Soren''s lips tightened into a thin line, a vein throbbing in his temple as the image of the car crash, of the tombstone for the child they had lost, shed before his eyes. His breath came in ragged gasps. Just then, Poppy spoke up from the side. "Evangeline, why don''t you give Soren a moment to think this through?" she said, her voiceced with a pained vulnerability. "You were married for so many years. I believe he loves you, and I believe he''ll choose you. You might have misunderstood me. When I told Soren about my child, it wasn''t to make him choose me. It''s just... I''m the only one who knows about this baby. I can be forgotten, but I don''t want this child to die with me, its existence unknown to the world. At the very least, I wanted its father to know it existed."


    With just a few words, Poppy had painted Evangeline as a jealous, vicious woman who would do anything to survive. Evangeline was speechless. For a fleeting moment, if she weren''t at the center of it all, she might have believed Poppy''s selfless and innocent act herself. She looked up, and seeing the conflicted expression on Soren''s face, she gave up the will to fight. She closed her eyes and sighed softly. He was going to believe Poppy. She knew it. As if sensing her thoughts, an almost imperceptible smile touched Poppy''s lips. She looked down at Soren, whose face was a storm of emotions. He finally looked up, his dark eyes eerily calm yet swirling with a thousand different feelings.


    "Poppy," he said.


    A jolt of triumph shot through her. But before she could react, his next words followed. "I''m sorry."


    The words hit her like a ssh of icy water, and she froze. "What?"


    "This time, I''m the one who has failed you," Soren said, exhaling slowly. He turned his gaze to Mr. Howard. "I want Evangeline to live." Mr. Howard raised an eyebrow at the oue. "In that case, it''s a real shame." He lifted his hand, preparing to cut the other rope. "Wait!" Soren shouted. Mr. Howard looked at him. Soren stared intently. "Let Evangeline down first."


    "Let her down?" Mr. Howardughed, gesturing to the open ground before them. "To do that, I''d have to stand on open ground, without any cover. That would make it much easier for your sniper to take me out, wouldn''t it?" His voice was low, but itnded with the impact of a stone dropped into a stillke. Soren''s heart lurched. "Soren, I knew your men were here the moment they arrived," Mr. Howard cackled. "Did you really think I was foolish enough to believe you came alone?"


    At his words, thest thread of Soren''sposure snapped. "But..." Mr. Howard grabbed the rope, raised his knife, his smile turning sinister and crazed. "Mr. Fawkes, by the same token, who would be so obedient as to actually let your choice live? I want you to watch. I want you to see the person you chose to live... die!" With that, he sliced through the rope with a powerful tug. A scream tore through the air as Evangeline plummeted. "Evangeline!" Soren cried out. A roar filled his ears, and the world around him dissolved into an unreal haze. Before he could even process what had happened, he scrambled to the cliff''s edge like a madman. The thousand-meter drop made his head spin. "Soren." Poppy''s voice called out. Shaking off his grief, Soren remembered she was still in danger. He instinctively looked back toward Mr. Howard, only to see an empty wheelchair where he had been. A man he didn''t recognize had appeared from nowhere and was now pinning Mr. Howard to the ground, relentlessly smashing his fists into his head.