Chapter 313: Chapter 313: The Diary’s Ending
’Although such a thought might be a bit selfish,’
’it was her one-sided desire, but Zoe Pierce wouldn’t change her mind.’
’Even though Nathan Lockwood and the others were her family now, she didn’t have a single family member in the truest sense—no one related by blood.’
She wasn’t in a rush to have one, but she also saw no need to hide it from Aaron Xavier and the others.
’After all, unless she cut ties with them completely, who else could the child’s father be?’
’It would inevitably be one of them.’
They were all still young, and Zoe Pierce hadn’t given the matter much thought.
But she had no idea that her words had sent shockwaves through Aaron Xavier’s heart, like a stone stirring a thousand ripples.
Aaron Xavier stopped in his tracks, stunned.
Zoe Pierce walked a few more steps before realizing Aaron hadn’t followed. She stopped and looked back at him, puzzled. "What’s wrong?"
Aaron Xavier caught up, his voice much softer. "You said... you like children, that you want a child of your own."
Zoe Pierce had just said it; she could hardly have forgotten in less than a minute.
She nodded.
She watched as Aaron Xavier looked up, his eyes fixed on her. "Zoe Pierce, I want a child, too..."
"A child who belongs to me, one I can be close to and cherish, one I can keep company. I’ll learn to be a good father..."
Zoe Pierce could only imagine the bewildered expression on her own face.
’Mainly because Aaron Xavier sounded so serious.’
She knew exactly what his family life was like, so she understood that deep down, he might be searching for the same things she was.
Neither of their families was complete, and all they could do was try to make themselves whole.
Just when Aaron Xavier thought Zoe Pierce was about to say something more...
...Zoe Pierce suddenly reached out and pinched his cheek. "Zoe... Pierce... What... are you... doing?"
"You wish!" Zoe Pierce said.
He spoke as if they could have a child right now, and the implication made the air feel thin.
Aaron Xavier’s face was easily pinched into a crimson blush, with two distinct thumbprints left behind.
The moment she let go, the marks on both sides of his face were starkly clear. Zoe Pierce had used some force, and it certainly left a trace.
Aaron Xavier rubbed his face. "I was speaking from the heart."
Zoe Pierce looked at him. "So was I."
In truth, they both knew it wasn’t the right time. At the very least, Zoe Pierce wasn’t at an age to become a mother yet.
The Beta Terrorist Organization was still after her, she had a brilliant future ahead of her, and she was already a Colonel. Her future was destined to be even brighter.
Someone like her shouldn’t be tied down by a child.
And they didn’t yet have the power to give a child the best possible care.
Aaron Xavier sighed. ’Fine.’ Logically, he knew Zoe Pierce was right.
But in reality, the idea had already been planted in his mind, just waiting for the right moment to take root and sprout.
Zoe Pierce didn’t waste any more words with Aaron Xavier. Treading on the soft earth, she started walking toward the Starship ahead of him.
This time, she didn’t wait for him.
But Aaron Xavier followed, rubbing his cheek as he went.
Aaron Xavier escorted Zoe Pierce back to her room, only to find three Alphas standing in front of her door on the Starship.
One stood ramrod straight, another leaned against a nearby handrail, and the third rested his back against the wall.
They were all equally silent, but the moment they spotted her, their gazes locked onto her.
"Zoe," Chase Shaw called out first.
Zoe Pierce looked at the men standing by her door, then at her Intelligent Brain, which had remained quiet. "Why didn’t you just message me on the Intelligent Brain?"
’If she had known they were waiting at her door, she would have hurried back.’
Miles Sherman looked at her. "Did you go see Seth Yates and the others?"
Zoe Pierce nodded. "I told them that if they need any help in the future, they can contact me directly."
She opened the door, and all five of them squeezed into the somewhat narrow room.
Once the door was closed, the room felt cramped again.
Zoe Pierce looked at them and asked, "Did something happen?"
’Why have they all come to see me?’
Nathan Lockwood directly projected a holographic image into the air. It contained handwriting and looked like pages from a diary.
Zoe Pierce looked up at it.
The handwriting was all too familiar; she had seen a similar script just a few days ago.
’The owner of that lab notebook.’
Zoe Pierce immediately looked at Nathan Lockwood.
"Colonel Hanson just sent this to me. He said it was found on Planet B36 earlier."
’The follow-up...’
Nathan Lockwood had only briefly mentioned the diary to Shelton Zane, who had evidently passed the information on to Colonel Hanson.
Finding something like this wouldn’t have been difficult for Colonel Hanson, but it was a coincidence that such a discovery was made.
The story was, by all accounts, a tragedy.
Zoe Pierce paused, her eyes focusing on the new entry in the notebook.
This time, there was no date.
It began with the remorse of a Beta researcher.
---
I lost my notebook. I remember I abandoned it in a place from my past.
It’s a sealed-off location. Will someone discover my secret?
I don’t know.
I miss Alec terribly.
---
Zoe Pierce noted the length of this entry; the projection only showed three or four page indicators.
It proved that there were only a few thin pages in these photos.
If the handwriting on this page was still clear and distinct, the next could be described as having been written with a force that nearly pierced the paper.
The characters were messy, as if trying to tear through the page itself.
---
Alec is dead.
He lied to me.
He was never interested in Xenobeast research. From the very beginning, his research focus was always on how Betas could obtain spiritual power.
He voluntarily offered himself up for invaluable human experimentation as a reference sample.
How could he lie to me...
How could everyone else know about this, but keep it a secret from me alone...
It wasn’t that no one knew. It turns out everyone knew he and I were together.
It turns out everyone was silently watching him fall in love with me during his final days, all while pretending they knew nothing.
If he had succeeded, they said, Alec would have become the first Beta with spiritual power. He would have confessed his love to me again, and we would have been together again.
If he failed, he didn’t want anyone to tell me the truth.
But how could that be possible? How could I not be curious about an experiment that I was suddenly excluded from?
I saw his short, golden hair. I saw him lying peacefully on the bed, as if he were just sleeping.
Alec.
I hate you.
I would rather you had just disappeared from my life, shining brightly on some other planet, contributing your strength there.
You told me more than once that you were a selfish and timid person.
But I never took you seriously.
Now, I have to say it: you are an extremely selfish person.
I hate you.
I hate you...
These three words practically filled the subsequent pages, accompanied by smudges where the ink had been blurred.
The kind of marks only tears could leave.
After that, the diary ended.
No one knew what became of the story’s author—whether she died on B36, or if she, too, had participated in the spiritual power experiments.
