Chapter 1614:


    “So that’s it.” Her back pressed against the cold metal wall as she stared at the motionless man before her, the weight of the truth settling in. “Those covert operatives — that so-called Master of Shadows — they meant to hollow you out. Leave you alive, but voiceless. A permanent scapegoat who can never speak, never resist, and never expose them.”


    How could someone stripped of thought ever expose those responsible?


    This was cruelty in its purest form — calcted and absolute.


    Maia fixed her gaze on Kolton’s hollow, unseeing face.


    Pity did note. Instead, anger settled in her chest, tangled and heavy.


    Kolton carried the weight of unforgivable crimes. He had taken his brother’s life, locked his own father away, and even tried to end Chris. Death had long been a fate he had earned — even a thousand executions would not have bnced what he had done.


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    But it shouldn’t be like this.


    The Cooper Group scandal stretched across countless crimes — human trafficking, illegal experimentation, vastworks ofundering. The number of victims reached into the thousands. Families had been torn apart. Innocent lives had been erased. Those left behind still waited, still demanded justice, still deserved to hear him answer for what he had done in a court ofw. He did not deserve refuge inside an empty mind, shielded from guilt, consequence, and suffering.


    “Mr. Cooper.” Maia spoke again, her voice stripped of warmth, carrying the full weight of judgment. “You think losing yourself erases your crimes? Don’t delude yourself. This spares you far too much. You need to remain conscious. You need to stand before the people whose lives you destroyed. You need to face their families. You need to answer for it under thew. Until you have paid for everything — I will not allow you to disappear like this.”


    Maia shut her eyes slowly, drawing in a long, steady breath as she forced herself to center.


    Thoughts surged through her mind in rapid session, every fragment of her medical training rising to the surface under pressure.


    Damage to the prefrontal cortex. If the tissue had been surgically excised, there would be no reversal — that kind of loss never repaired itself. Yet the wound’s dimensions and contour did not suggest removal. The pattern resembled interference instead — possibly from an imnted electrode, or the lingering effect of a chemical suppression.


    If that interpretation proved correct, then hope had notpletely vanished. There was still something she could fight for.


    “I refuse to stand here and do nothing. I will try.”


    Her eyes flew open, resolve burning sharp and unwavering in her gaze.


    Without hesitation, she reached into her pocket and retrieved the small acupuncture kit she never traveled without. Carrying it had long be second nature — as a physician, she never allowed herself to be unprepared.


    “There are no instruments here. No drugs. Nothing conventional to rely on. But if I activate the correct pressure points, I might be able to provoke a response. Whatever part of your consciousness remains could still answer. Kolton Cooper, you do not get to disappear on me. Stay here. You still owe a debt for everything you have done. Death does not have permission to take you yet.”


    Time slipped past unnoticed. Nearly forty minutes bled away beneath the heavy silence.


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