Chapter 142

• Marcel's POV
• I got home from work, my boots dragging slightly with each step as mental exhaustion clung to me like a second skin. The incident at the factory still gnawed at the edges of my mind. I had been careful—calculated, even—but the risk I took to save that man had been too close. I just needed to walk through the door and feel the warmth of home—the laughter of my daughter, the soft embrace of Ella, the comforting chaos of family life. That was all I needed to drown the weight of the world.
• But the moment I stepped inside, I knew something was wrong.