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Chapter 74: Echoes of a Name

Author: Nuella King
last update Last Updated: 2025-08-02 01:36:54

Chapter 74: Echoes of a Name

Xander’s POV

I used to think silence was a kind of peace.

But in the past twenty-four hours, I’d learned otherwise.

Silence could be rage.

Silence could be grief.

Silence could be the scream of a soul unraveling.

Emma hadn't spoken since the photo.

She hadn’t cried, either.

She just folded into herself, like something small and soft curling away from a storm it couldn’t outrun. Even in sleep—if you could call that rest—she shivered beneath the covers, her fingers twitching like they remembered pain even if her mouth refused to speak it.

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched her breathe. One inhale. One exhale. Tense. Measured. Fragile.

And I made a decision.

This ends now.

---

Danielle was still up when I walked into the study.

She didn’t ask if I was okay.

She knew the answer.

“Talk to me,” I said.

She spun the laptop around. “I started with her stepfather. Dug deeper into his transactions. It wasn’t just hush money.”

She clicked, an
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