A hint of sadness touched Grace's face. "I hope this isn't the last we see of each other."

Her meaning was clear, but Sylvia just smiled. “I should go. You get back to class."

The students inside saw her suitcase and knew she was leaving. They crowded at the windows, calling out their goodbyes. "Miss Sylvia!"

"Are you coming back?"

"We'll miss you!"

Sylvia waved to them with a smile. "Study hard, all of you. And come to J City for college."

The children waved back, their faces full of reluctance to see her go.

Sylvia hated goodbyes, so she didn't linger. She urged Grace to return to her class and then headed for the parking lot.

She placed her suitcase in the trunk and drove away from the manor.

Gabriel went upstairs to the small storage room and sank to the floor, leaning his tall

frame against the wall as he stared out at the gray, overcast sky.

After a long time, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

When the call connected, his voice was low and heavy.

"Sylvia, are you getting revenge on me?"

All this time, her indecision, her pain, her push and pull-it was all an act for his benefit.

It was the first time he had ever used her full name, and the word instantly created a chasm between them. All the intimacy, all the affection, vanished like mist in the wind, leaving nothing but a cold, empty void.

Sylvia was driving, holding the phone with one hand while the other gripped the steering wheel. She blinked once, her voice calm. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Carnes."

"You calculated everything," he said, his voice dark. "But did you ever calculate what was in your own heart?"

Her voice remained perfectly steady. "Didn't you make it clear to me, Gab, that a special agent can't have a heart?"

"Then tell me," he pressed, "of all the things you said to me, which ones were true?" "My admiration for you, my respect... every word I ever said to you was true."

"You were angry last night,” he stated. “Humiliated?"

A faint smile touched her lips. "I was just a little annoyed at being played. You're overthinking it."

Gabriel's throat tightened. He lowered his gaze, his dark eyes closing for a moment before he asked, his voice barely a whisper, "Did you ever love me?”

“།

Sylvia paused. “I suppose I did," she said lightly.

Silence stretched between them. After a long moment, Sylvia ended the call.

A few seconds later, a message appeared on Gabriel's phone.

Sylvia: [Gab, your rule was that anyone under your command could earn their freedom by completing 30 missions in my years with you, Le completed 36 missions, large and small, without a single failure.]

[The money you gave me when I left the organization is in a bank card. I've left the

card in the first-aid kit I used to treat your wounds. It's all there.]

Gabriel stared at the messages, a cold dread seeping into him. It felt as if something was being opped. from his chest, leaving him hollow and, for the first time, truly afraid.

Just as he had expected, a final message came through.

[Gab, you and I are all square.]

All square.

He stared at the words, a sharp, searing pain cutting through him, followed by a

wave of panic that left him reeling.

The phone slipped from his hand

and hit the floor with a soft thud. He leaned his head back against the wall his usually composed face now etched with a raw, unfamiliar fear.

He didn't know how much time had passed before his phone vibrated again. He picked it up and answered. “Grandpa."

Old Mr. Jarvis's cheerful voice came through the line. "You've been gone for days. When are you coming home?"

"Soon," Gabriel replied, his voice hoarse.

Old Mr. Jarvis knew him too well. He immediately sensed something was wrong. "What happened?"

Gabriel's powerful frame seemed to curve inward. In the dim light, his voice was barely a whisper. “Grandpa..."

I think I'm really in love with her.