The emergency lights flickered back on. Dim. Red. Unsettling.
Sophie’s breath came out uneven as her eyes locked onto the figure at the end of the hallway. Not Victor. Not a stranger. Someone else. Someone… familiar in a way that made her chest tighten.
The man stepped forward slowly, the sound of his shoes echoing against the floor with quiet precision.
Ethan didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t react. And that— That terrified her.
“You know them,” Sophie whispered.
It wasn’t a question. It didn’t need to be.
Ethan’s silence said everything. The man stepped fully into the light. Tall. Composed. Controlled. His presence wasn’t loud— But it was powerful. The kind that didn’t need to demand attention. It simply took it.
Sophie’s pulse spiked. She had never seen him before. But somehow— H
