Chapter 15:A Line Crossed, A Truth Denied

The night air was thick with tension, a quiet storm brewing between Ethan and Lena as they stood on the penthouse balcony, the city skyline stretching endlessly before them. The world outside felt distant, muted, as if only the two of them existed in this moment.

Lena had spent the entire day meticulously sorting through her notes, trying to piece together the missing fragments of Ethan’s past. Every avenue she pursued, every whisper she uncovered, led her back to one name—Victoria. Something about the woman didn’t add up. Her sudden rise in the business world, her unshakable influence in Ethan’s life—it all felt like a perfectly crafted illusion. But Lena still lacked the one thing that could expose her completely:

Undeniable proof.

And then there was Ethan. He had been unpredictable lately, his moods shifting like the tide. One moment, he was distant, cold. The next, he lingered in doorways, found reasons to be close to her, held her gaze just a second too long. Tonight was no different.

“Still chasing ghosts?” Ethan’s voice broke through the quiet, his usual sarcasm laced with something softer, something Lena couldn’t quite name.

“Not ghosts. Just the truth,” Lena shot back, closing her notebook with a snap. She turned to face him, leaning against the railing. “You of all people should appreciate that.”

Ethan smirked, but there was no humor in it. “Truth is subjective. People see what they want to see.”

Lena’s brows furrowed. “That sounds like something someone with secrets would say.”

He stepped closer, just enough for her to catch the scent of his cologne—rich, dark, and intoxicating. “And if I am a man with secrets?” His voice dipped lower, the edge of a confession hiding within his words.

Lena held his gaze, refusing to back down. “Then maybe you should start telling me the truth,Mr. Ethan.”

Something shifted in his expression. A wariness. A hesitation. He reached for his glass of whiskey and took a slow sip, as if weighing his next words.

“Do you trust me, Lena?”

The question caught her off guard. Trust? It wasn’t something that came easily to her. And yet, despite every red flag, despite every warning her gut screamed at her, she hesitated.

“I don’t know,” she admitted honestly.

Ethan exhaled, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips, but his eyes told a different story—one of quiet frustration. “Smart answer.”

A long silence stretched between them, charged and heavy. Lena could feel the invisible thread pulling them closer, the line they kept toeing but never crossing.

“You’re different,” Ethan murmured, barely above a whisper.

Lena swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. “Different how?”

Ethan studied her for a moment before shaking his head, as if dismissing whatever thought had crossed his mind. “Forget it.”

But she didn’t want to forget it. She wanted to understand him, to unravel the mystery of Ethan Black. Before she could press further, his phone buzzed, shattering the moment.

A message from Victoria.

Ethan’s jaw tensed as he read it. Whatever it said, it wasn’t good.

Lena noticed the change in him instantly. “What is it?”

He locked his phone and downed the rest of his whiskey. “Nothing you need to worry about but I’d need you to be somewhere away from here,just for a few days”.

And for the first time, she wondered if Ethan’s secrets weren’t just dangerous to him—but to her as well.

Ethan sat at the head of the long glass conference table in his private suite, overlooking the city skyline. The air in the room was heavy with tension. His top executives sat across from him, their expressions grim. The company’s stock had taken an unexpected hit that morning, and Ethan knew it wasn’t just a coincidence. Someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

“Thirty million lost in a single day,” Carter, his CFO, said, scrolling through financial reports. “The media is running with the story that this is due to internal mismanagement, but we both know that’s bullshit.”

Ethan drummed his fingers on the table, his gaze dark and calculating. “This isn’t just a bad market day. This was planned.” His voice was calm, but the undercurrent of fury was unmistakable. “And I have a damn good idea who’s behind it.”

He didn’t say her name, but everyone in the room knew—Victoria.

For weeks, he had noticed inconsistencies in the numbers, but now, the attack was out in the open. It was a direct challenge.

A betrayal.

Victoria was getting desperate.

“What’s our next move?” Carter asked.

Ethan leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temple. He hated this game—the one where deception ruled, and loyalty was a rare currency.

“Find the source of the leaks,” Ethan said coldly. “Whoever is feeding information to the press, I want them exposed.”

Carter nodded. “Already working on it.”

Ethan’s phone vibrated on the table. A message from one of his private investigators.”Lena is digging too deep into Victoria.”

His jaw clenched. Of course she is.

He had been trying to keep Lena at a distance for her own safety, but she was relentless. He could feel her presence in his life like a shadow he couldn’t shake. Every time he turned around, there she was—challenging him, pushing him, making him feel things he shouldn’t.

He dismissed the board members, his mind already working on his next move.

Victoria thought she had control, but she had underestimated him. He would not just win—he would destroy her.

But first, he had to make sure Lena didn’t get caught in the crossfire.

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Lena had felt the tension thickening between her and Ethan over the past few days. The way his gaze lingered a little too long, how his voice softened when he spoke to her—dangerous signs she refused to acknowledge. She had worked too hard to build walls around her emotions, and she was certain she’d never let anyone— not even Ethan,crumble these walls.

At least, that was the plan.

The sharp knock at her hotel-room door jolted her from her thoughts.

She frowned. No one knew she was here, except—

Her pulse jumped. Could it be Ethan? Has something happened?

Steeling herself, she opened the door—only to be met with the sight of a very familiar face.

Trina.

Her best friend stood in the hallway, arms folded, expressing a mix of worry and irritation.

“What the hell, Lena?” Trina shoved past her into the room, not bothering to wait for an invitation. “You disappear for days, ignore my calls, and then I find out from your editor that you’re on some high-profile assignment, but no one knows what? What are you doing here?”

Lena shut the door, her mind racing. She should have known Trina would track her down.

“It’s complicated,” she muttered.

Trina whirled around. “Oh, don’t you dare ‘it’s complicated’ me. You vanish, hole up in a five-star hotel, and now you’re looking guilty as hell? Spill it, Lena.”

Before Lena could come up with an answer, another knock echoed through the room. This time, it was firm. 

Controlled.

Trina’s gaze darted to Lena’s, suspicion flashing in her eyes.

“Expecting someone?”

Lena’s stomach twisted. There was only one person who ever knocked like that.

Dread curled in her chest as she turned the handle.

Ethan.

He stood in the doorway, tall and composed as ever, his piercing gaze sweeping over her before shifting to Trina. The flicker of curiosity in his expression sent alarm bells ringing in Lena’s head.

Trina let out a low whistle. “Oh. My. God.”

Ethan arched his brow. “And you are?”

Trina crossed her arms, her gaze moving between Lena and Ethan like she was piecing together a puzzle. “Her best friend. The one who’s going to drag the truth out of her.”

Lena barely managed to swallow the lump in her throat. This was a disaster.

But before she could defuse the situation, Trina’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and her expression changed—her usual sharp, teasing demeanor vanishing into something unreadable.

Lena frowned. “What is it?”

Trina hesitated, then shoved the phone toward her.

“You tell me.”

Lena’s breath caught when she saw the image on the screen.

A leaked photo. Of her and Ethan.

Taken in the hotel lobby earlier that morning.

The caption beneath it was worse.

“MYSTERIOUS WOMAN SPOTTED WITH ETHAN MONTGOMERY —HIS SECRET LOVER?”

Lena felt the blood drain from her face.

Trina’s voice was eerily calm. “Now, do you want to explain what the hell is going on?”

Ethan, however, didn’t look shocked.

He looked furious.

And that’s when Lena realized—this wasn’t just a scandal waiting to explode.

Someone had done this on purpose.

Someone wanted to expose her.

And the real question was: Who?