Dear Ex-wife Marry Me by Twin Bridge

The glass cabwasn't made of the ordinary kind one saw in storefronts. Under the weight of sunseen force, it had

shattered, sending shards skittering across the floor where they lacerated the back of his hand, leaving behind a trail of blood.

But he didn't care, not even enough to bandage the wound. Instead, he just turned around and headed back to his room to sleep.

lan watched the scene unfold with a mix of confusion and disbelief. What was this guy on?

It wasn't until lan passed by another room and heard noises that should have been private -noises so cringeworthy that he wished

he could unhear them. The deliberate cooing and feigned innocence emanating from a woman in her fifties sent shivers down his

spine.

He knew what was happening behind that door, and he heard the nthe woman was calling out.

Suddenly, it all clicked for lan. Philip had lost his marbles. In a desperate bid to please this woman, he had thrown his own brother

to the wolves - or rather, to an old vixen with a heart of stone. No wonder the guy was losing his mind.

After all, Philip was a man of pride.

A smirk of irony touched lan's eyes. The world was a twisted stage, and Philip, who thought he was pulling all the strings, was just

as much a puppet as the rest.

What went around, caround.

When lan got back to his room, an hour had passed. He had gotten a good sense of the layout, except for Dylan, he'd located all

the living souls. But he suspected there were parts of the air ducts he hadn't accessed yet. So far, he hadn't detected any area that

likely belonged to the higher-ups of the research base.

Like that man in the central hall earlier - his quarters remained elusive.

lan had thought the ducts ran through the entire base. Now it seemed they only covered three-quarters of it. The remaining

quarter housed the elite.

For now, lan had also learned about sof the toxins in the core lab, but he wasn't about to make a move just yet.

A few more days of observation were in order.

Elsewhere, Maja had been on edge ever since she lost contact with lan. She couldn't sleep, so she decided to take a stroll down the

hallway.

lan had made her promise not to leave the building, and she had been obedient, only venturing as far as the corridor. Their people

occupied the rooms on all three floors, giving her a sense of security.

Her gaze drifted outside the hotel, where she spotted a woman staggering about. It was her neighbor, who had been missing for

two days. Didn't expect she'd appear tonight.

Maja frowned, and then she saw the woman collapsed at the hotel's entrance. She wanted to go check herself but was stopped by

lan's men.

"Ms. Pennyfeather, Mr. Raymond insists you stay inside."

"My friend has just collapsed outside the hotel. Please, check on her."

"I'm sorry, but there's a nasty bug going around, Cania sickness. If she's caught it, you're at risk too. We can't just go out there."

Maja took a deep breath, "She doesn't look sick; she looks hurt."

The man hesitated, and then relented, "Alright, we'll have someone take a look, get her to the hospital for a check-up; make sure

she's clean before bringing her back here."

Maja nodded. It was the best they could do.

Two hours later, the woman was brought back to the hotel. She had taken bullets - one in her shoulder, one in her abdomen. The

rounds had been removed, the wounds neatly treated.

After a brief rest, Maja went to check on the woman at 5 AM, but she was still unconscious. It wasn't until two more hours had

passed that the woman in the bed finally stirred.

"Maja?" Her voice was raspy and strained.

Maja nodded and handed her swater, "How do you feel?"

"Fine, thanks."

"How did you get these injuries?"

After taking a sip, the woman's throat felt better, "Il went to that village hit by the Cania sickness."

Upon saying this, she instinctively glanced at Maja's belly, and as if afraid she might contaminate her with something vile, then

quickly turned away, "Keep your distance from me."

"You've been checked; you're healthy. But do you realize how contagious that sickness is?"

The woman forced a smile, "I told you before, | always felt my brother was still alive. | met a local in the village who claimed he

saw a boy wearing a jade bead bracelet."

"There are plenty of people in the world with jade bracelets."

Maja didn't want to douse her hopes with cold fact, but if she continued venturing recklessly into dangerous places, she might not

make it out alive.

The woman's head drooped as she stared at the cup in front of her.

"Yeah, but | just have this gut feeling that he's waiting forto rescue him. | can't sleep. After my brother disappeared, my mom

went crazy and vanished too. My dad didn't think so; he believed she ran away with my brother, leaving behind their useless

daughter. He remarried quickly, and there was no room forat home. A year later, | found my mom's body in a trash heap,

swarming with rats. | heard she wandered those places for a long time, always searching for her son."

Her grip on the cup tightened, her lips turning pale, "If only | had held onto my brother's hand tighter, if only he hadn't been taken

away..."

Maja took the cup from her hands and sighed, "Be careful with your wounds. Rest for now."

The woman's eyes brimmed with tears, and she was left speechless.

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMwWLHIOfiflO&1

MMMWWLIIOAIfO&L

mmMyWL11I01F1081

mMMwWLIIOfiflO&1