Chapter 31: Why? 2 (Flashback)
The screen flickers slightly before stabilizing, her voice carrying through the chamber, steady yet tinged with something rare—regret.
"Alex... if you’re watching this, then I’m dead."
She inhaled softly, her expression unreadable for a moment before she lowered her gaze. When she lifted her eyes again, they held a weight heavier than Alex had ever imagined.
"First... I need to ask for your forgiveness."
The words sent a strange jolt through Alex’s chest.
"Not for dying. Not for leaving you alone."
Her jaw tightened slightly as if she despised the words coming from her lips.
"But for making a choice you might never understand. A choice that... I know it will make you hate me."
A hollow ache twisted in his stomach.
"We should have stayed," she continued. "We should have fought beside you. But instead, I chose something else. A selfish solution, one that meant abandoning you to walk this path alone."
Alex’s fists clenched at his sides.