Chapter 128 Beneath the Silence

Katelyn’s POV I stood there for a while after Ethan left, still in the middle of the quiet,where all the tension of the last hour had just played out. The air felt thick, not just from the leftover heat of conflict, but from something heavier, disappointment. Questions lingered at the back of my throat like smoke refusing to clear. Xander was still inside the office, speaking with some of the remaining staff and checking the building’s security footage one last time. When I walked in, he looked surprised to see me, as if he hadn’t expected me to stay. “I figured you’d follow Ethan out,” he said. I shook my head slowly. “No. Not yet.” He ran a hand through his hair. His face looked tired, pale under the overhead lights. He’d aged in these last few weeks, or maybe just carried more weight than anyone had realized. After a pause, he gestured to a chair, and I sat down across from him. That’s when he told me everything. How the confrontation I had just witnessed, the one that looked so cha