The footsteps grew louder, crunching over gravel and broken wood, slicing through the fog like the ticking of a countdown clock neither of them could stop. Maya's breath caught in her throat, heart hammering a wild rhythm against Liam's back.
Liam's stance remained defensive — one hand behind him clutching Maya, the other balled into a fist. The mist parted, revealing the source of the noise.
It wasn't an enemy.
It was Dr. Arden.
Her white coat billowed behind her like a flag of truce, but her expression was anything but peaceful. Stern. Strained. Determined. In her hand, she clutched a manila envelope — the kind that held answers or endings.
"Kai," she said, voice sharp. "Enough."
Kai didn't flinch. "You followed me."
"I followed the truth," Dr. Arden replied, eyes narrowing. "And I know what you're hiding."
A gust of wind howled off the water, cold and ruthless. Maya stepped out from behind Liam, her voice steady despite the tremor in her chest. "Tell me. Now. No more games."
Kai's jaw tightened. For a second, he looked almost… human. But then, the old grin returned — crooked, tired, haunted. "You sure you want to know?"
Maya took another step forward. "I deserve to."
Kai's shoulders dropped. "Then listen carefully. This isn't about love. Or jealousy. This is about time." He paused. "And who controls it."
The words sent a shiver down Maya's spine.
Dr. Arden approached slowly, the envelope now outstretched. "Maya, inside this is the real reason for your condition. And the truth about the countdown."
"What do you mean?" Liam asked, stepping protectively closer.
Dr. Arden glanced between them, then looked straight at Maya. "You were never meant to die in 100 days. Someone rewrote that fate."
A pause.
Liam's voice was sharp. "Who?"
Dr. Arden's gaze slid to Kai.
Maya's knees went weak. "You…?"
Kai didn't deny it. "I made a deal," he said softly. "With time, with something I shouldn't have touched. And now the price is being paid — by you."
A single tear slipped down Maya's cheek. "Why?"
His answer was barely audible. "Because I couldn't stand to lose you. Not again."
The silence that followed was thicker than fog, heavier than truth.
Liam stepped forward, fury and betrayal written all over him. "You manipulated her life. Her death."
Kai looked away, guilt warring with pride. "I gave her a chance to live."
"You gave her a sentence," Liam spat.
Maya's voice cracked. "So all this — the contract, the diagnosis — was orchestrated?"
Dr. Arden held out the envelope again. "Read this. Then decide who your enemy really is."
Maya took it, hands trembling.
The waves crashed louder now, echoing the collapse of every certainty she had left. She looked at Kai, then Liam — one who had stolen time, and one who had stood beside her through every moment of it.
And as she opened the envelope, the final page of her past unfolded — but the next chapter?
It had yet to be written.
Because time… was no longer her enemy.
But what would she become now that she'd learned the truth?
The countdown was never about death.
It was about the end of lies.
And the beginning of power.