Chapter 262

When his gaze brushed past Celestia Brooks, those deep eyes paused for a split second. A flicker of guilt flashed across them. Then he glanced at Victoria Owens, who looked absolutely stunned, and finally, his eyes locked on Jareth Carrington, who stood nervously behind them. Jareth had seen it coming, but the timing still caught him off guard. Since last night, he’d known this moment would come—but still, for Marlow Ryan to show up right when they were about to leave? That was brutal. He was frozen in place like he'd been struck by lightning. Celestia, on the other hand, looked calm as ever. Her face gave nothing away, eyes cool, unreadable. When she noticed Marlow's stare shift toward Jareth, she even took a silent step to the side, giving him room to step forward. Victoria still hadn’t registered the shift in atmosphere, her face full of confusion. “Mr. Ryan, what brings you here...?” Victoria asked carefully. Her mind flashed back to the comment Celestia had made a moment earlier t