Chapter 145

• Marcel’s POV
• Since the incident at the factory, management had granted all staff a week off—an unexpected break that I honestly welcomed. I needed time to reset, to process everything that had happened, and more than anything, to be around my family.
• Ella had already dropped Evelyn off at school, leaving just Kyle and me at home. The house felt quieter than usual, the kind of calm that settles in after a storm. I was sitting on the couch, nursing my thoughts, when Kyle walked in from the kitchen with two cold cans of beer. Without a word, he handed one to me and then took a seat at the other end of the couch.