Author’s POVAs Hannah slipped away from the crowd, she went to a corner away from the crowd and pulled out her phone, dialing Clint’s number with shaking fingers.She didn’t think she could trust him, but Clint was the only person who could get her the answers and help she needed.As soon as the phone rang, he picked up, his voice urgent and unsteady, “Mrs. Ford? Is everything okay?”Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking this over again, and then sighed,“I need your help, Clint,” she whispered. “There was a man here tonight at the party. He has information that I need from him, which is why I’m going to need you to find him.” Clint let out a low sigh, his voice edged with frustration. It seemed despite his warning, Hannah was still bent on putting herself into trouble.“Hannah, you're going to have to stop this. Don’t you see how risky all of this is?”Hannah closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall, her mind spinning. Clint was right, this was spiraling out of co
Author’s POVRight at that moment, Hannah caught sight of Ethan on the balcony, and her anger grew. She had found out more about him in the last hour than she had this whole time, and even when she could turn a blind eye to what the girls had said earlier, learning that Ethan was already engaged deeply upset her.She stormed toward him immediately and pulled him away,“What the hell Ethan! Were you planning on ever telling me that you’ve been engaged before?” She snapped, her voice rising.Ethan stared at her deeply, his eyes flashing with anger. It was subtle, barely noticeable but it left her with an uneasy feeling that settled deep in her stomach.However, she was too pissed herself to care about the intensity in his eyes. She held his gaze, her eyes narrowed slightly as if she were trying to see through him.“Say something!” She blurted angrily.Ethan was about to say something, but when he noticed another guest approach them, he broke eye contact, even then, Hannah could still fe
Author’s POVAs Hannah walked away, she stood at a distance and took a deep breath, hardening her resolve. She would find Lily and get the answers she needed, no matter the cost. As she stood there, her phone suddenly vibrated and she quickly retrieved it and checked the message. At a glance, she could tell it was the same psycho from the party. His words sounded ominous,“The truth is closer than you think. Meet me tomorrow night if you want to know what it is.”Her heart leaped with excitement but just as quickly disappeared, replied by an anxious expression. The man knew too much already. And if he could find her, he could likely find her husband, Ethan too. The more she thought about it, the more dangerous and complicated this could get, and the thought terrified her. She had just realized what she was walking into, only that she couldn’t back down now.She took a deep breath and looked around, checking for any sights of Ethan, she didn’t want to run into the man again, especial
Author’s POVEthan scoffed upon hearing this, “It seems you can’t if you’re just going to get yourself into dangerous situations. Someone has to watch you, Hannah, if not you’re just going to end up in a mess you can’t get yourself out of.”“Like this marriage,” Hannah interjected coldly.Those words hit Ethan low, and he paused for a moment, his face flushed with anger, but he composed himself and said nothing for some moment.Then he shifted his gaze, cold and stern toward Hannah, “You’ve been lying to me. Sneaking around behind my back. How many times, Hannah?”Hannah’s face immediately flushed with anger, as if she had finally been pushed to a curb, “You’re one to talk about honesty,” she shot back.“You keep secrets – you keep secrets about your life, about your business, about your friends and exes. I don’t even know who you are. Is anything about you even real?” She snapped.The car suddenly jerked to a stop over a deserted street, and the abrupt silence that followed was deafe
Author’s POVWith a shaky breath, Hannah crossed the room and picked up her phone, her thumb hovering over Grace’s number.She wanted to call her, tell her to stop digging for information on Ethan, to let this whole thing go before it unraveled any further.But as she was about to pick up the phone and send the text, a notification pinged at the top of her screen, making her heart skip in fear.It was a text. From an unknown number. Hannah’s hands trembled slightly as she opened it, her hands froze as she read the text, “Something happened tonight, didn’t it? Meet me tomorrow night. No more hiding.” She felt a chill run down her spine as she read the words over and over, her mind racing thinking about the implications. The mysterious stranger had not yet given up, instead, this was just getting more serious. She stared at the screen, her hand hanging in the air, hesitantly.She did not know what to do at that time. Her mind whirled with questions, about Ethan, about Lily, the hidden
Author’s POVBy the time Ethan returned to the mansion that evening, the weight of his father’s words was still heavy on him. As he walked through the grand hall, he felt tense, afraid that everything might collapse on him.He knew he could disobey his father, uncertain that the man might even make it out of this, but everything he now had to do was constantly suffocating him, and this marriage. This marriage just made everything a lot more heavy to bear. It didn’t matter if he was tired, no one would care even if he said something. All that was required of him was to fulfill his father’s legacy by carrying on his responsibilities, both in the family and in the business.For Ethan, it was all too much at this point. With the pressures he had to face day in and day out, the person he was forced to be, he felt like a side of him was fading away like he was losing control.He walked through the grand hall of his mansion, his footsteps echoing as he walked past rooms he could barely reco
