Chapter 295
Chapter 295
Ethan’s face filled the central monitor, and the urgency in his expression immediately silenced every conversation inside the observation room. He was no longer looking toward the camera with quiet restraint. Instead, his eyes repeatedly shifted beyond the observatory gates as though he were tracking movements that no one else could see.
Kayla stepped closer to the screen without realizing she had moved.
“Ethan…”
The name escaped her lips almost as a whisper.
For a brief moment, Ethan’s eyes settled on the camera. Although they were separated by reinforced walls, surveillance systems, and years of unanswered questions, Kayla felt as though he were looking directly at her.
“You heard the recording,” he said.
His voice remained calm, but beneath that calmness lay exhaustion that could not be hidden.
Kayla nodded instinctively before remembering that he could not see her clearly.
“Yes.”
Ethan lowered his head for a moment.
“I hoped you would.”
Jason remained close enough that his shoulder brushed against hers. He had not interrupted because he wanted to hear every word Ethan had to say, but every instinct told him to be prepared for the unexpected. He trusted Kayla completely, yet he had not learned enough about Ethan to place the same confidence in him.
Arthur stepped forward.
“If you’re here to talk, then explain why you’ve spent years hiding.”
Ethan gave a faint, humorless smile.
“I wasn’t hiding.”
His answer puzzled everyone.
“I was being hidden.”
The room became quiet again.
There was no bitterness in his voice, only resignation.
“I didn’t know who I was until three years ago,” Ethan continued. “Everything I believed about my childhood came from people who wanted me to believe it.”
Marcus folded his arms.
“And who were those people?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I only knew them by one name.”
“What name?” Charles asked.
“The Circle.”
Arthur’s expression immediately darkened.
He exchanged a glance with Evelyn, who had gone noticeably pale.
Kayla caught the exchange.
“You’ve heard of them.”
Evelyn slowly nodded.
“I hoped they no longer existed.”
Jason looked from one face to another.
“Someone explain.”
Arthur released a slow breath.
“The Circle existed long before Sebastian Kane built his network. They never sought power publicly because they preferred controlling the people who held it. Governments, corporations, criminal organizations… they infiltrated all of them without leaving their own names behind.”
Marcus frowned.
“And they raised Ethan?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Arthur answered carefully.
Ethan looked directly into the camera.
“They did.”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
“I was taught that my family abandoned me,” Ethan continued. “I was told my mother chose power instead of her son, and I was taught that my sister would one day become exactly like the people who destroyed our lives.”
Kayla felt her heart tighten.
“And you believed them.”
“I had no reason not to.”
His honesty caught everyone off guard.
Jason watched Ethan carefully. There was no hatred in his expression when he looked at Kayla. There was regret, confusion, and years of unanswered questions, but not hatred.
Something about that realization eased a small part of the tension Jason had been carrying since Ethan appeared.
Noor suddenly looked up from her workstation.
“The unidentified heat signatures are moving.”
Every head turned toward her.
She enlarged the thermal display.
The figures hidden within the eastern forest were no longer standing still. They were moving carefully between the trees, closing the distance toward Ethan one measured step at a time.
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“They’ve been waiting for him.”
Ethan heard the conversation through the still-active transmission.
“They found me faster than I expected.”
Kayla frowned.
“Who found you?”
He looked over his shoulder before answering.
“The people who don’t want us speaking.”
Jason immediately stepped toward the communication console.
“Then get inside.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“It isn’t that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I move toward the observatory, they’ll open fire.”
The words landed heavily inside the room.
Marcus looked back at the thermal display.
“They’re using him as bait.”
Ethan nodded.
“They’ve done it before.”
Kayla’s chest tightened.
Without thinking, she reached for Jason’s hand.
He intertwined his fingers with hers immediately.
She looked up at him.
“We can’t leave him out there.”
Jason met her gaze.
Every protective instinct inside him urged him to refuse.
Everything about the situation screamed trap.
Yet another part of him saw something else.
A frightened man standing alone against enemies neither side fully understood.
He slowly turned toward Arthur.
“If we do nothing, he’ll die.”
Arthur remained silent.
No one in the room could deny the truth of Jason’s words.
Outside the observatory, Ethan slowly took a step backward without taking his eyes off the dark forest surrounding him. The night had become unnaturally quiet. Even the wind seemed to have disappeared.
Then the silence broke.
A single gunshot echoed through the trees.
Ethan reacted instantly, diving behind a concrete security barrier as the bullet shattered one of the perimeter lights behind him.
The observation room erupted into motion.
Noor immediately switched every available camera toward the eastern perimeter while Marcus reached for his weapon.
Arthur began issuing orders to the security teams stationed throughout the observatory.
Kayla’s heart pounded violently as she searched the monitors for any sign of Ethan.
Smoke drifted across one of the cameras, partially obscuring the view.
When it finally cleared, Ethan was still alive.
But he was no longer alone.
Several armed figures had emerged from the tree line and were advancing toward him with disciplined precision.
The security teams inside the observatory watched the unfolding scene in stunned silence as the armed men continued their slow advance. Ethan remained behind the concrete barrier, carefully assessing every movement around him instead of firing recklessly. It was obvious that he was trying to avoid a confrontation, but the group closing in on him had no intention of allowing him to leave alive. Kayla’s breathing became uneven as she gripped Jason’s hand more tightly. Every instinct urged her to run outside and help her brother, yet she knew that acting without a plan could place everyone she loved in even greater danger.