Chapter 191: We need evidence

Max's POV Now that Aurora was gone, the air in the room felt even heavier, thick with unspoken accusations and the raw sting of our collective failure. The flickering light from the oil lamps seemed to intensify, casting the deep lines of fatigue and worry on my face into stark relief. I felt a profound weariness settle into my bones, born not of physical exertion, but of the crushing weight of having been so profoundly, dangerously wrong. Maya stood before us, her stance still unsteady, yet radiating an undeniable power. She clutched the note like a sacred relic, a testament to her truth and our blindness. Her eyes, still blazing with indignation, moved between Leo and me. I could feel the uncomfortable heat rising in my cheeks. I, Max, the leader, the man of decisive action and unshakeable judgment, had been exposed. Not by an enemy, but by someone I was sworn to protect, by my flawed logic and misplaced trust in my authority. "We were… operating under the assumption that the raiders