CEO loves me with all his soul.

Chapter 144: 144. The Heart That Chooses to Burn
Rain began to smear the glass windows of the Levistis Manor. The outside world blurred into colorless streaks of grey. Inside, the war had already begun—quiet, invisible, crawling through bloodlines and decades of lies.

Adrian stood in the research room—his private lab now buzzing with more voices, more machines, more equations than ever. His eyes were dry and his muscles sore, but he refused to let himself rest.

The whiteboard in front of him was filled with frantic notes. The compound Savas had sent was promising. Lucas had already identified its reaction to Naehr’s serum. But it needed one final component—one only Adrian could recognize.

He wasn’t just a scientist now. He was the cipher.

And he felt it in his bones: if he failed, they all would.

Ethan had just left moments ago to coordinate the strike team. Adrian remembered the way his husband had kissed the corner of his eye, then said nothing else. Just that one soft moment. The rest didn’t need words.

Now, the silence returned.

But it didn’t stay.

A knock sounded on the glass.

Luri.

She entered briskly, her cropped coat soaked at the hem, her normally playful expression replaced by something grim.

“You’re not supposed to be standing,” she said without preamble.

Adrian exhaled but didn’t turn. “I’m not supposed to be doing a lot of things.”

Luri walked up to the board and squinted. “You’re going to go blind looking at this stuff.”

“I already went blind. Just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.”

There was a silence between them, one threaded with old loyalty and shared damage.

Luri finally broke it. “I heard what happened. With Mathew. With the lab.”

Adrian’s voice was soft but edged with iron. “He tried to hurt my children.”

“And you stopped him.”

“Ethan stopped him.”

Luri tilted her head. “You jumped on the guy holding a biotoxin-filled needle. So yeah, I’m going to call that stopping him.”

Adrian rubbed his temple. “I don’t have time for compliments. This—” he tapped the screen— “this formula isn’t just a cure. It’s a choice.”

Luri raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I think Naehr’s serum doesn’t just rewrite genes. It unlocks stored trauma, pain, potential. It forces evolution by dragging out everything humans suppress. It’s as much emotional as it is chemical.”

Luri blinked.

“That’s insane.”

Adrian nodded. “Exactly.”

Luri stepped closer, examining the notes. “Then the antidote can’t just nullify it. It needs to… what? Stabilize what it awakens?”

Adrian’s fingers trembled as he picked up a pen. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I can write the formula, but I need something that binds both the neural and cellular levels.”

“Something like Atop blood,” Luri said slowly.

Adrian didn’t look at her.

“You’re thinking of using your own DNA,” she said. “Aren’t you?”

He turned his head and met her eyes.

“I’m not just thinking of it. I’ve already extracted the base sample.”

Luri took a step back. “Adrian, you can’t—if the synthesis goes wrong, you’ll—”

“I know.”

“But you have two babies. You have a family—”

Adrian’s voice broke. “That’s exactly why I have to.”

The silence was deafening.

Finally, Luri crossed the room and placed her hand on his shoulder. “You always were the bravest one. Just… don’t become the dead one too.”

Adrian offered her a small, tired smile. “You too.”

Down the hall, Ethan paced as he watched the maps updating every minute. Cain stood beside him, issuing orders to the remote strike team.

Jesper watched the radar. “Storm’s moving faster. If they release it through the water supply—every coastal city will be infected before sunrise.”

Ethan exhaled, then turned toward the monitors displaying Adrian’s lab feed.

He stopped.

Something felt off.

“Where’s Adrian’s biometric?” he asked sharply.

Jesper clicked the screen. Adrian’s vitals had dropped in consistency.

“He’s overexerting,” Jesper said.

“I’m going to him.”

Adrian had just placed the final compound into the centrifuge when his vision blurred.

Everything around him spun.

He grabbed the edge of the desk.

Too late.

He collapsed to his knees, breathing hard. Cold sweat drenched his back.

The weight of too many days without sleep, too many hours of pushing his Atop biology to its limits—had finally come crashing down.

Luri caught him halfway down. “Adrian?!”

His hands shook violently, and the room dimmed in and out like a dying lightbulb.

“I just need—five more minutes—” he gasped.

“No. You need to rest.”

“I don’t—”

Ethan burst in at that moment, eyes blazing with fear.

He dropped beside Adrian, cradling him without hesitation.

“Adrian,” Ethan whispered, brushing the damp hair from his face. “Look at me.”

Adrian’s eyes fluttered open weakly. “Didn’t I tell you to stay out?”

“I never listen to bad advice.”

Luri stepped back as Ethan gently wiped the sweat from Adrian’s forehead.

“You’re burning up.”

“I can still work—”

“No,” Ethan said firmly. “You’ve done enough. I brought the two researchers from the Medical Division. They’ll finish the synthesis.”

Adrian’s fingers curled around Ethan’s sleeve. “But the DNA binding—”

“I already know,” Ethan whispered. “They’ll use your sequence. But I won’t let you destroy yourself in the process.”

Tears gathered in Adrian’s lashes. “Ethan…”

Ethan kissed the edge of his eye.

“You make the world safe,” he said gently. “And I’ll make sure you survive doing it.”

Lucas, Savas, and the two med-researchers now worked frantically to produce the antidote using the stabilized Atop sample. Cain coordinated with Yuin and Diana to delay the desalination plant’s distribution.

Augustin and Leclair monitored external perimeter defenses.

But something was wrong.

Something no one noticed—yet.

Back in the lab, Adrian, finally stabilized and resting, turned his head toward the window.

His breath caught.

The shadow moved too fast. Too smoothly.

Not Mathew.

Not Sarn.

Someone else.

His eyes widened.

He tried to speak—just as the glass shattered.

A masked figure burst into the lab through the broken window, scattering glass across the floor. In one smooth movement, he stabbed a blade into the console, frying the controls and sending sparks flying.

Adrian rolled off the cot, coughing.

“Security breach—!” Luri shouted, running in.

But it was too late.

The figure grabbed Adrian, jamming a cold metal ring against his throat.

One press. One prick of pressure. One kill.

“Step back,” the man said.

Luri froze.

Ethan and Lucas arrived seconds later.

The attacker dragged Adrian to the window’s edge.

“This,” the masked man growled, “is the key Naehr never had. The final Atop. You let me go, or he dies.”

Ethan’s heart slammed against his ribs.

“No,” he whispered.