes.
"I assume you've all seen the leak," I said, smoothing my dress. "Let's address the elephant in the room."
A gray-haired man to the left—Mr. Winslow, the most slippery among them—cleared his throat. "Miss Vale… is it true? Were you… genetically engineered?"
I smiled, stepped forward, and placed my palms on the polished table.
"My blood is the reason this company's deal exists. My body endured what none of you could even imagine. My mind rebuilt this empire brick by brick. So yes—call me whatever you want. But don't forget who built the throne you're sitting at."
Dead silence.
Then applause.
From one seat.
Kieller.
Slow. Steady. Mocking.
I glanced at him. He shrugged. "You like dramatics. I'm just giving you your encore."
I hated how my pulse fluttered.
Later, in the elevator, it was just us.
"You scared me today," he muttered, eyes fixed on the numbers ticking upward.
I leaned against the mirrored wall. "Then you clearly don't know me well enough yet."
"I think I do," he said, stepping closer. "But I also think you're still hiding something."
I smiled. "Aren't we all?"
The doors opened.
War waited outside.
But so did power.
I fixed my hair, touched my lips, adjusted my sleeves.
Then stepped forward.
Because if the world now saw me as a monster—
Good.
I'd show them exactly what kind.
End of Chapter 24