2025-03-10 14:05:58Ethan kept walking, ignoring the muffled insults that followed him out the door. His body moved on autopilot.
A sleek black car pulled up to the curb, and his driver, James, stepped out, holding the door open. Ethan slid into the backseat, staring blankly out the window as James closed the door and walked around to the driver's side.
As the car began to move, silence filled the space. Ethan couldn’t bring himself to speak. His mind kept replaying the scene over and over again, Sophia’s cold words, Brian’s smug face, Max's insults. Zara had been right. He never should have hidden his identity.
James glanced at him through the rearview mirror, his brow furrowed. "Everything alright, sir?"
Ethan didn’t look at him. His gaze remained fixed on the passing streetlights, his voice flat. "I’m fine."
James hesitated, clearly not believing him. "If you don’t mind me saying, you don't look fine. Did something happen?"
Ethan let out a breath, shaking his head and held in his hurt and emotion. "It’s nothing, James. Just drive."
James nodded and drove in silence. As they approached the estate, the massive iron gates swung open, and the car slowly rolled down the long driveway lined with trees. When they finally stopped in front of the grand house, the front door opened, and a line of maids and guards stood at attention. They all bowed as Ethan stepped out of the car.
"Welcome home, young master,” one of the maids greeted him with a respectful nod.
"Young master," several of the guards echoed, their heads lowered.
Ethan barely acknowledged them, his mind still miles away. They didn’t know. None of them did.
He had hidden this part of his life from Sophia and everyone else. He wasn’t just some guy struggling to make ends meet, some "worthless" husband like her family thought.
He was the heir to the largest company in the world. The wealth, the power, it was all his, but he never wanted that to define him. He thought if he kept it from Sophia, she would love him for who he was, not what he had. But now, looking back, he could see how wrong he had been.
Sophia didn’t love him. She never did. And he had endured her family’s abuse, their constant jabs, their insults, all for her. He could take it all, but cheating? That was something he couldn't forgive.
As he walked toward the entrance, one of the maids followed closely behind.
"Shall I prepare your usual drink, young master?"
He waved her off, his voice low. "No, not tonight."
Ethan continued through the house, heading upstairs to his private suite. The door clicked shut behind him, and for a moment, he stood there, staring at nothing.
He had loved her. He had given her everything. And she had thrown it all away like it meant nothing.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ethan's mind raced. The betrayal burned in his chest, and the more he thought about it, the more the anger built. They had humiliated him for years, treated him like dirt. And for what? Because they thought he was weak, thought he was beneath them. But now... now they are going to pay.
He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and scrolled through his contacts until he found the number he needed. His assistant, Liam and without hesitation, he dialed.
It rang twice before Liam answered. "Sir? Is everything alright?"
"Liam," Ethan said, his voice sharper than usual. "I need you to bring me the file on the Steele Company."
There was a pause. "Steele Company?" Liam echoed, clearly caught off guard. "I... uh, sure, sir. But, may I ask why you need their file? They're ranked, what,.." paused and checked the internet and continued " 32nd globally? They’re not even close to competing with us."
Ethan could almost hear the confusion in Liam's voice. It wasn’t a request he’d ever made before, and it probably seemed out of the blue. But Liam didn’t know. No one did.
"Just get it to me by tomorrow, and Liam, when I meant everything, I meant everything both hard and soft copy, old and new" Ethan replied, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Liam hesitated again, clearly still trying to wrap his head around the sudden demand. "But, sir, we’ve never dealt with Steele. They’re... not really on our radar. Do you need information for a new deal or..."
"Just get the damn files, Liam." Ethan's voice was cold, clipped. "As for the reason, I'll explain later."
There was another pause before Liam finally responded, sounding a little flustered.
"Understood. I'll have it on your desk first thing tomorrow morning and begin research now"
"Good.I will be expecting it by noon" Ethan hung up without waiting for another word.
