Chapter 2

Burke's eyes narrowed at the word "pendant." Christina could see the gears turning behind his eyes, searching his memory for the insignificant piece of jewelry.

Corrina let out a sharp laugh, breaking the tense silence. "A broken pendant? Are you really making a scene over that piece of trash?"

Christina ignored her stepsister's mockery. Her gaze was fixed on Burke, unblinking. "It's my mother's only keepsake. I want it back."

Burke's posture relaxed slightly. He remembered the pendant now-a strange, silver thing with an industrial design. He had always assumed it was some cheap antique she had picked up at a flea market.

He adopted a tone of condescending generosity. "If you want money or the apartment, I can give you those. But a pendant..."

"I only want the pendant," Christina cut him off, her voice like steel. "And my other personal items. Return them to me, and I'll sign the termination agreement."

Burke's jaw tightened. Impatience flickered in his eyes. Christina knew he had his promotion review next week. A messy, public breakup with a war widow was the last thing he needed.

Corrina leaned in close to Burke, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered, "Just give it to her. It's worthless anyway. Getting rid of her quickly is the smart move."

Burke gave a slight nod. He calculated the risks. Dragging out a legal battle over a piece of junk wasn't worth the potential damage to his career.

"Fine," Burke said, his voice clipped. "I'll have someone pack your things and deliver them, including that stupid pendant."

Christina felt a fraction of the tension in her shoulders ease, but her engineering instincts immediately flagged a warning. His tone was too dismissive. "Stupid pendant." He didn't care about it.

She leaned forward, ignoring the pull of the stitches in her side. "It must be intact, Burke. If there is a single scratch on it, you will never get my signature on that paper."

Burke's temper flared. He took a step toward her bed, his towering frame trying to intimidate her into submission. "Don't push your luck with me."

Christina didn't back down. She stared right back at him, her bloodshot eyes refusing to yield. The air between them crackled with hostility.

The door swung open, breaking the standoff. A nurse walked in carrying a medication tray. She paused, looking at the tense atmosphere in the room.

Burke straightened up, smoothing down the front of his uniform jacket. His face reset to the stoic military officer. "I'll bring the items tomorrow. Don't try any more stunts."

He turned on his heel and walked out. Corrina lingered for a moment, shooting Christina a look of triumphant pity before following him out.

As the door clicked shut, Christina let out a shaky breath. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a deep, throbbing ache in her bones.

She closed her eyes, but her brain refused to slow down. The engineering part of her mind began to dissect the pendant. She visualized the intricate grooves on its surface. They weren't decorative. They were heat sinks. They were designed to dissipate heat from a micro-circuit.

A chill ran down her spine. The pendant wasn't an antique. It was a piece of technology. And it was dangerous.

She reached for her phone on the nightstand, intending to search for more information, but her fingers trembled so violently she nearly dropped it. The information overload from her hyper-memory was causing a rebound effect. Her skull felt like it was splitting open.

She forced herself to breathe slowly, counting the rhythm, manually suppressing the storm of data in her brain.

She managed to unlock the phone and typed in a search query: "Biometric encryption key military tech." The results were sparse, mostly theoretical papers, but they confirmed her hypothesis. The pendant was a high-level access key.

The door opened again. It was the nurse, Eva, who had just been in earlier. She looked at Christina's pale, sweaty face with a frown.

"Ms. Woods, your metabolic panel came back highly unusual," Eva said, adjusting the IV bag while glancing at her tablet. "And your EEG results... they're abnormal. We've never seen this pattern of high-frequency neural activity. We've already notified the neurology department. They'll want to schedule a more detailed fMRI."

Christina's heart skipped a beat. The hospital's monitoring system had picked up on her neural spikes.

She forced a weak, exhausted smile. "Just a lot of nightmares, I guess. Nurse."

Eva shook her head, making a note on the tablet. "Try to get some rest. I'll check on you later."

As the nurse left, Christina stared at the closed door. She was on the radar now. She had to move faster.

She had to get that pendant back. It wasn't just a key to her past; it was the only thing that might help her control the terrifying power exploding inside her head. She looked out the window at the darkening sky, her resolve hardening into ice. She wouldn't let the Clarks keep it for another second.