The Day Our Promise Breaks

"Charles, you can't! This is way too dangerous!"

Andrew desperately wanted to save Charlie, but even more than that, the thought of Charles getting hurt was unbearable.

He knew exactly what it meant to be a human test subject. The worst-case scenario? Charles could die right there on the table. Best case? His organs would be wrecked, and there was no telling if he'd ever recover. It was just too much of a gamble.

"Luna." Francis broke the tense silence. His voice was quiet, but the message was loud and clear.

"She's had heart surgery."

Charles hadn't dismissed the idea of using Luna. She was the one who'd poisoned Charlie, after all. If she wouldn't hand over the antidote, Charles wouldn't hesitate to use her to fish it out-no pity, no second thoughts.

But her body was clearly too weak. Using Luna as a live test subject would be a dead-end. Her own life hardly mattered-someone that vicious deserved no mercy. But Charlie couldn't afford to wait for a safer plan.

"Andrew, use me! Charlie's out of time!" Charles locked eyes with Andrew, his voice growing more determined with every word. "Charlie's my daughter. I owe her this. Use me. Right now. Inject whatever you took from her blood straight into me!"

He didn't care what happened to him-life, death, or worse. The only thing that mattered was saving Charlie.

Charlie lay fighting for her life.

bed, his eyes rimmed red as he watched his daughter struggle through the

this. Stay strong, sweetheart. Your mom's still waiting

...

everything set up, Charles stepped into the lab

slowly injected the concentrated toxin- fresh from Charlie's blood-into Charles's

a freezing, corrosive pain ripped through Charles's body. It was like a thousand icy needles racing through his bloodstream, tearing him

'e'

blurred and darkened. A shrill ringing filled his ears, so sharp it felt like it could split

as if he were being electrocuted. Every joint cracked and creaked in protest. Charles turned ghostly pale in

by an invisible fist wrenched

Struggle, as if he

wildly, cold sweat pouring down his body. His

furious cytokine storm. Fever blazed through him, body temperature spiking until his skin felt scalding to the touch. Inflammation tore through his liver and

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