Author’s POVHannah remained dumbfounded at this point, not sure what to say. She felt her heart twist painfully, guilt gnawing at her. The whole reason for this was to uncover the truth about Lily and to use Ethan’s world as her means to that end. But standing here now, seeing the vulnerability in his eyes, she realized just how tangled this whole situation and her feelings had become.Before she could respond, a sudden vibration from her pocket broke the silence. Her blood ran cold. Without checking, she knew who the message was from. The mysterious figure was still watching her, still closing in, and now Ethan was questioning her as well.His expression hardened as he caught the flash of fear in her eyes. “What’s going on, Hannah?” He asked, his tone sharp.“Who are you hiding from?” Hannah opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. She was caught between the truth she couldn’t share and the growing connection she couldn’t deny. But with Ethan’s patience thinning and
Author’s POVFinding out that there was truly a connection between Lily and Ethan devastated Hannah, she remained quiet for a while, looking at Ethan with pure horror on her face. She shifted her gaze away from Ethan for a while, trying to process this, and then suddenly she opened her mouth to talk, but the words remained stuck in her throat.After a while, she slowly pulled her wrist from his grip, but his hand lingered in the air, curling as if still trying to hold on to her touch.Reluctantly, Hannah sat beside him, brushing her hand over his as Ethan’s breath steadied. She stayed there, unable to pull herself away, her heart thudding painfully in her chest.At that moment, she could not help but wonder. Was this who he was when his guard fell? Was this the real Ethan beneath the steel exterior? She was starting to see cracks, pieces of his real self forming together, exposing a hidden vulnerability, but somehow seeing this part of him only made it harder. At that moment, she w
Author’s POV“What is a letter doing here?” Hannah wondered, still staring at the letter curiously. After a while, she approached the dress, gently picked it up, and observed the intricate designs, and then her gaze shifted back to the letter. Hannah heaved a deep sigh, glancing at the door. At first, she thought it was Ethan, but they shared a room and Hannah could not imagine what it was he had to say that he just couldn’t say to her. Slowly, she picked up the letter and tore open the seal. However, as soon as she noticed who it was from, she froze in shock and the letter fell right out of her hands. Without thinking, Hannah turned and ran out of the room into the hallway, scanning her eyes around hoping to find the waitress from before, but she was too late, she was already gone. After some more time searching the hallways and trying to describe the waitress from earlier even though she had barely gotten a good look at her, Hannah finally gave up and returned to her room.She pace
Author’s POV“You want me to do what?!” Hannah exclaimed, the weight of the words still hanging in the air.She could feel her heart racing already from the thought of it. Her relationship with Ethan was already rocky enough as it was, the last thing she wanted to do was to complicate that with a kiss. “Come on, Hannah, this shouldn’t be difficult to do. All I’m asking is that you kiss your husband. How difficult could that be?” He replied with a hint of sarcasm.Hannah paced around the room frantically. She was afraid when she came to this party, knowing she’d have to act unnaturally close to Ethan to sell off their act as a real married couple, but she never expected that she’d have to kiss him.Things had just escalated quickly. “I can’t do it. I won’t.” Hannah replied sharply.A deep sigh returned on the other end of the line, and then went silent for a while. “Hannah, look we both have to do things we don’t want to do to get what we want. You of all people should know that. Yo
Author’s POV“You want me to do what?!” Hannah exclaimed, the weight of the words still hanging in the air.She could feel her heart racing already from the thought of it. Her relationship with Ethan was already rocky enough as it was, the last thing she wanted to do was to complicate that with a kiss. “Come on, Hannah, this shouldn’t be difficult to do. All I’m asking is that you kiss your husband. How difficult could that be?” He replied with a hint of sarcasm.Hannah paced around the room frantically. She was afraid when she came to this party, knowing she’d have to act unnaturally close to Ethan to sell off their act as a real married couple, but she never expected that she’d have to kiss him.Things had just escalated quickly. “I can’t do it. I won’t.” Hannah replied sharply.A deep sigh returned on the other end of the line, and then went silent for a while. “Hannah, look we both have to do things we don’t want to do to get what we want. You of all people should know that. Yo
