---- Chapter 20 Julian Gallegos POV: | waited until dawn, sober for the first time in weeks. The clarity was excruciating. | knew what | had to do. | intercepted them as they were leaving the compound. Gordon immediately stepped in front of her, a human shield. "Gallegos," he said, his voice hard. "| thought she made herself clear." | ignored him. My eyes were only for Khloe. | held out my hand. In my palm was a small, worn, leather-bound book. It was a book of poetry she had given me on our first date. | had kept it all these years, even through the amnesia, a forgotten talisman in a safe. "Do you remember this?" | asked, my voice hoarse. "You said as long as | had this, | would always have a piece of your heart." Her eyes flickered to the book, a flash of pain, of memory, in their depths. "I'm begging you, Khloe," | said, my voice breaking. "One last chance. That's all | ask. | will do anything. | will turn myself in, | will spend the rest of my life in prison, if you'll just tell me you ---- forgive me. Tell me there's a chance. For us." She looked at me for a long, silent moment. | saw a universe of pain in her eyes, a history of love and hate warring on her beautiful face. For a single, insane second, | thought | saw a flicker of her old love, of pity. Then, her expression shuttered. It became cold, empty, and final. She took the book from my hand. For a moment, my heart soared. And then, she ripped it in half, the old, fragile pages tearing with a sound that echoed the tearing of my own soul. She let the pieces flutter to the dusty ground between us. "That heart is dead, Julian," she said, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "You killed it. There is no us. There is nothing." She took Gordon's hand and turned to walk away, leaving me standing there with the ruins of our beginning at my feet. "Don't," | choked out, the word barely a whisper. "Don't leave me. She paused, her back still to me. "| warned you to stay away from me. This is the last time you will ever see me." She walked away and didn't look back. | stood there for hours, long after she was gone. The sun beat down on me, but | didn't feel it. A sandstorm blew in, stinging ---- my skin, but | didn't move. | remembered all the times she had forgiven me for smaller cruelties, for moments of arrogance or neglect. She had always come back, her love a constant, reliable anchor. But | had pushed her too far. | had broken the unbreakable. | sank to my knees, the last of my strength leaving me. The world went black, my last conscious thought a single, repeating word. Khloe. Gordon Murray POV: Later that night, | stood on the balcony of our small apartment, watching the storm rage outside. Khloe was asleep, finally at peace. The confrontation with Julian had shaken her, but she was resilient. She was the strongest person | had ever known. | looked down at the street below. A group of men were carrying an unconscious Julian into a van. He looked like a broken doll, a pathetic, self-destructive shell of the powerful man he once was. A cold, hard satisfaction settled in my chest. | took out my phone and made a call. "This is Dr. Murray," | said. "I have a tip for Interpol. | know the ---- location of the fugitive Julian Gallegos. But you'll have to be quick. He's planning on leaving the country. And he's not planning on traveling alone."