A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 575

Chapter 563

FAYE

The drive back was quieter than the one that had brought us here.

+25 Points

After everything we had seen at the eastern border, I think both Alexander and I had enough on our minds to keep us occupied.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

I was looking out of the window, watching the scenery pass by, when Alexander’s voice broke through the silence.

“So… who’s your friend?”

I turned toward him.

“My friend?”

He glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the road.

“The girl you spoke to before we left.”

It took me a moment before I realized who he meant.

“Andrea?”

Alexander gave a small look.

I looked back at the road ahead.

“She isn’t really my friend.”

There was something about the way I said it that made him glance at me again.

“Her name is Andrea,” I explained. “She’s Vince’s daughter.”

Alexander’s eyes narrowed slightly, like he was searching through his memory.

“Vince?”

I nodded.

“The one who was brought in with Jacob.”

A faint look of recognition crossed his face.

717

<Chapter 563

For some reason, he looked slightly amused.

Before he could ask, I already knew what he was wondering.

“She came to the pack house when her father and the others were brought in.”

I folded my hands together.

+25 Points

“She wanted to see you, but she couldn’t get the chance. She ended up meeting me instead.”

Alexander nodded casually.

I could tell he had already connected the pieces.

The information I had brought to him before.

The things Andrea had told me.

The concerns I had raised.

It suddenly made sense to him where some of it had come from.

“I see,” he said.

I looked at him.

“I don’t know anything about Vince, though.”

I paused.

“But Andrea herself… she’s a good girl.”

A small smirk appeared on Alexander’s face.

“You know that after interacting with her twice?”

I shrugged.

“Something like that.”

I looked away, pretending not to notice the amusement in his expression.

After a moment, his expression became very serious again.

“What are we going to do about the eastern border?” I asked.

Alexander remained silent for a minute.

“I wish I had all the answers. So many things are wrong at the same time.”

207

< Chapter 563

His voice broke the silence.

I turned slightly toward him as he continued.

+25 Points

“The water situation is the worst. I remember going through the proposal before signing it.”

He kept his eyes on the road.

“The funds released were enough for a proper system. Not something temporary. Not something that would crash within a few months.”

He paused.

“They didn’t build what I approved.” There was no hesitation in his voice.

“They went with a cheaper option,” I added. “It explains why it failed so quickly.”

His grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly before relaxing again.

“To think that Ambrose submitted every progress report on that project,” Alexander said.

I looked at him.

“Every stage was accounted for. Every inspection was marked as completed. Every report that reached my office confirmed that the project had been executed according to the approved specifications, with picture evidence,” he said.

He exhaled slowly.

“There was nothing in those reports that suggested anything was wrong.”

The disappointment in his voice was subtle, but I heard it.

“The moment the system failed, that report should have reached me.”

His expression hardened slightly.

“I should have been informed immediately.”

He looked ahead.

“But they couldn’t do that.”

I understood why.

Because the moment Alexander saw that report, he would have asked questions. Questions about why a project that had received enough funding for a stable, long–term

317

<Chapter 563

solution had failed after such a short period.

Questions about where the resources went.

Questions that would expose everything.

+25 Points

“They covered it up,” I said quietly. “They left the people to manage a broken system for almost three months.”

The thought made my chest tighten.

Three months.

Three months of people struggling with a problem that should never have existed.

“And the worst part,” Alexander continued, “is that they were made to believe the report had already reached me.”

His voice remained controlled.

“That I knew what was happening.”

He paused.

“That I was simply ignoring them.”

I looked away from him, staring out the window.

It was difficult not to feel angry.

What angered me was how carefully the truth had been twisted.

They weren’t given the chance to hear from Alexander.

Alexander wasn’t given the chance to hear from them.

Someone had created a distance between both sides and used that distance to control the story… and the money, apparently.

“I still can’t believe how deep this goes,” I said quietly. “It’s disgusting.”

Alexander didn’t answer immediately.

When he finally spoke, his voice was colder.

“But now I know where this started.”

I turned toward him.

417

<Chapter 563

“And I know those I need to hold accountable first.”

The conversation eventually faded, leaving the car quiet again.

By then, the sky outside had already begun to darken.

The last traces of daylight disappeared slowly, replaced by the glow of the road lights passing by us.

I hadn’t realized how tired I actually was until my body started giving in.

The day had been longer than I expected.

It had taken more out of me than I wanted to admit.

I leaned back against the seat, intending to simply rest for a moment.

That was the last thing I remembered.

The next thing I heard was Alexander’s voice.

“Faye.”

I opened my eyes slowly, still trying to understand where I was.

“We’re home.”

For a moment, I just stared ahead, confused by how much time had passed.

Then reality came back.

The familiar surroundings.

The warmth of the car.

The fact that I had apparently fallen asleep without even realizing it.

I turned slightly toward Alexander.

He had already turned off the engine and was looking at me with a faint expression of amusement.

I sat up properly, brushing away the sleepiness.

“I fell asleep?”

His mouth curved slightly.

“Apparently.”

+25 Points