Chapter 70 Eve of the Deadline
Eva's heart raced as the words hung in the air. Five days. It seemed like barely any time at all, just a few mornings and nights before everything could fall apart.
She pressed her fists to her knees and tried to steady her voice. "We have to use every minute. If we mess up, if we waste even an hour, she'll catch us."
Adrian glanced at the dashboard clock, his jaw clenched. "Then we don't rest. We'll keep looking for ways out of this."
They both showed a new determination to end the game, a spark started by the Architect. She was the one controlling everything behind the scenes. She had complete control over their future, and every move she made made things even more dangerous.
Eva said, "We must delay her plan. We negotiate with her and make her think we are thinking about cooperating while we get ready to fight."
Her jaw tightened as she spoke, but doubt flickered in her eyes. The idea of deceiving Catherine made her stomach twist.
Was she truly strong enough to lie to the woman who held their lives in her hands?
A small voice in her mind whispered that this could backfire—that she could stumble, say the wrong thing, and put everyone at greater risk. She forced herself to push the fear aside.
"I won't really serve her. But I'll let her believe I might," she finished, though her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"That's risky. If she figures out what we're doing, everything could fall apart."
"Then we have to act perfectly." Eva turned to him. "Can you do it? Can you sit across from the woman who threatened our kids and pretend to think about her offer?"
Adrian stayed silent for a long moment.
"For our family," he said at last. "I can do anything."
Over the next four days before the deadline, the group stayed busy, with each day bringing events that deeply affected Eva.
On the second evening, a huge commotion erupted nearby—a sudden shout made everyone scramble toward the security room; an alarm had tripped at the gates.
Silence fell as Daniel hunched over the monitors, fingers flying across buttons. The group held their breath until he confirmed it was a false alarm.
When Eva let out a slow sigh and turned away, she caught sight of Richard's hands trembling at his sides and saw Eleanor close her eyes, her shoulders dropping in relief.
Later, during a tense planning meeting, Leonard's voice broke. His hands twisted nervously in his lap as he struggled to meet anyone's eyes. "I keep imagining my wife answering the phone and hearing bad news about my death."
The tightness around Leonard's eyes and the way his jaw clenched revealed the depth of his fear and the heavy responsibility he felt for his loved ones.
That night, Eva lay awake beside Adrian, staring at the ceiling. She listened for his breathing, each anxious exhale carefully muffled as he pretended to sleep.
These hours were full of tension, every heartbeat caught between hope and fear.
Eva and Adrian met with the group every day, sharing information and planning their strategy.
Daniel handled security, setting up new defenses using Marcus Cole's knowledge of how the Consortium operates.
Leonard worked on the legal side, preparing backup plans in case things got worse.
Richard used his wide network in the financial world to contact former colleagues and trusted friends. In contrast, Eleanor used her experience in business negotiations to quietly seek potential allies and identify weaknesses in the Consortium's setup.
Meanwhile, Eva stayed in secret touch with Marcus Cole, who was reaching out to his own people inside the Consortium.
Two of them, a financial analyst and a communications technician, had shown careful interest in switching sides.
"They're scared," Marcus said during one of their encrypted calls. "But they're more scared of what Catherine is planning than they are of her personally. That's the opening we need."
"How do we turn their interest into commitment?"
"By giving them something Catherine can't—a safe future. She spreads fear, especially with whatever plan she's been working on in secret. People are scared of what she'll do if she wins. But fear only controls people as long as they think she'll win. If we can show she's weak and can be beaten, they'll join us."
"How do we do that? How do we show them that Catherine could lose?"
"When her seven days are over, and you're still here, it proves: Catherine Bell can be beaten."
The night before the Architect's deadline, Eva couldn't sleep.
She walked through the dark estate, her footsteps quiet on thick rugs and the soft creak of old wood.
As she checked on the children, Eva paused in the doorway to listen to their slow, steady breathing. She tiptoed closer, letting her hand drift over their soft blankets, which felt cool under her fingers.
In the library, the air smelled faintly of old leather and paper, dust particles floating in the soft lamplight.
When she finally reached the terrace where this nightmare started, the cold night air tingled on her skin, and the faint smell of jasmine came from the garden below.
The garden shone silver in the moonlight, looking both beautiful and strange. Eva wrapped her arms around herself against the cold and stared into the darkness beyond the estate walls.
Beyond the estate walls, the Architect waited in the darkness, her unseen presence hanging over every moment.
Eva stood alone on the terrace, arms wrapped around herself as she looked out. Her thoughts raced, scattered, and overwhelming, as she struggled to process what was happening.
"You should be sleeping." Adrian's voice came from behind her.
"So should you."
He stood beside her at the railing, his shoulder warm against hers. "Tomorrow changes everything."
"Yeah, it is the deadline. We'll finally find out if our plan works. I hope we can convince Catherine to give us more time to consider joining her team. If she agrees and doesn't suspect anything, we might get some time to build our alliance." Eva's voice stayed steady, though her heart raced.
"Or if she decides we're too dangerous to keep alive. We might lose our lives."
"She won't kill us, Eva. Not this early. As Marcus said, we're too valuable to her."
"You sound pretty confident."
"I'm not confident at all. I'm scared." Adrian turned to her. "But I've learned something this past year, watching you stand up to every enemy. Fear isn't weakness. It just means something matters."
"What matters to you right now?"
"You and the kids. This family we've built." He took her hand in the dark. "No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know that these months with you have been the best of my life. Even with everything we've faced. Even with the danger, the fear, and the uncertainty."
Eva felt tears sting her eyes. "Adrian—"