Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 211

Chapter 211

Joseph sighed. He did not know what to tell her. He could not say it was fine because it was not. He could not say he understood and take her back because he would not. One thing he was sure of was that he was not getting back together with her. Whatever pity he felt, whatever gratitude he had for her joining the fight, whatever old affection still existed in some tired corner of him, it was not enough to rebuild trust from something this broken.

“Did we win?” she finally asked.

Joseph looked at her and shook his head.

Ashley began to cry. Not quietly this time. The tears came quickly, and he could see the guilt taking hold of her. She felt it was her/

fault. Maybe not all of it. Maybe she knew the attack was bigger than her. But Cynthia had been close to her. Cynthia had used that

closeness. Ashley had been foolish enough to stand near the fire and act surprised when it burned everyone.

“Did you tell Cynthia anything that might have helped her plan this attack?” he asked her.

Ashley shook her head immediately.

“She asked me if Ethan had his wolf, and I said yes. She asked where he was, and I said he was on vacation. I never gave her any

information to work with. Everything I told her were lies. Concocted stories. I guess she figured it out, and that was why she got

pissed that day and gave me an ultimatum,” Ashley said.

Joseph listened carefully.

“Maybe they had someone or some people in the house feeding them information. She suspected Ethan had no wolf and needed me

to confirm it. I know this might be crazy, but I think you should investigate your workers. You can always take back your pack from

them just like they took it from you, but you need to weed out the traitors,” she said,

Joseph nodded and stood up.

That, at least, was useful. It matched what Meadow would have feared. It matched Joseph’s own suspicion. Cynthia and Sebastien had known too much. If Ashley had fed them lies, then someone else had fed them truth. Someone inside the house. Staff. Warriors.

Maybe both. The thought made him feel cold again, but it also gave him direction.

Ashley watched him stand, and he saw the emptiness enter her face. She knew the conversation was ending. Maybe she knew more

than that. Maybe she knew he was leaving a part of them behind in that room.

“Will you come to check on me again?” she asked, afraid that would be it.

Joseph looked at her. For a moment, he saw the woman before all the schemes. The friend. The lover. The person who had fought when he needed help. Then he saw the lie again. The fake pregnancy. The manipulation. The months of trying to trap him with a

child that did not exist.

He nodded.

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Wed, Jun

Chapter 211

“We were friends before all this. Of course, I will check on you again, but I must go home now,” he said.

Ashley nodded with longing in her heart. She did not try to argue. She did not beg him to stay. Maybe she finally understood that some damage could not be fixed by tears.

She wondered how she had messed her life up.

Claire growled in her head, and she silenced her wolf. She was not going to try to get him back. There was no peace in being with a man she had lied to and schemed just to remain in his life. There was no victory in holding on to someone through deception. She

had wanted to win, but this was what winning wrongly looked like. A hospital bed. An empty chest. A man walking away gently

because even anger had limits when something was already dead.

Joseph got home at the right time because Ethan had just arrived with everyone at the cabin.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna