Chapter 26 · You signed the silence order

He flinched.

Celine saw it. Saw the old bruise in the movement. Ethan had told her part of the truth the night before. He had worked with Vault Bio's ethics team. He had found the Blackwater files. He had known something was wrong.

And when she asked why he hadn't saved her, he gave her the answer that had been sitting in her skull ever since.

Because you told me not to.

Now Mira looked at him like she wanted him to choke on it.

"You signed the silence order," Mira said. "You watched them wheel us underground. Then you let Celine shut the whole thing down."

"I didn't let her do anything."

"No? You were her fiance. Her little conscience with a nice jacket. She said jump, you asked how high."

Celine turned on him. "Did you sign it?"

Ethan didn't answer.

"Ethan."

"Yes."

The word hit harder than it should have.

Mira came back to the glass. "He signed because your mother had proof he accessed restricted patient data. You signed because you wanted the trial finished. I signed because they promised us we could go home.