Rain hammered against the mansion as thunder rolled across the valley.
For the first time in years…
The estate lost power.
Emergency lights flickered to life, casting the hallways in crimson.
Guards rushed in every direction.
“The laboratory has been breached!”
“Seal the west wing!”
“Protect Mr. Victor!”
Orders echoed through the mansion.
No one noticed the lone figure moving silently through the darkness.
Hawk.
He had spent months studying Victor’s routines.
Victor believed every move could be predicted.
Tonight…
Hawk intended to prove him wrong.
Victor stood inside the security room, watching dozens of surveillance monitors.
Every hallway.
Every entrance.
Every exit.
His men waited for instructions.
Instead…
Victor frowned.
One monitor after another filled with static.
A technician paled.
“Sir… we’re losing the internal network.”
Victor remained calm.
“Restore it.”
“We’re trying.”
Then another voice broke through the radio.
“Sir! Someone has broken into the laboratory!”
Victor immediately turned.
“Deploy Team Alpha.”
“They’re already there.”
“Team Bravo.”
“No response.”
For the first time…
Silence answered Victor.
Jane sat alone inside her room.
She knew something was happening.
The alarms never stopped.
Suddenly…
Three soft knocks came from her balcony door.
Jane froze.
Only one person would knock that way.
She slowly opened the curtains.
Hawk stood outside, soaked by the rain.
“We have to leave.”
Jane stared at him.
“How did you get here?”
“I’ll explain later.”
She hesitated.
“If Victor finds us…”
“He won’t.”
Jane looked into his eyes.
For the first time…
She believed him.
She took his hand.
Together, they disappeared into the storm.
Several minutes later…
The security system finally came back online.
One monitor lit up.
Then another.
Victor calmly watched every screen.
Until…
Camera Seventeen.
Jane’s room.
Empty.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“Replay.”
The technician obeyed.
The recording skipped.
Thirty-seven seconds…
Gone.
Victor watched it again.
Then again.
Finally…
A slow smile appeared.
“So…”
“Hawk.”
“You’ve learned.”
Deep inside the forest…
Jane struggled to keep up.
“I don’t understand.”
“How did you get past Victor?”
Hawk smiled for the first time.
“I didn’t.”
Jane looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
“I made him look somewhere else.”
Earlier that evening…
One of Victor’s trusted captains had received an anonymous message.
The scientist has betrayed you.
At the same time…
A controlled explosion erupted inside the research laboratory.
Not enough to destroy it.
Only enough to trigger every emergency protocol.
Victor did exactly what Hawk expected.
He protected his life’s work.
Not his prisoner.
Jane suddenly stopped walking.
“You planned all of this…”
Hawk nodded.
“I knew Victor would never abandon the laboratory.”
“So while he protected his empire…”
“I came for you.”
Jane’s eyes filled with tears.
“No one has ever chosen me first.”
Hawk gently squeezed her hand.
“I did.”
Miles behind them…
Victor stood alone on the mansion balcony.
Rain soaked his suit.
His men waited for orders.
“Should we begin the pursuit?”
Victor remained silent.
His gaze fixed on the distant forest.
Then…
“Find them.”
Every guard immediately scattered.
Victor whispered to himself…
“You won tonight.”
His expression slowly hardened.
“But this game isn’t over.”
He reached into his pocket and removed a small silver flash drive.
The only copy…
Of Project Eirene.
Or so everyone believed.
Victor smiled.
“Let’s see how long freedom lasts.”
As lightning split the sky…
The mansion disappeared behind the rain.
For the first time…
Jane had escaped.
For the first time…
Victor had lost.
Neither of them realized…
The real battle had only just begun.