?Chapter 963:


    She backed away, keeping her eyes locked on him. “Where am I? What did you do to me?”


    He raised his hands slightly, like he meant no harm. “Just a mild sedative. Nothing too hard. Once we’re done, I’ll have someone take you home.”


    Ste took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “All this… just so I’d pick up where my mother left off? After all these years, you couldn’t find anyone else?”


    He sank into an armchair, crossing one leg over the other. “Sadly, no. Your mother was a genius. Nobody else could even begin to understand her forms.”


    That was the truth of it. If anyone else hade close, he wouldn’t have needed her. In a twisted way, she should feel ttered her mom was that irreceable. If she hadn’t been… Ste might not be alive right now.


    She clenched her jaw. “I’m just a regr researcher. I’m nothing like her.”


    Heughed softly. “Modesty is fine. Bute on—false humility? Not a good look. We know you inherited her talent. You’ve probably even surpassed her. Those patents you filed in university? Impressive stuff. And you’ve only gotten better.”


    A chill ran down her spine. They’d been watching her. For years. Long before she even started digging into her mother’s death, they’d been tracking her.


    Ste hesitated, her voice quieter this time. “If I agree to help… will you tell me the truth about what happened to her?”


    She expected him to dodge the question. Maybe even threaten her. But instead, he answered easily, almost too casually, “Of course. But fair warning—the truth’s uglier than any lie. You sure you want to hear it?”


    Her heart thudded. But she nodded. “Yes.”


    He turned to the window, and for a second, he looked amused—like he was savoring every moment of her fear and curiosity.


    “Your mom was killed by the organization. She tried to bail with her research, but… well, there was a price to pay. As for who gave the order…” He turned to Ste, those deep blue eyes impossible to read. “It was me.”


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    Time seemed to stop. Ste stared at him, her mindpletely nk. She hadn’t expected him to say it so casually, like it meant nothing.


    “You…?”


    He repeated it, calm as ever—like he wasmenting on the weather. “I gave the order to take her out. Everything that happened that night was under mymand.”


    Ste’s stomach twisted. A wave of rage and fear mmed into her, nearly knocking the air from her lungs. Her hand slipped into her bag, searching for the recorder she’d hidden earlier.


    But it wasn’t there.


    He pulled it from his pocket, casually spinning it between his fingers. “Looking for this? Slick little gadget. But next time, try hiding it better—it was way too obvious.”


    Her heart sank. Without that recording, she had nothing. No proof. No backup n.


    “Why tell me all this?” she asked, her voice shaking as she clenched her fists. “Aren’t you worried I’lle after you?”


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