Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“You think because you went to therapy and cried about your mistakes, you’re some kind of saint.”
“No.”
Ryan leaned forward.
“You hurt people too.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
Marcus continued.
“I did.”
Ryan hesitated.
Marcus looked directly into his eyes.
“And I paid for it.”
Silence.
“I lost my job. I lost my marriage. I hurt someone who still lives with the consequences.”
Jason Cole stepped into the room.
Nobody had noticed him arriving.
Ryan froze.
Jason walked slowly toward the cage.
His limp was visible.
He stopped beside Marcus.
“Hello, Ryan.”
Ryan stared.
“What are you doing here?”
Jason looked at him.
“I wanted to hear what you had to say.”
Ryan swallowed.
Jason continued.
“You know, I spent a long time hating Marcus.”
Marcus looked down.
Jason turned toward him.
“I still have days when I do.”
The room went silent.
Then Jason looked back at Ryan.
“But Marcus apologized.”
Ryan said nothing.
“He accepted what he did.”
Jason stepped closer.
“You never did.”
Ryan’s expression changed.
He looked toward Victor.
“This is ridiculous.”
Jason shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward his leg.
“This is ridiculous.”
Ryan looked away.
Jason continued.
“You wanted a video. You wanted people to laugh. And when everything went wrong, you disappeared.”
Ryan suddenly shouted:
“I DIDN’T HIT YOU!”
Jason stopped.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Jason nodded.
“You’re right.”
Ryan looked confused.
Jason continued.
“You didn’t hit me.”
He pointed toward Marcus.
“He did.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Jason took another step.
“But you lit the match.”
Ryan stared at him.
“And you’ve been pretending you had nothing to do with the fire ever since.”
The silence that followed was heavier than any punch.
Then Ryan did something nobody expected.
He laughed.
A short, ugly laugh.
“You all came here to make me apologize?”
Victor answered.
“Yes.”
Ryan turned.
Victor stood straight.
“You owe Emily an apology. You owe Caleb an apology. And you owe everyone who trusted this gym an explanation.”
Ryan stared.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“Then you’re done here.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
“Your contract is terminated.”
Ryan laughed again.
“You can’t.”
“I can.”
“You’ll regret it.”
Victor looked at him.
“Maybe.”
He paused.
“But I’ll regret keeping you more.”
Ryan stared around the room.
Nobody defended him.
For the first time in years, he had no audience willing to laugh.
No camera framing him as the hero.
No crowd waiting for someone else to be humiliated.
Only people who had finally stopped pretending his behavior was harmless.
Ryan turned toward Marcus.
His face twisted.
“This is your fault.”
Marcus shook his head.
