Chris's mind shattered under the sudden assault.
He stumbled backward instinctively.
The others had already abandoned their orders.
Terror had stripped them of all reason.
"Run!"
"That woman's insane! She's taking us all down with her!"
Chris turned and fled like the rest.
No one had expected Sophia Sullivan to be this deranged.
That was enough explosives to kill them all!
In the split second when the explosives flew through the air—
Ethan Sullivan seized the fleeting opportunity.
He drove his elbow into the gunman behind him.
Amid the chaos of panicked escape attempts—
He lunged forward two steps.
Sophia's fingers closed around his wrist like a vise.
"Hold on!"
The deafening explosion rocked the docks.
They plunged into the icy, unforgiving sea together.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The shockwave from the blast sent violent tremors through the pier.
Sophia dragged Ethan into the depths—
Away from the lethal radius of destruction.
The water was bone-chilling.
Yet Ethan found her grip strangely warm.
Enough to melt away the coldest darkness.
Through the water, he glimpsed her seaweed-like hair floating around them.
And those calm eyes—hiding madness beneath the surface.
His heart pounded in sync with the explosions.
As if it might burst from his chest.
The blazing firelight danced upon the waves.
Merging with the dark blue depths in macabre beauty.
Sophia surfaced like a siren emerging from the abyss.
Moonlight glistened on her soaked hair as she hauled Ethan onto the shattered dock.
"You alive?"
She extended a hand.
Saltwater stung his wounds.
Agony must be tearing through him.
Ethan's voice was raw. "Just scratches."
Their palms met.
The moment skin touched skin—
She yanked him onto solid ground.
"Sophia, do you have no fear of death?"
For the first time, he called her by name.
Formalities felt meaningless now.
Ethan's exterior was all icy restraint.
But his soul craved danger and thrill.
Yet he'd never met anyone like Sophia.
She made his pulse race uncontrollably.
Especially that undercurrent of madness.
It gave him the unsettling premonition of inevitable ruin.
He refused to dwell on what could've been—
If he hadn't taken those two steps forward.
If they hadn't jumped at the very last second.
One second slower—
And they'd have been obliterated alongside those criminals.
"Does fear change anything?"
Sophia's tone was detached.
She tucked a stray lock behind her ear.
"I won the bet, didn't I?"
She loathed being hunted.
But surviving against all odds was second nature.
Life in A-City had been peaceful.
Full of mundane comforts.
Yet preference and habit were different beasts.
She was a killer with bloodstained hands at her core.
One who bowed to no threats.
And would never belong to that tranquil city.
"Only winners get to speak."
"Fear just makes you cannon fodder."
The ghost of a smile touched her lips.
It never reached her eyes.
Those remained frostbite-cold.
"No one alive can frighten me."
Ethan's throat moved. "You won, Ms. Sullivan."
"We won, Mr. Sullivan."
"..."
Ethan felt his heart stutter again.
The inferno at the docks reflected in his vision—
Alongside Sophia's dark, luminous gaze.
This moment would be seared into his soul forever.
In A-City, she'd seemed aloof and enigmatic.
A spectator to the world's follies.
Nothing could pierce her armor.
That mystery had drawn him in.
But tonight, facing death—
Sophia had transformed.
Unshakable. Indomitable.
Madness boiling in her veins.
Daring anyone to look directly at her.
He burned to know—
What horrors had forged this woman?
Who treated pursuit and explosions like mundane routines.
Even thrived amidst them.
He'd only glimpsed the edge of her mask.
Yet Sophia—
Had already touched the heart he'd kept buried for years.