CHAPTER 274: CHAPTER 274: MOMMY WILL PROTECT YOU

He turned and began to walk away, probably to prepare for the horrifying thing he was going to do with her and her child. His figure flickered slightly with every step like a shadow, making him look like a demon who had crawled from hell in Aeris’s eyes only to take away her child.

Aeris stared after him, frozen in dread, as her body began to tremble with something deeper than fear.

She knew only death awaited her if she kept waiting here without doing anything.

Aeris’s heart pounded harder. His voice still echoed in her ears, twisted with madness and something darker she couldn’t name. He had said he wasn’t her brother and that she had fulfilled her purpose. That the child inside her would take her life.

Everything about him felt wrong. He didn’t look like Kazran anymore. He looked like a monster hiding behind a familiar face—something unrecognizable, cruel, and terrifying.

Fear wrapped its fingers around her throat. Her breathing quickened. Her hands trembled. She felt the pressure in her belly growing again, stronger and sharper than before.

"I have to get out," she whispered to herself, her voice shaking. "I can’t stay here."

Her fingers moved instinctively to the chain around her neck, a thin silver thread that held what looked like a small pendant. But it wasn’t a pendant. It was a small gadget. A hidden escape tool given to her by the only person she truly trusted—her brother, Atlas.

She remembered his words, firm and serious:

"You don’t use this unless you’re in real danger. If that day comes, activate it. I’ll find you. Wherever you will be."

And this moment... this was it.

She clutched the gadget tightly. Her thumb slid over the small hidden button in the back. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears.

Then, she pressed it.

There was a sharp glow of light. A flash. Then a sound like a low thrum—deep and vibrating through her bones. The pendant glowed bright for a second, then suddenly exploded outward with a forceful pulse of air that shattered the space around her.

The walls cracked. The floor beneath her feet trembled. But she was perfectly fine in the ruin.

Alarms began to sound somewhere deep in the compound.

Aeris didn’t wait. She ran.

The corridors were strange and endless, but somehow, her path unfolded like it already knew the way. A shadow slipped along the edges of her vision, guiding her feet, helping her turn where she needed to. It was her shadows whom she rarely used, but in this strange place she could only trust them.

And somehow, against all odds, she burst out into the open air.

The cold wind hit her like a wave, stealing her breath and replacing it with sharp, stinging clarity. Her knees nearly buckled from the sudden exposure, but she kept going.

She didn’t know if someone was chasing her; she didn’t dare look back—but every instinct screamed that time was running out.

The barren land stretched in all directions, lifeless and unforgiving. Every step felt like a thousand, but Aeris clung to one thought: survive. Not just for herself, but for the fragile life inside her.

Her hands trembled as she shielded her belly, whispering promises she wasn’t sure she could keep.

The sky above was bleak, covered in dark clouds. The land around her was cold and empty, a barren wasteland with ruins scattered like bones.

She didn’t know how she got out or how far she had run. But she had escaped.

And the pain in her belly was now unbearable.

Clutching her stomach, Aeris stumbled into the ruins of an old collapsed building. The walls were cracked, the roof half gone, but it was shelter because it was hidden.

She crawled into a dark corner, away from the open, and collapsed to her knees. Her whole body was shaking, soaked in sweat, every nerve on fire.

"Please..." she whispered, holding her belly tightly. "Please, baby... come out. I promise, Mommy’s here. Mommy will protect you. Nothing will happen to you, I swear..."

Tears streamed down her face. Her voice broke as she pressed her forehead against the wall; the pain is now unbearable for her.

And in that abandoned place, under the watch of broken sky and shattered walls... her child came into the world.

Alone, crying, trembling... but alive.

Aeris lay curled on the cold ground, her breath shallow and uneven, each inhale a battle, each exhale a whisper of life slipping away. The shattered ruins around her were silent now, as if the world itself held its breath.

But she was not alone.

Wrapped tightly in her trembling arms was the tiny life she had brought into the world—her baby, her daughter. Aeris held her close, refusing to loosen her grip even as her body screamed for rest, for release.

The newborn no longer cried.

She was quiet, eyes wide and blinking slowly, almost as if she understood. As if she knew that even the sound of her voice might summon danger. Her tiny fingers curled softly against Aeris’s chest, warm and fragile, her breath soft against her mother’s skin.

Aeris looked down at her, tears sliding silently down her dirt-streaked face. Her heart ached with so much love it nearly drowned the pain.

"So quiet..." she whispered hoarsely. "So brave..."

She brushed her lips against her daughter’s forehead, leaving a kiss as soft as a prayer. The baby blinked once, then nestled closer, as if sensing that time was slipping away.

Aeris’s vision blurred. Her body felt heavy; each limb was weighed down by exhaustion and blood loss. The world around her dimmed, colors bleeding together, her senses fading like smoke.

But she didn’t let go.

She couldn’t.

Even as the warmth drained from her fingertips, she clung to her child—the only light in all the darkness.

She wanted to say more. To whisper a name. To make a promise. But her lips barely moved now. Her voice was lost to the wind.