Beep. Beep.
The soft vibration of her phone dragged Sienna out of sleep. Still half-buried beneath warm blankets, she groaned faintly and reached blindly toward the nightstand. Her fingers brushed against the device before finally grabbing it.
The harsh glow of the screen stabbed painfully into her sleepy eyes.
An unknown number.
Her brows furrowed slightly as she opened the message.
"You have one more day, Dr. Rivers."
The sleep vanished instantly, and Sienna sat upright.
The air from the room warmer suddenly felt sharper against her skin.
They had her personal number now.
Just how deeply connected were these people?
For several long seconds, she stared silently at the message, and then finally her fingers moved across the keyboard.
"Let's meet."
The message was read immediately.
A reply arrived seconds later.
"Come to The Doré by noon."
Sienna slowly lowered the phone.
For a while, she simply sat there quietly, staring at nothing.
Truthfully, she already knew this outcome was unavoidable.
No matter how much she tried delaying the decision, the pressure around her would only tighten further.
Sooner or later, she had to choose
—
By noon, gray clouds had swallowed most of the sky above Dilrik.
Cold wind swept through the streets as Sienna stepped out of a taxi several buildings away from The Doré.
Unlike her previous visit, she moved carefully this time. Watchful and secretive.
Almost paranoid.
It frustrated her deeply.
For years, she had lived openly without fear or caution. Her reputation alone protected her more effectively than security ever could.
Yet now one reckless mistake had forced her into sneaking around like a criminal.
She adjusted the scarf around her neck and quietly entered the tea shop.
Warmth greeted her immediately.
The familiar scent of expensive tea leaves drifted through the air to her nose.
The moment she stepped inside, the barista from before brightened instantly.
"Welcome back to The Doré, my lady."
This time, his smile looked warmer and less professional.
Sienna managed a small polite smile in return.
"I hope my visit today remains confidential."
The barista placed a hand dramatically over his chest.
"Of course, my lady. Privacy is one of our greatest principles here."
Then his expression softened slightly.
"By the way… you may call me Gabriel."
Gabriel looked oddly pleased saying it.
Sienna nodded faintly.
"Thank you, Gabriel."
His entire face brightened instantly at the acknowledgment.
"This way."
He led her once again toward the private section hidden deeper inside the shop.
When they reached the familiar door, Gabriel lifted his hand to knock…
"Let her in."
Isaac's voice came from inside before the knock could land.
Gabriel paused briefly before opening the door respectfully.
Sienna stepped inside.
The atmosphere was exactly the same as before.
Quiet and dangerously calm.
Isaac sat in the armchair near the window, one leg crossed over the other, looking so composed beneath the dim golden lighting. Beside him, Craig sat on the larger sofa and immediately stood upon her arrival.
"Welcome back, Dr. Rivers."
Craig gestured politely toward the seat opposite Isaac.
Sienna sat down without hesitation.
Unlike last time, there was no trace of nervous admiration in her expression now.
Only cold professionalism.
"So," Craig began carefully, "have you made your decision?"
"I agree."
The answer came immediately.
Craig visibly relaxed.
Isaac, however, remained entirely unchanged.
He simply lifted his coffee cup calmly, as though her agreement had been inevitable from the beginning.
"Good."
He placed the cup down slowly before sliding a document across the table toward her.
"Sign that."
Sienna glanced down at it.
A confidentiality agreement.
The wording irritated her instantly.
There was no "deal" happening here.
This was blackmail.
Still, she picked up the pen and signed her name cleanly across the paper.
Isaac watched silently the entire time.
"Now," Sienna said coolly after pushing the document back toward him, "tell me exactly what condition you have."
Isaac extended his hand slightly toward Craig.
Craig immediately understood and passed him a thick folder.
Isaac handed it to Sienna.
"Medical reports. Psychological evaluations. Neurological scans."
His gaze remained fixed on her calmly.
"And recordings from one of my episodes."
Sienna opened the folder.
Page after page.
Test after test.
Every result showed the same thing.
Healthy, normal, no abnormalities detected, no signs of neurological damage, no psychological disorder, and no irregularities.
Nothing.
The deeper she read, the more focused her expression became.
Then she found the video file.
The moment it began playing
Her eyes sharpened.
The man on the screen barely resembled the composed figure sitting before her now.
He looked monstrous.
Heavy chains restrained his body against reinforced walls while his violent snarls echoed through the speakers. Veins bulged grotesquely beneath his pale skin as his entire body strained with terrifying force against the restraints.
His eyes were completely blood-red.
Even through the screen alone, the sheer violence radiating from him felt suffocating.
Craig unconsciously glanced toward Sienna cautiously.
Most people reacted with fear after seeing this version of Isaac.
Some even lost composure entirely.
But Sienna…
She looked fascinated and excited.
Not even a trace of fear existed in her eyes.
And for some reason.
That affected Isaac more than it should have.
"I receive no warning before it begins," he explained calmly. "Which means I could lose control here and now."
Sienna finally looked up from the video.
"Should I be concerned then?"
"If Craig reacts quickly enough with a tranquilizer, probably not."
Probably.
The answer made her raise a brow slightly.
"Has anyone died during these episodes?"
"Yes."
Isaac answered without hesitation.
"I killed them."
No guilt entered his voice, nor pride either.
Just simple truth.
Sienna leaned back slightly in thought.
"And afterward?"
"My memory becomes fragmented," Isaac replied. "I rarely remember details clearly. Usually, I only know what happened because of the aftermath."
Silence settled across the room afterward.
Sienna lowered her gaze toward the reports again, fingers lightly tapping against the folder as her thoughts raced rapidly beneath the surface.
Neurological, psychological, hormonal, and instinctive aggression; sudden synaptic collapse; no detectable abnormalities outside active episodes.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The corners of her lips curved upward excitedly.
The smile of a genius finally encountering something worthy of her attention.
"IAD," she said suddenly.
Craig blinked.
"What?"
Sienna looked directly at Isaac now.
"Idiosyncratic Adrenal Dysphasia."
The room fell silent instantly.
Even Craig looked stunned.
For the first time since this entire nightmare began.
Someone had finally given Isaac's condition a name.
Sienna continued smoothly, her tone shifting unconsciously into lecturer mode.
"In a normal brain, the prefrontal cortex regulates impulses generated by the amygdala. Logic suppresses primal aggression."
She lightly tapped one of the brain scan pages.
"In your case, there appears to be an extremely rare synaptic dysfunction. The neural communication between those regions temporarily collapses without warning."
Her eyes gleamed brighter the more she explained.
"When that disconnect occurs, your brain essentially abandons higher reasoning and enters a pure survival-predator state."
Craig stared at her in disbelief.
She had solved years of confusion within minutes.
"In medical theory, this condition was proposed decades ago by a neurologist who became a laughingstock afterward," Sienna continued. "The symptoms sounded too exaggerated to be real, so the entire concept was dismissed as fictional."
Her gaze lingered thoughtfully on Isaac.
"But apparently… it wasn't fictional after all."
For the first time since she arrived, something faint shifted behind Isaac's calm facade.
Hope, small and fragile.
Then Sienna spoke again.
"Unfortunately…"
The atmosphere tightened immediately.
"This condition is considered impossible to cure."
The words landed heavily.
Craig's expression fell instantly.
Even Isaac's fingers paused slightly against his coffee cup.