Author’s POV“How do you know Liam?” Hannah repeated, sensing a hidden truth there. Julienne hesitated for a while, and then said, “Liam? He’s just my brother’s annoying old friend.” She replied.Hannah was not convinced but she accepted Julienne’s explanation.“What did you say Ethan was doing?” Julienne asked curiously.“He has been staring at his old friend as if he wants to drill a hole through his head, and he’s not subtle about how he feels about Liam either. I’m afraid he’s going to ruin this deal he’s trying to sign, and spend the rest of the trip making it uncomfortable for everyone, which just so happens to be only me,” Hannah complained.“Can you talk to him, get him to bury this Liam thing before the party? It’s in a couple of hours and I’ll appreciate if Ethan isn’t cranky the whole time.”Julienne remained quiet for a while, as if thinking over it, and then said “Alright. I’ll see how I can help.” But before Hannah could say anything, she quickly added, “Do you know wha
Author’s POV“Okay, what’s this thing with you and Liam?” Hannah asked as soon as they stepped inside.“Can we not talk about it? I’m not really in the mood.” Ethan said dismissively.“We can drop it if you stop acting like a jerk around him.” She sneered.Ethan took one look at her and threw up his arms in frustration, “How do you even know that loser?”“What? Liam? He worked with me at the Nightclub.” Hannah replied.When Ethan heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. “Did you say he worked with you at the nightclub?” He repeated.“Yes, what’s the matter?” “Nothing,” Ethan gave in and went to the room, grabbed another duvet, and brought it back to the living room. “Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. You should get some rest, Hannah.” Ethan said and laid on the couch. Hannah remained frozen, staring at him for a while, and then sighed and walked away.She returned to the room and looked without checking her phone, she went back to bed.***The next morning, Ethan was awoken by th
Author’s POVHannah stormed out of the room with no hesitation. Her mind was racing uncontrollably, and all she wanted was a little break to just process everything. She strode towards the balcony, overlooking the view of the river behind it. Liam stood at the corner of the hallway, watching her intently, and then summoned a smile, and slowly approached her.Hannah gasped in shock when she suddenly saw him,“Liam,” she exhaled.“What are you doing here?” Liam ignored her and just slowly approached her with a smile on his face,“Sorry, Hannah. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He paused and stared at her deeply as if trying to note something.“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hannah’s brow raised uncomfortably as she looked at him.“Does he know?” Liam asked with curiosity.Hannah shot her gaze away, confused by what Liam was asking. Seeing her perplexed expression, Liam smirked and stepped closer to the balcony, tracing his fingers along the cold metal rail.“Your husband, Ethan. I
Author’s POV“Liam?” Hannah called, still in shock. “What are you doing here?” She added as Liam suddenly stopped in front of her. “It’s nice to see you again Hannah, you didn’t even inform us at the nightclub that you were quitting your job,” Liam said teasingly.Hannah look flustered. She still couldn’t believe that Liam was standing in front of her. How did he even get into an exclusive event like this?‘Liam must have scored a very sweet gig here.’ She thought, looking around the place again.“I’m sorry Liam, it all just kind of happened so fast,” Hannah said and quickly added, changing the conversation, “So are you here on a job?” She asked and a wry smile appeared across Liam’s face. However, just as he was about to say something, Ethan emerged from the other end of the hallway and became instantly furious, “You!” He sneered angrily, approaching Liam.Immediately Hannah saw the stern expression on Ethan’s face she could tell something was wrong. She quickly got out of the way,
Author’s POV“Allow me to show you the inside,” Ethan said and led Hannah into the jet.After they entered the jet, Ethan gestured and the air hostesses brought a bottle of champagne.Ethan shifted his gaze to Hannah again and a smile flashed on his face. He could sense the shift in tension and the ease that was quickly settling in between them.“I know this week has been tense and difficult, but can we try to be relaxed around each other? We might just have a good time if we give it a try.” Ethan said earnestly.Hannah hesitated for a while, unsure what to say. Ethan drove a good bargain – the jet, the expensive wine. If she didn’t know better she would think that he was flirting with her. Hannah decided to temporarily ignore the rift between them, at least for the entirety of their flight. Surprisingly, the atmosphere of the jet suddenly changed. Hannah and Ethan engaged frequently in casual conversations, Hannah occasionally taking notes of certain things she liked about it.The w
Author’s POVThe moment they had both dreaded the whole week had arrived. Today was the departure date for the merger party and contract signing in Vienna. Hannah and Ethan had avoided each other for the rest of the week since Hannah’s bold accusations, which Ethan found too true, and ended up feeling mocked.That morning Clint packed their necessary luggage and pulled the car over to the front entrance, waiting nervously for Ethan and Hannah.Evidence of their tension was visible enough for everybody to see, and no one dared to interfere.Hannah descended the stairs with regular pants and a shirt, looking shabby. When all the maids saw this, they feared that Ethan was going to blow over, however, as they stood around, waiting for his reaction, they were surprised. Ethan just heaved a sigh and ignored Hannah. He already had too much on his mind and did not need another reason just to pick a fight with her. For all he cared, Hannah could wear sweatpants and he wouldn’t mind.The maids