ASTHERIEN'S POV :-
I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to find myself on a hospital bed.
But when consciousness returned, I realized I was somewhere else.
I was sitting on the floor, my hands tied behind me with a rope.
My entire body felt weak.
After giving birth, I barely had any energy left. Even trying to move sent a dull ache through me.
I slowly looked around, my vision still tired and blurry.
A factory.
At least, that's what it looked like.
And then there was the smell.
Something I couldn't quite identify.
I tried moving my hands, attempting to loosen the rope, but the pain made me stop.
Footsteps echoed somewhere behind me.
Someone was coming.
I couldn't turn around properly.
The footsteps grew closer.
Then he slowly stepped in front of me.
A lighter was rolling between his fingers.
He bent down.
I stared at him, confused and exhausted, trying to understand what he wanted.
"Long time no see."
My heart dropped.
I looked up.
It was...
Loris.
He was out.
He had escaped prison.
"Whoa." He chuckled. "You look so shocked right now. I like that face."
"What do you want from us?" I asked, my voice weak.
His smile disappeared.
He slowly crouched in front of me and loosened the rope around my hands.
"You know what?" he said, rolling the rope between his fingers. "You're the only thing he loves the most."
I stared at him.
"What do you want?"
He leaned closer.
"To destroy him."
His voice was calm.
"Completely."
After all these years, when we thought it had finally ended...
It hadn't.
"You can't do anything now," I whispered. "He must already be coming for you."
Loris ran his finger along the side of my face.
I immediately turned away.
He caught my jaw.
"Stay where you are. I know you're weak."
His eyes still carried that same hatred.
That little fire of revenge hadn't disappeared after all these years.
I said nothing.
"And somehow, you still think you can run away from me."
"Coward."
His expression changed.
He picked up an iron rod that was lying nearby.
"If I wanted to, I could end you right here."
"Then do it."
The words left my mouth before I could think.
If this was what it took to end everything...
I was ready.
He laughed.
"You've got guts, don't you?"
I looked straight at him.
"I've got something you could never have."
I swallowed.
"Guts are just a piece of cake."
I gave him a tired smile.
"Coward."
I knew Kai was coming.
As soon as possible.
And I didn't want him confronting Loris.
Not anymore.
"Well..." Loris scoffed. "I must actually be a coward, right?"
"You are."
I stared at him.
"What did you want? A company? And you're willing to destroy someone's life over that?"
Just one business.
How could anyone become this obsessed?
He suddenly smiled.
"You know what?"
He lowered himself onto his heels.
"It was never about his business."
I frowned.
"It was my jealousy."
His voice became quieter.
"My greed."
"And because I wanted to live the life he had."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"You crazy bastard..."
"I always wondered why I couldn't have the life I wanted."
He laughed bitterly.
"Then my own wife betrayed me while I was in prison."
"She wasn't your wife!"
I shouted.
The sudden movement sent a sharp pain through my stomach.
I immediately grabbed it, forcing myself to breathe.
Loris stared at me.
"Shut up."
He sat down in front of me.
"Yes, I took his mother."
His eyes darkened.
"Because I wanted to take everything that belonged to him."
He leaned closer.
"And now, when he comes here to save the little piece of his life that he loves..."
His eyes moved toward me.
"You'll both disappear."
My stomach twisted.
I tried to move away when he reached toward my hair.
But I had no strength.
No energy to run.
No energy to scream.
And somehow...
I knew.
This was it.
If it didn't end now, this cycle would continue forever.
"You don't know how long I've planned this."
His voice trembled with obsession.
"Two years."
"Two years in prison, thinking about this moment."
"Two years waiting for the day I could finally take everything from him."
"His life."
"His family."
"Everything."
I stared at him.
"You wish."
He smiled.
"That's what's going to happen."
He glanced around the factory.
"You know the doors here?"
He pointed toward them.
"They'll lock automatically."
My heart sank.
"And once this place goes up..."
He smiled.
"I'll finally get to watch everything he loves disappear."
I looked at him.
Then at the lighter still sitting in his hand.
That's what he wanted.
Not the company.
Not money.
Not power.
Just revenge.
He wanted Kai to suffer because he believed the world had taken something from him.
And suddenly, I understood.
He wasn't fighting Kai anymore.
He was fighting his own bitterness.
And he'd already lost.
"You know what?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You're just a piece of shit."
"You-"
"It was always you."
He stopped.
I could see it in his expression.
He didn't want to hear the rest.
"No one ever took anything from you."
"Shut it."
"You had everything."
My voice was weak, but I didn't stop.
"You were just blinded by jealousy, greed, money and power."
He stared at me.
"How could you expect someone to love you when all you ever gave her was resentment?"
His jaw tightened.
"You crazy bitch..."
I gave a hollow scoff.
"That's all you can say?"
He moved toward me angrily.
And then I saw it.
The lighter.
It had fallen onto the floor beside me.
I looked at it.
Then at him.
He noticed.
His eyes widened.
He reached for it.
I moved first.
My fingers closed around it.
"If this is the end..."
I looked straight into his eyes.
"Then let's end it."
His expression changed.
" No-"
I struck the lighter.
And for a moment, everything went quiet.
The flames began spreading through the factory.
Loris stumbled backward, suddenly realizing what was happening.
He rushed toward the doors.
They wouldn't open.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Panic finally replaced the hatred in his eyes.
I stayed where I was.
Weak.
Exhausted.
But strangely calm.
Because I knew Kai was coming.
And I knew he would try to save me.
But this time...
There wouldn't be anyone left for him to fight.
The fire grew around us.
Loris shouted something, but I barely heard him anymore.
I closed my eyes.
The last thing I saw wasn't the factory.
It wasn't Loris.
It wasn't the fire.
It was Kai.
Standing beside me.
Our son in his arms.
The one, I never got a chance toeven admire properly.
My hand resting against the baby's tiny fingers.
All three of us together.
A family.
The family I'd always wanted.
The family I'd finally found.
And perhaps...
Those were my last seven minutes.
[The 'seven minutes' refers to the idea that, in our final moments, our mind replays our most precious memories.]