Dear Ex-wife Marry Me novel (Maja) novel Chapter 1627

He felt as if his chest was churning with blood; every breath he took was laced with the taste of iron.

Thankfully, the gun was still in his grip. Without hesitation, he tossed it to Nana, "Catch!"

Nana and Subject 8 had been locked in combat for what seemed like an eternity. She snatched the gun from the air and fired straight into his abdomen.

Subject 8, poised for another move, froze as his gaze fell upon her wrist. Around her wrist was a simple red string, and on it hung a single jade bead.

A moment of clarity pierced through his chaos. His mouth opened but no words came out; the strength that had been sustaining him vanished, and he collapsed to the ground.

Nana exhaled a sigh of relief and was about to check on Maja when she noticed the jade bead around the young man's neck.

Her body stiffened as if struck by a paralysis spell. The gun clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees, frantically pulling open his collar.

The jade bead hung there, and with trembling hands, she drew closer to read the inscription.

"No!! No!!"

Clutching him desperately, she couldn't muster other words; just held Subject 8 tightly in her embrace. He had passed out, blood streaming down his forehead.

Beck, startled by her cries, coughed up another mouthful of blood.

"What's going on?"

Maja raised an eyebrow, piecing things together. Perhaps this was the brother Nana had been searching for. But she'd just shot him.

It was a stroke of luck that the bullet hadn't hit his heart; otherwise, Nana would be consumed by guilt.

The helicopter arrived quickly to evacuate the wounded.

Maja felt a piercing gaze and turned to see Sarah. She didn't recognize the woman, but the emotions in her eyes were complex: relief, joy, pain, and conflict.

Walter sat gasping for air, the dizziness now hitting him hard. Summoning his last bit of strength, he addressed Jack, "This is the top scientist from the research base. She can develop an antidote for your father. Take her back to North America."

His upbringing prevented him from leading her, so he endured her affections, resisting as best he could.

"She's...an experiment subject from the base. We should take her back for observation."

Beck's gaze shifted from the girl to Dylan and back, and then with a wave of his hand, he signaled the helicopter to pick them up.

As everyone was getting settled, there was still no sign of Ian. Eventually, Bernard's men arrived, and Dylan and Walter handed over the documents they had rescued from the base.

These were the documents the scientist had grabbed at the last minute. Without Ian's distraction of Subject 8, they wouldn't have secured them.

Bernard took the documents, and upon hearing that Ian was still missing, he left some of his men behind to help with the search.

But after three days, there was no sign of Ian. Maja's calm demeanor had turned to worry. Especially as the bodies of the research staff were carried out one by one, she had to check each time to see if it was Ian.

Only when she saw it wasn't, could she breathe a little easier.