Chapter 1405:


    Jarrod’s lips twitched faintly, the motion caught between self-mockery and a quiet farewell.


    “I’m nothing but a failure…” His voice came out as a whisper, barely scraping the air. “I can’t aplish anything, can’t read people’s intentions, can’t protect the ones I’m supposed to… And all I’ve ever done is hurt Maia again and again…”


    His body folded as he slowly bent forward, hands bracing on his knees, shoulders trembling without pause.


    “I’m sorry, Maia. Everything is my fault. I’m not worthy of being called your older brother,” he murmured. His vision swam as tears suddenly welled up.


    He raised a hand to wipe them, but more spilled over the moment he touched his face.


    “I’ve never seeded at anything in my entire life. But it’s alright…” He drew in a shaky breath, forcing the suffocating weight in his chest back down. “If today’s assassination really yed out, it’d be the one thing I regret for the rest of my life.”


    He stared at the tear streaking across the back of his hand, the corridor light catching on the droplet and scattering it into a faint, ghostly shimmer.


    “Maia… you never owed the Morgans anything. It’s us—the Morgan family—who owe you more than we could ever repay.”


    Her name slipped from him so softly it seemed afraid to disturb even the stillness in the air.


    Jarrod lifted his head then, eyes rimmed red, but a chill steadily settling into his gaze.


    He hurled curses at Rosanna in the privacy of his mind—every part of this disaster had her fingerprints on it.


    Whatever twisted reason she’d had—jealousy, spite, or something darker—there was no excuse for endangering their parents.


    There would be no forgiveness for her.


    A reckoning was long overdue.


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    Jarrod’s jaw tightened, as though he had finally embraced the choice he’d been avoiding.


    Even without a rifle, the crossbow would be enough.


    Pulling himself together, he turned and began walking toward the elevator.


    His footsteps came quicker—lighter—as if shedding a burden with every stride.


    “Ding!” The elevator doors began to close.


    Just before they sealed shut, Ethan suddenly twisted around, startled by an odd sensation he couldn’t exin.


    How strange!


    Why did it feel as if someone’s gaze had been burning into his back a moment ago?


    A heavy, indescribable pressure still clung to him like a shadow.


    Ethan narrowed his eyes, scanning the corridor—but nothing was there.


    Just then, his phone buzzed sharply in his hand.


    Mnie’s name lit up the screen.


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