Chapter 262 The Warden II
Liam leaned forward, his arms resting loosely on his knees, eyes locked on Vanessa with quiet focus. The light in the secret chamber cast a soft glow on her face as she sat back down on the medical table, her features unreadable.
"So," Liam said slowly, "what exactly did your father do to you... when he gave you powers?"
Vanessa let out a deep breath. Her fingers absentmindedly brushed over the edge of the table, tracing nothing in particular. "He trained us. From the moment the experiment was done, he put us through hell. Physical conditioning, mental discipline, hand-to-hand combat, infiltration, hacking... He taught us everything."
She looked at the wall beside her, not really seeing it.
"He made sure we’d never be helpless. Made sure we could survive anything."
Liam didn’t interrupt. He could see it in her eyes—the weight of it, the years spent living someone else’s vision of justice.
"After the training," she continued, "he started taking us out. Late nights, back alleys, warehouses... We fought drug runners, human traffickers, low-level scum, and high-value targets. You name it."
Her voice was flat, mechanical. It wasn’t pride—more like memory being forcefully pulled from a locked vault in her head.
"I did it all until I was twenty-one."
Lana’s voice broke the silence. "Then you ran away... because you wanted a life?"
Vanessa’s eyes shifted to her. She gave a small, almost tired nod. "Yes. I wanted to go to college, hang out at coffee shops, make dumb choices, laugh, love. I never wanted this."