Page 201 of BounBound By Scars

Check.

Major corporations crumbling? Criminal records wiped? Defense contracts swallowed whole by Romlinson companies?

Check. Check. Check.

It wasn’t over.

Texas was such a huge state that we couldn’t pinpoint anything. The one lead I had was failing.

If we didn’t do something—quick, we’d have the human civilization on the brink of collapse.

The worst part was, the countries with nuclear capabilities were eerily silent and slowly collapsing.

The Crazon control was like a hidden rot, infecting the powerful and killing the weak.

I sighed.

A few days after I got back from the hospital all those months ago, a package showed up. No return address. No note.

Just my bag.

Inside were my burner phone,DaLia, and the Sentrix drive—still loaded with all the proof of Romano’s unhinged ramblings.

Surprised didn’t even begin to cover it.

We still had no idea who sent it.

Now, Lia was wrapped in my arms, eyes fixed on the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come.

Like every damn night.

She didn’t talk. Didn’t toss. Didn’t fidget. She just… waited. Until her thoughts burned themselves out and exhaustion dragged her under.

I’d tried everything.

Tried coaxing her into routines. Sleep on time. Wake on time. Tried distracting her during the day—training, recon briefs, even drone maintenance.

Nothing worked.

She was always just present enough to pretend.

I sighed, brushing a hand over her hair.

Then—an alert.

The low chime from the console by my nightstand.

Front gate motion sensor.

I frowned, shifting to sit up. Beside me, Lia tensed immediately.

“Who is it?” she asked, voice low, body already taut with anxiety.

I checked the panel. “I don’t know. Camera’s lagging—”

My phone buzzed sharply in my hand. Zane.

I answered. “Yeah?”

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