Anya held her breath as the final words hung in the air, the weight of Ethan's confession echoing in the quiet cabin. He had escaped, leaving behind a life he abhorred, but the past, it seemed, had a long shadow. His connection to The Raven, his knowledge of their inner workings, was both a boon and a burden.
Anya grappled with a storm of emotions – anger at his deception, fear for the vulnerability it exposed, yet a flicker of understanding for the demons he carried. Her gaze swept over the photographs, searching for answers in the frozen moments of Ethan's past. His face, hardened by years of covert ops, softened briefly in a picture alongside Maya, a hint of a shared history etched in their smiles.
