The underground chamber trembled violently.
Chunks of stone crashed from the ceiling.
The red warning lights flashed faster now, bathing everything in a bloody glow.
WARNING: EIGHT MINUTES TO DETONATION.
The mechanical voice echoed mercilessly through the collapsing facility.
Emily stood frozen.
Her heart felt impossibly heavy.
The suffering creatures surrounding her.
The giant monster beneath the estate.
The unstable core.
Everything pointed toward a single truth.
She was the only one who could stop this.
Alexander's hand tightened around hers.
"No."
His voice was firm.
Unyielding.
"You're not going."
Emily looked at him.
For a moment, she saw not the powerful Alexander Knight.
Not the billionaire.
Not the man feared by everyone.
She saw the man who had stood beside her through everything.
The man who never stopped choosing her.
Even when she was losing herself.
Even when the world told him to run.
Tears burned her eyes.
"Alexander—"
"No."
