I should’ve just stayed in bed, and I wasn't even kidding.I knew today was going to be a mess the second I woke up, and the drama that happened just proved everything to be true. To make matters worse, I was already running late. My hair wouldn’t cooperate and stay in a freaking bun, my shirt had a wrinkle that refused to smooth out, and to top it all off, Ethan still hadn’t replied to my text.Looked like I was having the worst day on planet fucking Earth.I was checking my phone the whole ride to work, waiting for a reply from Ethan, or even a call from my mother telling me that what happened yesterday was one of her crazy attention-seeking stunts.But something told me that it wasn't.I checked my phone again, and still—nothing. The one time I needed Ethan to actually text me, he hadn’t sent a single reply.“Are you okay, miss?” The taxi driver asked, and I could see him watching me from the rearview mirror and he wasn't even hiding the fact that he was watching me.Jeez. Was I re
“Can you please let me in? I’m already late, and you know how Mr. Blackwood gets with his employees being late”I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice, but the way she was looking at me like she knew something I didn’t made my skin itch.Her smirk widened at the mention of Ethan's name. “Rough morning?”I blinked, caught off guard. “You… could say that.”Oh, she had no idea how rough my morning had been.She hummed, eyes lingering on me in that irritating, knowing way. “Mmm.”What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was a ‘mmm’ going to get me inside? I clenched my jaw, my patience running very low. “So… Can you let me in?”She tapped a perfectly manicured nail against the desk, her smirk deepening. “Are you sure you belong here?”I pressed my hand on my forehead wanting to scream out my frustration at her.What. The. Hell.Didn’t she just call me by my name a minute ago?I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice as if she was about to let m
Everyone went dead silent but it looked as if Rachel wasn't done speaking. “But do you know what I can tell you? This is workplace harassment, and I will find out who’s responsible.”I have never seen her acting so vicious, if there was anything it was only now that she looked like she was actually related to Ethan. “You want to talk about immunity, let’s talk about company policy, shall we? Because last I checked, cyberbullying, workplace harassment, and slander are all grounds for termination.”Rachel’s eyes swept the room, daring anyone to challenge her. No one did.“That’s what I thought,” she said coldly. “Now get back to work before I make sure HR has a very busy afternoon.”With that, she grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me out of the office, my legs moving on autopilot as she led me toward the elevator. I didn’t protest. I didn’t have it in me.The elevator doors slid shut, sealing us in silence.Rachel exhaled sharply through her nose, arms crossed tightly over her c
I was curled up on the couch, still a sobbing mess while I checked my phone every passing second but it was still the same thing. My phone was silent and there were no new messages or any calls at all from him.Rachel was in the kitchen, making tea like it could fix this. even the scent of chamomile did nothing to calm the riot in my head.We heard a knock on the door, Rachel immediately snapped her head up but I didn't move.She looked like she was ready to punch on who was knocking as the knock was becoming more louder and persistent.Rachel walked to the door, glancing at the peephole before letting out a bitter laugh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”I already knew who it was.She yanked the door open but didn’t step aside. Ethan stood there, hands shoved in his pockets, still looking very but together.“I need to see Sophie,” he said as his voice was calm and controlled.She crossed her arms looking very fierce. “And I need you to leave.”“Rachel I-.”She cut him off rudely
Ethan I never expected Sophie to tell me to get out. Not like that with her voice shaking, her eyes red and glassy, looking as if I had betrayed her in the worst way possible and the worst part was that I couldn’t even blame her. Because when everything went to hell, I wasn’t there. I clenched my jaw, storming toward my car, my body shaking with barely restrained rage. My fists slammed against the roof of the vehicle before I opened the car door so hard that you would think it was the cause of my problem. “Fucking Rachel,” I muttered under my breath, my little sister can be dramatic most times and I had no time for her theatrics nor her judgement. Someone had humiliated Sophie and dragged her through the mud in front of the entire company. The person had gone damn far by taking our private moments and turning them into a goddamn public spectacle. And I was going to find out who it was. I pulled out my phone, forcing myself to look at the pictures again, even though they made
Ethan “Alex used an internal login,” he said, voice tight. “But he didn’t hack in himself. Someone gave him access.”My jaw tightened. “Who?”Daniel exhaled sharply, pulling up a log file. “It was a shared admin password. Only a few people have it—IT leads, security personnel…” He hesitated. “And interns who’ve worked in the department.”“Who could have given it to him?”Daniel didn't reply immediately; he was still fixated on his computer. “Give me time boss, this kind of thing takes time.” “Fine, I need everything about Alex.”Daniel blinked. “Everything?”I turned to him, my expression blank. “Everything you can find on Alex. His calls, his emails, his financial records—everything.”Daniel nodded so fast it was a wonder his head didn’t snap off. “Ok boss.” After what felt like two seconds he replied. “Here.” “Send it to me.” I said and he nodded.Daniel barely had time to mutter something about looking deeper before I was already walking out of my office.Ready to hunt the fucke
