Nian's jaw clenched as the digital blueprints flickered across the screen. Seraphim Protocol—his greatest regret—stared back at him like an open wound. The high-tech lab buzzed with cold fluorescent lights, humming against the storm brewing in his chest. Naya stood beside him, arms folded tightly, her presence grounding yet charged with unease.
"They never decommissioned it," Nian muttered, his voice rough with betrayal.
Naya's brows furrowed. "You said it was destroyed. Years ago."
"I thought it was. Jun must have lied. Or maybe someone else revived it."
Naya's voice was a whisper. "And now Jace is tangled in this…"
Nian turned sharply. "That's what makes this personal."
A beat passed between them, silent but stormy. Then the elevator dinged.
"Sir," came Dr. Xie's voice as he stepped in with a tablet. "We've traced a shadow encryption embedded in the Seraphim server. It's coded to your biometric data, but someone's tampered with it recently. It's back online."
Nian's face darkened. "They want me back. This—this whole game was to drag me in."
He rubbed his temples. The pieces aligned too perfectly. Jun reappearing. Jace used as leverage. Naya unknowingly caught in the crossfire. His old sins weren't buried—they were biding time.
"But why now?" Naya asked, her voice soft but fierce.
"Because someone knows I won't walk away when a child's involved. Especially not my child."
The lab fell into a weighted silence. Then Nian's expression shifted—anger giving way to a cold, focused calm. The kind he wore when prepping for battlefield surgery. Precise. Unrelenting.
"We end this," he said.
---
Back in her apartment, Naya watched Jace sleep, his tiny chest rising and falling, fingers curled around a stuffed panda. He looked like peace—and that terrified her.
She flinched as her phone vibrated.
Jun.
Her heart spiked. She answered without thinking.
"I warned you he'd get dragged back in," Jun said, his voice silky and sharp.
"You're using a child, Jun. That's low—even for you."
"He's my leverage. And Nian? He's predictable. He'll walk straight into the trap."
Her voice trembled. "You loved him once."
"I still do," Jun whispered. "That's why I can't let him go."
Naya hung up, chest heaving.
Jace stirred. She gently stroked his hair. "I'm sorry, baby. Mommy's going to fix this."
---
Back at the Xu compound, Nian stood overlooking the city from his rooftop helipad, wind whipping through his coat. Zeyan, his brother, approached.
"You sure about this?"
Nian didn't look away. "I don't get to walk away. Not this time."
"And Naya?"
"I'll protect her. And Jace. Even if it kills me."
Zeyan nodded, then handed him a black folder.
"Coordinates. Security access. All of it."
Nian took it. "Then let's go shut down Seraphim."
Beneath the bright stars and flickering neon of Zhengzhou, war stirred again—but this time, it was personal.
The headquarters of Seraphim were quiet—eerily so. The usual hum of machines, the echo of hurried footsteps, even the mechanical doors that hissed with precision—silent.
Nian stood frozen in the corridor, the file from Project Seraphim clenched tightly in his gloved hands. His face was unreadable, but his eyes... they roared with the kind of storm one carries for years, hidden under a calm surface. The hallway lights above flickered, as if sharing in his unrest.
Behind him, Naya paced restlessly.
"I knew it," she muttered, arms crossed, her voice more pain than anger. "Jun was never just an ex. He was something else. Something… darker."
"He wasn't like this before," Nian said quietly. "We were kids playing God. Young, brilliant, and reckless. Then Seraphim... it changed him."
Naya turned. "What is Seraphim exactly? No more riddles, Nian. Not when our son—our son—has become bait."
Nian's lips trembled slightly at the word "our." His gaze softened for a flicker of a second before he tucked the folder under his arm.
"A covert protocol born out of desperation," he began. "During the civil war in the southern provinces, the government launched Seraphim to create genetically enhanced trauma doctors. Faster minds, steadier hands, and cognitive processing beyond human limits."
"You mean… you?" Naya asked slowly.
Nian gave a faint nod. "I was the first successful subject. Jun... the second. But we weren't made to save. Not entirely. Seraphim turned into something else. Something sinister. A failsafe to reprogram our loyalty if needed. And they kept tweaking... until Jun broke free."
Naya's chest rose and fell rapidly. The more she learned, the more it felt like she was falling into someone else's nightmare. But this was her reality now—and Jace's too.
"Jun is trying to activate it again, isn't he?" she asked.
Nian's jaw tightened. "Yes. And he needs me back in the fold. The only way to control the Seraphim code is with the original imprints. That's why he took the file. Why he's using Jace."
Naya grabbed his hand. "Then we stop him. Together."
He blinked, surprised at the firmness in her voice, at the unwavering grip of her hand around his. Despite everything, despite the lies, despite the chaos—she was still standing with him.
"I don't deserve this," he whispered.
"You don't get to choose who stays," she said softly. "Sometimes, we choose for you."
A silence settled between them. And then—an explosion rocked the building.
The lights dimmed, alarms wailed, and red emergency strobes bathed them in frantic pulses.
"Security breach. Jun," Nian muttered. He grabbed Naya's hand and took off down the corridor. Behind them, shadows flickered and metal doors slammed shut. The floor beneath them shook again.
In the control room, Jun stood at the center like a deity orchestrating chaos. Hair tousled, eyes wild with obsession, he stared at the digital map of the facility.
"Almost there," he whispered, fingers flying across the touchpad. "Just one more code sequence and Nian will come crawling back—begging."
Behind him, a tall figure leaned against the wall. The one who had been whispering on the phone with Jun. Their face was hidden in the dark, but a glint of silver at their wrist betrayed a military tag—engraved with the same project name.
Project Seraphim.
"Let's trigger the prototype," the figure said. "Force his hand."
"But the boy—" Jun started.
