The facility shook as another explosion rocked the lower levels. Smoke and chaos filled the air, but Seojin had no time to think about the destruction around her.
She ran.
Minji and Kade were right behind her, covering her as she sprinted down the hallway toward the containment wing—where her mother was being held.
Her father was still out there.
The Council's enforcers were still out there.
But none of it mattered.
She was going to get her mother back.
Or die trying.
Minji reloaded as they moved, her eyes scanning the corridor. "Seojin, I don't like this."
"Yeah," Kade muttered. "This is way too easy."
Seojin's grip on her gun tightened. They weren't wrong.
The deeper they went into the facility, the fewer guards they encountered.
Which meant only one thing—
This was a trap.
And her father was waiting.
But Seojin didn't care. She couldn't stop now.
She reached the reinforced door at the end of the hallway and slammed the control panel.
The door slid open—and Seojin's heart stopped.
Her mother sat in the middle of the room, still restrained, electrodes attached to her temples.
But she wasn't alone.
A figure stood beside her.
Lee Hyun.
The Council's deadliest assassin.
And the man she had thought Minji and Kade had killed.
Minji cursed under her breath. "You've got to be kidding me."
Kade raised his gun, but Lee Hyun didn't move. He just smirked. "You really think I'd die that easily?"
Seojin's blood ran cold. He had been waiting for them.
And then—
A slow clap echoed through the chamber.
Seojin's breath caught as her father stepped forward from the shadows.
She spun to aim at him, but he held up a hand. "Now, now, my dear," he said smoothly. "I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."
Seojin's jaw tightened. "You've got nothing I want to hear."
Her father chuckled. "That's not true."
He nodded toward her mother.
"I have something you want. And you—" his gaze flicked to her gun. "—have something I want."
Seojin's heart pounded.
Because she knew what was coming next.
"I'll make this simple," her father said, voice like poison.
"Kill your friends. And I'll let your mother go."
Silence fell.
Minji's eyes widened. "Seojin, don't—"
Kade's fingers twitched on his gun. "He's bluffing."
But Seojin knew her father wasn't.
He never bluffed.
She looked at her mother—weak, barely conscious.
Then at Minji and Kade—bruised, battered, but still fighting.
Her hands shook.
Her father smiled. "You always say you'll do anything for family, don't you?"
Seojin took a slow breath.
Then, without hesitation—
She pulled the trigger.
End of Chapter 93