Page 99 of Scaled Daddy's Secret Heir

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He sighs, like this is all so tedious. “She’s a liability. A risk. And with your... unique relationship, you’re the most logical containment solution.”

My hand tightens on my thigh. “Containment.”

“Permanent. Silent. Surgical.”

My breath stays steady. My heartbeat doesn’t stutter. But something inside me sharpens like a blade against whetstone.

“She’s not active,” I say, voice like ash. “She’s not hurting anyone.”

“Yet. And we can’t wait foryet, Kalev. Not in this climate.”

Dowron reaches for the water pitcher, pours himself a glass. He doesn’t drink it.

“You’ve done what most can’t. You survived isolation. Psychological pressure. Unbroken. That tells me two things.”

He leans in.

“One—you can still follow orders.”

“And two?”

“You understand sacrifice.”

There it is.

The final push.

He thinks I’ll nod. That I’ll say, “Yes, sir,” and become their sword again.

Instead, I look at him for a long moment.

“Operational autonomy,” I say.

He blinks.

“If you want it done right, I need space. No comms. No surveillance. No confirmation pings. She knows the grid. She’ll sense a tail. You want this clean, it has to beme, and it has to bequiet.”

Dowron studies me like I’m a maze he’s already solved.

Finally, he nods. “Granted.”

He reaches into a folder beside him, slides me a hard data crystal.

“This has her last known trajectory. Glimner. Civilian alias intact. Probably thinks she’s safe.”

I take the crystal. My fingers don’t shake.

He watches me pocket it.

“Don’t get sentimental, Kalev. She was always expendable.”

I stand.

So does he.

He offers his hand again.

I take it.

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