They sat there in silence for a long moment, the weight of revelation settling between them.
Alex's mind kept circling back to her words. Ultimate temptation. Someone who can face the hardest possible choice and still choose integrity.
And with brutal clarity, Alex saw it: if he had stayed in that room a heartbeat longer, he wouldn't have stopped at all... and he couldn't even begin to imagine the consequences that would've followed.
System's goal wasn't small.
It was aiming for something far beyond personal growth, something much larger than he'd ever considered.
That's why it's had been testing him.
Not his strength, not his skill… but his core. His character. It hadn't wanted convenience, guidance, or hand-holding. It wanted to see who he was when everything inside him was pulled toward the wrong choice.
And all this time, he had believed it was Lilith... that she was the one playing him for her own amusement.
He'd been so wrong about her.