Sophie POVI wasn't a crying mess anymore thanks to Rachel, there was a movie playing in the background, but I wasn’t really watching. Rachel sat beside me, curled up with a pillow, her eyes moving between the screen and me.“I like how you handled Ethan,” she said out of the blue as she stuffed her mouth with a handful of popcorn. I nodded not wanting to talk about him but he kept on going. “You sent him right out the door. That’s exactly what he needed.”I let out a small laugh that didn't quite reach anywhere. “You know how stubborn he is, but I had to.”Rachel nodded, looking extremely satisfied. “If he comes back, you do it again. You don’t need him messing with your peace.”Her words felt reassuring, after all she had been by my side through everything, my rock when I needed one the most.Without warning the front door opened and I cursed myself for not locking it after Ethan left again, because there he was again obviously not learning his lesson that I didn't want to see him a
Curiosity indeed was a dangerous thing. It nudges you toward answers you may not be ready for. But after everything, I deserved to know.After all curiosity killed the cat and I wasn't ‘the cat’ I was Sophia and it was as simple as that.I needed to meet Alex to find out why he did what he did, so I texted him.I didn’t tell Ethan. If he knew, he would never let me come. I knew that he had probably found a thousand ways to keep Alex from speaking to me at all. But Ethan wasn’t here nowOf course Alex thought I didn’t know and that’s what made this interesting.I texted him earlier, keeping it simple I sent him a ‘we need to talk’ text and he didn't even hesitate to reply asking for the location and of course I told him the café that made the donuts I liked.He agreed, I wondered why he said yes maybe it was because he thought I didn't know. And that was exactly why I made sure to be late to make him sit there and wonder if I would come, almost like what he did to me.When I finally a
As we left the hospital, I took in a deep breath, but it didn’t help.Ethan walked in front without waiting for me, his shoulders tight, his head down like he, I hurried after him.We pulled out of the hospital lot as we drove in silence, there was a lot I wanted to ask but I couldn't find the right words to say them.But then finally, I couldn’t take it anymore."So," I said carefully trying to keep my tone neutral, "What’s the plan? What exactly do you want to do now?"He stared straight ahead as his eyes were locked on the road. His knuckles were so tight on the steering wheel, they looked almost white and bloodless."What else? We will visit Rose Callahan," he said without hesitation.I studied him quietly, feeling his uneasy he was, there was more to this, so much more he wasn't willing to share."Ethan," I said slowly, "I’m not dumb. Something’s going on between you and your ex-stepmother, I am not dumb not to notice and that whole thing back there? That wasn’t nothing."His re
The second she said his name, it was like an electric shock shot straight through Ethan. His body tensed, his usual composed exterior cracking as his eyes locked onto the nurse with an intensity that almost startled me. His reaction wasn’t subtle in any way it was as if someone had just tossed a bucket of ice-cold water over him, and he was struggling to process it.He looked both relieved and scared at the same time, and it was understandable. I could practically feel his anxiety pressing on my chest.“You worked with Dr. Callahan?” Ethan asked, his voice desperate. The nurse blinked at him, a little startled by his intensity. “Yeah. Unfortunately,” she muttered as she didn't try to hide her bitterness. “For a long time.”“Can I—” Ethan paused, swallowing the words as though they were fighting their way out of him. “Can I ask you some questions about him?”He asked it like she was offering something precious, like every word she could give him was the missing piece to a puzzle tha
Ethan turned from the receptionist table and ran his finger through his hair, I thought this was the end and we would go back to his villa and think of another plan. Because obviously a normal person would have given up, thanked the not so kind receptionist and walked away from this whole mess. But like I have said before, Ethan Blackwood was not a normal person, he has never been and will never be. Because he didn't just walk away, if anything he looked more determined in getting the answer from the lady. He whirled back around toward the front desk so fast the receptionist actually jolted in her seat. “This is bullshit,” he snapped out of the blue in a very low voice. “He’s real, I fucking know it.” His hand slammed against the counter hard enough to make the pens in their tiny little holder rattle. I flinched instinctively and stepped closer as my fingers grazed his arm as I was trying to reason with him. “Ethan,” I said under my breath, “please. Not here. Let’s just—” “No,
Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind as he focused on her bruise, the sound of him breathing even made the hair on my arms rise.My mother tried to cover the bruises with her hair as if it would solve anything, but Ethan had already seen it.He stepped closer, towering over her even though he wasn't meaning to."Did he do it?" he asked in a low and deep voice that even made me feel fear.And of course, my darling mother flinched."He didn’t mean it," she whispered as if it made any better.From Ethan's expression I could see the way he was picturing during dirty things to his father, abuse whoever hits a woman doesn't deserve to live.Especially a woman like Veronica Carter he would never fight back.Ethan laughed "Right," he said "Men who don't 'mean it' always seem to find the exact place that will leave a pretty little bruise."My mother’s face crumpled in shame just for a milli second, before she masked it again."You need to report him," he said firmly as his jaw
After the call I sat down next to her, my heart racing as I stared at her, trying to make sense of what had just happened.Her voice was soft but trembled as she spoke. "When you and Ethan left the mansion yesterday… He took it out on me."This was my fault.I felt my throat tighten. A cold lump formed at the base of my chest, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I knew something wasn’t right, but hearing her say it out loud made it worse. I wanted to ask more, but I couldn’t. I needed to know.“Is this the first time?” I asked, and as soon as I did, I regretted it. I immediately remembered when she frantically came here in a crying mess but I didn't do anything because I was overwhelmed with my own shit.I remembered how broken she was and how she covered it up immediately when her darling husband came to ‘pick' her up.I had a lot of questions and I wanted to stop myself from pushing, but I couldn’t, I had to know."Why wouldn’t you leave him, Mom?" The words slipped out before I c
The next morning arrived without mercy, I guess toke moved really fast when you hadn't slept at all After finding the business card, sleep became secondary because we knew who Drm Callahan was, was going to be a huge lead. So we spent the entire night at Ethan’s kitchen island, with a shut load of ccold coffee, our open laptops and half-torn sticky notes.At this point the name Dr..Callahan wasn't a lead, it was an obsession. We searched medical directories, university alumni pages, old oncology conferences, and even dark places in the internet that I wouldn't never think of goung to But a new click opened a new rabbit hole with each search result ending in a wall.No hospital.No city.And no fucking clue.Ethan sat on the counter at one point, head in his hands, while I stared blankly at the glowing screen. Neither of us said it aloud, but the truth was there, and that this was a lost cause. Whoever this doctor was, they didn’t want to be found.“This is hopeless,” he said.But I
Rachel ran forward screaming in a high pitched voice I didn't know she had. “Daddy? Daddy, are you okay? I heard glass break, what did Ethan do?” I blinked. What! The! Actual! Fuck! The way she rushed to him, like a little girl desperate to protect her hero, had my breath catching in my throat. She didn’t even glance at Ethan, she just went straight to Richard like he was the one who had been hurt when he might have been the one to shatter the glass. When did all this happen? When did Rachel start calling him Daddy with such tenderness? When did the girl who once side-eyed his every move become this… concerned? I barely had time to process it before Ethan spoke. “What I did?” he said, his tone flat. “You mean existed?” Rachel’s body stiffened. Her hand, which had just touched Richard’s shoulder, dropped like it had been scorched. She turned to look at Ethan, but the words she had died on her lips. Maybe it was the look in his eyes. I stood there, in the middle of this st
I took.l one last look at Sophie as I followed my father, he didn't say a word but it was obvious that knew what was coming; he had to. I strode down the hallway, my footsteps heavy on the floor but my father's pace was steady, but I could sense the tension building between us as I trailed behind him. My eyes fixed on the back of his head as so many thoughts ran through my head, He didn't look back, didn't acknowledge my presence. I continued to follow him as we went past the portraits of a family that barely existed, past the polished antiques that felt more like props than memories. He stepped into his office like a king returning to his throne. I had to admit that his office does look with a throne with the hgh ceilings, heavy mahogany desk, lather and gold and of course it reeked of his ego that soaked into the fucking walls. But now I know that none of this belongs to him, except his ego He didn’t look back when I entered, he just walked straight to the far end of the ro
Rachel's condescending voice cut me short. “Sophia, will you let my father talk to my brother or not?” I couldn't help but roll my eyes while Ethan had his usual unreadable expression, he looked regal and detached, like he had practiced that mask in front of a mirror. But I knew him too well, I know how much work it took him to keep everything in control, I couldn't see that there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth, I noticed the way he was tightening his jaw and I could sense that he was anything but calm.Mr Blackwood just cleared his throat as his eyes went straight to me. “Come with me Ethan,” his tone was flat and commanding, as he was leaving no room for argument. Everyone was silent looking between Ethan and I waiting to see what would happen.Ethan walked towards me with a silent plea in his eyes.“Please, Sophie. Just this once… stay out of it.”His words hurt, but I gave him a look that told him that I wasn't comfortable with him being alone with his father, for all