"Is leverage," the figure snapped. "Or collateral."
Jun hesitated.
His phone buzzed. A live camera feed popped on the screen. Nian and Naya—running toward the vault.
"So predictable," he murmured. He reached for the override button—
—only for a shot to ring out.
The screen cracked. Sparks flew.
From the vent above, Nian dropped like a shadow of vengeance, gun smoking in hand.
"Predict this," Nian growled, lunging.
Jun barely ducked. The two crashed into consoles, fists flying, decades of tension exploding into primal fury.
Naya rushed to the panel and began disabling the countdown Jun had triggered. Sweat poured down her forehead as she input code after code.
Jun's lip bled. Nian's arm was gashed. But neither cared. Old love, deep betrayal, and the weight of what they once shared fueled every blow.
"You left me!" Jun screamed. "When I needed you most, you walked away!"
"You became someone I couldn't recognize," Nian shouted back. "You made it impossible to love you."
Jun froze.
That... that was the truth that shattered him more than any punch.
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the hallway. Jace's scream.
A speaker above them buzzed with his cry.
Naya's heart stopped. "No... not my baby!"
The mystery figure from earlier stepped into the room, holding a tablet with Jace's live video feed.
"Time to make your decision, Dr. Xu," he said coldly.
Nian's face darkened with terror—and rage.
"Put the screen down slowly," Nian growled, his voice like crushed ice, low and vibrating with fury.
The suited figure smirked, tablet still in hand, as the image of baby Jace Lei Wei crying echoed throughout the control room. He was in a sterile white room, his tiny hands slapping against the transparent wall, scared and confused.
Naya's scream clawed out of her throat. "You bastards! He's a child! He's a baby!"
The man in the suit tilted his head. "And he's leverage. That's all we need."
Jun—his lip bleeding, shirt ripped, breathing heavy—tried to speak. "You said you wouldn't hurt him."
"I said we'd use him," the man corrected coolly. "And you agreed."
"You son of a—" Jun lunged at the man, but Nian beat him to it.
Faster than either could react, Nian was on him—one hand around his collar, the other slamming the man against the reinforced glass panel.
"Where. Is. My. Son?" Nian's voice was beyond fury. It was primal. Paternal. Deadly.
The man smirked. "Somewhere you can't reach unless you agree to complete the Seraphim code."
Naya turned to Jun, her eyes brimming with disbelief and heartbreak. "You allowed this? You let them take a baby just to force Nian's hand?"
Jun looked down, ashamed. "I didn't think they'd—"
"Didn't think?" Naya stepped forward, her voice trembling. "Jace is innocent. He's got your features and your heart, Nian. He has nothing to do with your twisted past, Jun!"
Nian slammed the man against the wall again, this time drawing a scalpel from his belt.
"Last chance," he said coldly. "Where is my son?"
"I'll show you," the man coughed. "But only once you finish the code."
"You mean the kill-switch," Nian said. "The one you'll use to activate every latent Seraphim subject. Including me."
The man gave a sinister nod. "That's the price. A father for a son."
Something inside Nian shifted.
He released the man. "No."
"No?" Jun blinked.
"I'm done letting the past control me. I'll find Jace on my own." Nian turned to Naya. "We're getting our son back. Now."
"Do you know where they're keeping him?" she asked, already moving to grab her kit and swipe the tablet from the man's hand.
"Yes," Nian said. "I built that prototype lab. He's in the observation chamber two floors down, guarded by biometric locks. But there's a weak point."
Jun stared at him. "You're going to destroy the lab?"
"No," Nian replied, his gaze like steel. "I'm going to burn the whole goddamn project to the ground."
He pressed a sequence into the control panel. The entire facility's lockdown reversed. Lights blinked. Doors unlocked. Red alerts turned green.
"You still remember the backdoor?" Jun asked, stunned.
"I designed it," Nian said. "In case Seraphim ever turned into this exact nightmare."
Naya followed Nian down the corridor, her heart hammering in her chest. "Nian... I'm scared."
He grabbed her hand. "Me too. But Jace needs us."
As they ran, the screen in the hallway flickered to life.
Jace was crying, but now a robotic arm was hovering over his crib, scanning. The countdown started: 2 minutes to neural exposure.
"Oh God," Naya whispered.
"Almost there," Nian said. "Hold on, baby boy."
They reached the chamber doors. Just like Nian predicted, a glass panel with a biometric reader awaited them.
"I need to hack it. Cover me."
Naya took position behind him, gun drawn. "Do it. We're not losing him."
From the hallway, soldiers began approaching—black suits, visors, weapons drawn.
Jun suddenly appeared behind them, panting. "I'm here to help."
"You've done enough," Naya spat.
Jun held up an access chip. "You'll need this. It's coded to both our DNAs. The lab recognizes us as the originals."
Nian hesitated.
Then took it.
The door clicked open.
Inside—there he was.
Jace.
Tears streaked down his round cheeks, soft curls damp with sweat, his tiny body reaching toward them through the glass.
"Papa," he whispered, eyes wide.
Nian froze.
Time stopped.
Naya burst into tears.
Jace had said his first word—and it wasn't mama.
"Papa," he said again, pressing his hand to the glass.
Nian's knees almost gave out.
He dropped the scalpel.
He pressed his palm to the glass.
"I'm here, Jace," he whispered. "Daddy's here."
Naya activated the emergency override. The glass slid open.
Nian rushed in and scooped Jace into his arms, cradling him against his chest.
Jace hiccupped and sniffled, gripping Nian's shirt tightly. "Papa."
Naya crouched beside them, running her hands through his curls, planting kisses on his forehead.
"We've got you," she murmured. "You're safe now."
From behind them, Jun watched. Silent. Broken. Perhaps even… sorry.
The alarms went quiet.
For now.