The scent of smoke filled the wooden room.Edward stood before the man he now knew more than he ever wanted to.Maya's father.Leader of the network...And the architect of ruin.
But then, the door burst open—violently.
Maya entered.
There was a fury in her eyes unlike anything Edward had ever seen.Her voice wasn't just loud… it was bleeding.
"What are you doing to him?!Why did you bring him here?!"
She screamed at her father,storming toward him without a trace of fear in her steps…but fear lingered in her voice, her gaze, between the lines of her words.
She looked at Edward, then grabbed his arm forcefully.
"Come with me."
She pulled him out quickly.He followed, torn between shock and a strange magnetism.Maya was different.Her stride no longer screamed control—it whispered protection.
🌙 Outside, beneath the shadows of dark trees...
She stopped suddenly, turned to him…Her eyes were brimming with the burn of unspoken truths.
And she said—without warning, without pretense:
"Did he threaten you?Did he say anything to you?Don't you know who he is?He's a demon… a thousand times worse than I am!He knows neither love… nor mercy.No one escapes him unharmed… not even my mother!"
She spoke of her father,and her eyes shimmered with a buried bitterness.
Edward, seeing what he never expected,asked her in a low but resolute voice:
"Maya… what are you afraid of?What are you hiding?"
It was as if the question broke something inside her.She looked at him, shaken…In that moment, she realized she had let her emotions show.A flicker of fear… a glimpse of raw feeling.
So she pulled herself back.Straightened her spine. Lifted her chin.And in her usual sharp, cold voice, she said:
"Nothing.I just…I want you for myself.I'm the one who controls you. Don't you get it?"
He took a step back, staring at her—as if seeing two faces on one person.
Then he said, with the eyes of a detective who had uncovered the lie:
"You're a demon…You're covering up your mother's murder…And you still think you're the victim?You're far worse than I ever imagined."
The words hit harder than any bullet.
Maya froze.Everything went still in an instant.Her face shattered in seconds…But she didn't cry.
Then—Her hand rose slowly… and fell.A slap.Not in anger… but in plea.A slap filled with every sentence she didn't know how to say.
It was warm.Overflowing with everything she couldn't express.
Then she spoke, her voice broken—for the first time:
"You're the one who chose this."
She turned and walked into the darkness…Each step taking her further away—Not just physically…But emotionally, too.