Ch. Ch 23 Don’t come back Ch 23

Axel’s voice was hollow: “There must be a way. 

“I’ll think of something, find a solution. We’ll find her somehow.” 

Professor Zhang sighed softly: “Forgive my bluntness. 

“Your parents died because their research was compromised. 

“Inadequate security allowed criminals to find an opportunity to strike. 

“This time, before the research concludes, no outsider will be able to find them.” 

Axel seemed to have lost his soul, his voice stubborn: “I’ll find a way.” 

Professor Zhang felt compelled to warn him: “If you make a public search for Ember, you could put her in danger. 

“Axel, don’t forget what happened to your parents. 

“If you truly care about Ember… respect her choice.” 

Axel’s pupils trembled suddenly. 

The midnight snowfall had turned the vast North City into a silver–white landscape. 

It seemed to freeze him completely as well. 

He stood motionless, his fingertips too numb to move. 

Ember was gone. 

And he couldn’t even try to find her. 

Professor Zhang turned and closed the front gate behind him. 

In the frigid, snow–covered night, Axel was finally alone. 

No–there was one other person. 

He turned and saw Ryker standing beneath a tree behind him. 

Their eyes met under the cold streetlight, and in each other’s gaze, they saw the same utterly shattered hope. 

Axel suddenly remembered many, many years ago. 

North City had seen a snowfall just like this one. 

When their parents died suddenly, twelve–year–old Ember had sobbed in the snow until she could barely breathe. 

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Back then, he had held her and said: “As long as your brother is here, Ember will always have a home.” 

It seemed he had broken his promise. 

Axel couldn’t bear to go home now. 

He didn’t know where to go. 

He drove aimlessly through the streets. 

Somehow, he found himself at the orphanage on the outskirts of town. 

He suddenly remembered that his estrangement from Ember, their arguments, had begun when he brought Willow home from 

this orphanage. 

If time could be rewound to that moment, if he had never brought Willow home… 

What would things be like now? 

His thoughts were chaotic. 

Until suddenly, by the moonlight and streetlamps, he spotted two figures standing outside the orphanage gate. 

One tall, one small. 

Even in the dim light, Axel could easily recognize the smaller one as Willow. 

In his distracted state, he had driven over with his headlights off. 

As a result, the two people hadn’t noticed his approach. 

As if pulled by an invisible force, Axel stopped the car and silently walked toward them. 

He was close enough that if they glanced sideways, they would see him in the darkness. 

But they were clearly engrossed in their conversation, arguing intensely, neither paying attention to their surroundings.