The Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 437 --

Ray watched, frozen, as she ascended into the darkness above. "Esme... wait..."

But she didn’t look back.

She reached the laboratory door—or what remained of it—and stepped through. The moment her figure disappeared from view, the screaming began.

Distant at first. Then louder. Closer.

Voices filled with terror, with pain, with desperate pleas that went unanswered. The sounds echoed through the destroyed lab, bouncing off broken walls and twisted metal, each scream driving deeper into Ray’s chest like a knife.

He wanted to move. Wanted to follow her. Wanted to stop whatever horror she was unleashing.

But his body wouldn’t obey.

He remained kneeling on that small circle of intact concrete, surrounded by the abyss she’d created, listening to the symphony of destruction above.

Minutes passed. Then more.

The screams eventually faded—not because they stopped, but because the voices ran out. The silence that followed was worse than the chaos. Heavy. Suffocating. Final.

Ray didn’t move. Couldn’t move. His hands pressed against the cold concrete, his eyes staring blankly at the spot where Esme had vanished.

Half an hour crawled by like an eternity.

Then—footsteps. Frantic. Multiple.

"Oh my God—what happened here?!"

"Ray! RAY!"

The voices cut through his numbness. Familiar voices. Real voices.

He slowly lifted his head.

Three figures stood at the edge of the massive hole—Esme’s parents and Jay. Their faces were pale with shock, eyes wide as they took in the devastation. The entire laboratory floor had collapsed into a crater, leaving only Ray’s small island of concrete in the center.

Esme’s mother pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "This... this can’t be..."

Her father gripped the doorframe for support, his face ashen. "Where is she? Where’s Esme?!"

But Jay’s eyes locked onto Ray. He saw the blood—black blood—covering Ray’s clothes, saw the bruises darkening around his throat, saw the hollow, broken expression on his face.

Without hesitation, Jay pulled a large bottle from his pack. The liquid inside glowed faintly blue, swirling with chemical energy. He uncapped it and hurled it into the hole.

The moment the bottle shattered against the debris below, the chemical exploded outward. It expanded rapidly, forming a thick, spongy bridge that stretched from the doorway to Ray’s platform. The material solidified instantly, sturdy enough to walk on.

Jay didn’t wait. He sprinted across the makeshift bridge, his boots pounding against the spongy surface. Within seconds, he dropped to his knees beside Ray.

"Brother—" Jay gripped Ray’s shoulders, searching his face desperately. "Brother, are you okay? What happened? Where’s Esme?"

Ray’s throat worked, but no words came out. His eyes—those cold, unreadable eyes—finally cracked. The mask shattered.

And for the first time since the experiment began, tears fell.

The tears came silently at first. Just thin trails down Ray’s dirt-stained cheeks, cutting through the dried black blood that covered his face.

Then his shoulders shook.

Jay’s grip tightened. "Ray... brother, talk to me—"

"She’s gone." Ray’s voice cracked, barely a whisper. "She’s... I lost her, Jay. I lost her."

The words broke something inside him. A sob tore from his chest—raw, agonizing, the sound of a man shattering from the inside out. His hands came up to cover his face, but they were trembling so violently he could barely hold them steady.

"I tried... I tried to save her... I thought if I could just—" His voice dissolved into broken gasps. "But she’s ’gone’. She looked at me and didn’t even... she didn’t even know who I was."

Jay’s face paled. His eyes darted to the black blood covering Ray’s clothes, to the bruises on his throat. "Ray... what did you do?"

"The experiment," Ray choked out. "I had to... she was dying, Jay. She was dying and I couldn’t—I couldn’t just watch her—"

"What experiment?!" Esme’s father’s voice boomed across the chasm, sharp with panic and fury. He stepped onto the spongy bridge, his wife clutching his arm. "What did you do to our daughter?!"

Ray flinched like he’d been struck. He couldn’t look at them. Couldn’t face the accusation in their voices.

"I tried to save her," he whispered. "I tried..."

Esme’s mother’s voice broke. "Where is she? Ray, where is my baby?!"

Silence.

Heavy. Crushing.

Ray’s hands dropped from his face, revealing red-rimmed eyes filled with a grief so profound it seemed to swallow all light. He looked up at them—at Esme’s parents standing at the edge of the bridge, at Jay kneeling beside him—and the truth spilled out like poison.

"She killed them all."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Esme’s father stumbled backward. "No... no, that’s not—"

"Everyone in the building above us," Ray continued, his voice hollow now, empty. "I heard the screams. I heard every single one. And I just... sat here. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t stop her."

Jay’s face drained of all color. "Brother... how many?"

Ray’s jaw clenched. His eyes squeezed shut. "I don’t know. Dozens. Maybe more."

Esme’s mother let out a strangled cry, collapsing against her husband. He caught her, but barely—his own legs looked ready to give out.

"This can’t be happening," she sobbed. "Not my Esme. Not my baby girl—"

"She’s not your daughter anymore." Ray’s voice came out flat, dead. "Whatever came out of that tank... it wasn’t her. It wore her face, had her body—but Esme is gone."

"No!" Esme’s mother screamed. "You’re lying! You did something to her! This is YOUR fault!"

Ray didn’t deny it. Didn’t defend himself.

Because she was right.

Jay’s hands gripped Ray’s shoulders harder, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Ray, listen to me. We need to find her. We need to stop her before—"

"Before what?" Ray’s laugh was bitter, broken. "Before she kills more people? She could have killed me, Jay. She had her hand around my throat, and I couldn’t... I wouldn’t fight back." His voice cracked again. "Even knowing what she’d become, I couldn’t hurt her."

"Then we get help," Jay said firmly. "We call the authorities, we—"

"ENOUGH"

Ray shouted.