He tossed the phone onto the bed, leaning back as he stared up at the ceiling. Liam didn’t know half of it. To him, Ethan was just his boss, a man running a powerful company from behind the scenes.
The only person who knew the full truth was Ethan's sister, Zara, and she was miles away, living her life in the spotlight. A famous celebrity just doing whatever she pleases.
The Steele Company was Sophia’s family business. They thought they were untouchable, sitting in their comfortable little bubble. But tomorrow, everything will change.
They had no idea who they were dealing with and their little stun made Ethan want to ruin them.
Ethan stared up at the ceiling, the weight of everything sinking deeper into him. The memories of the years he had spent trying to prove his worth to Sophia’s family flashed through his mind, each forced smile, every degrading comment he had swallowed, hoping one day they would see him differently.
He had allowed himself to be diminished, believing that love requires sacrifice, that in time, it would all make sense. But now, it was clear. Love wasn’t enough, not when it was one-sided, twisted, and rooted in lies.
His jaw tightened as he thought about Sophia’s cold, dismissive eyes when she looked at him tonight. She had never seen him, not really. She had only ever seen what she could gain. His mind began to clear, the haze of heartache giving way to a steely determination.
It was time to stop hiding who he was. Tomorrow, everything will change.
***
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The maid rushed out of Sophia's room in tears. She had slapped her and drained her with the smoothie she made for her.This is the fourth time she has made the smoothie, and she still thinks it's bad. It's the same method she has been using to make her smoothie all these years.She's not a new maid, and she knows it's not about the smoothie but her mood. Something is wrong with her and whenever this happens, she will take it out on the maids.It's always like that, but it just never happened to her before all these years, but today she was the unfortunate one.She dried her tears and started making another smoothie for her. It took a few minutes and she was done.She put it in the fridge and quickly went to take her shower, making sure she was looking clean before taking it to her room again.The maid keeps praying silently that this time she would be calm and just take the smoothie, letting her leave.This was her fifth time, and she already felt hell unleashed on her. She didn't wan
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“Are you sure you want to reschedule this?” The new business partner asked over the line.Ethan was on the edge, deciding if he wanted to step back or move forward.“I would like to keep my identity hidden, which, of course, I know shouldn't be a problem, right? "If you want to go for someone better, we both know it would be through email signature and the same procedure except you have a reason you choose us in the first place”, Ethan explained.He went silent for a while and Ethan felt he had lost the contract this time around, but it's better to be vigilant about his identity for now.“I will email you, I hope it will be nice doing business with you” He finally said something and Ethan closed his eyes, breathing out his worries.“You won't have a problem with us,” Ethan assured him.“Okay”. With that he hung up.Ethan looked at Liam and wondered why he'd all worked up before. Was he worried we would lose the contract? Each time he acts suspicious it turns out to be nothing.Ethan w
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Ethan dropped his pen after a stressful day of signing documents, going through paperwork and making calls at the same time checking the status of the media.He called Zara early on to know how she was doing, and he felt better that no one had canceled any of her deals.She said her show was going well, and he had switched her to video call to be sure she was not lying to him.He had pulled some strings to make sure no company would sign Sophia with what she had just done. He might have messed with him and used him, but he's not going to watch her use Zara too.He didn't know how he had fallen for her and didn't see her for who she was, but he's glad he is no longer married to her.He stands on his feet and puts on his suit. Liam walks in, “Everything is ready sir”. He hands over the mask to Ethan.He put it on and they both walked out of his office together, taking the normal elevator. He just wanted to use this news to shove down Sophia trending online.Men rush out to protect his w
Chapter Twenty Eight
The door burst open and Sophia almost fell from the sudden outburst. “How dare you!” Henry was foaming in anger.“How dare me what?” Sophia acts ignorant when she's aware of what her father is talking about.“You mess with Zara Bennett? Are you crazy? Do you think she's Ethan? That you could use and dumb however you like? The media is blowing up in your favor, and you think it's okay?” Henry couldn't believe how careless his daughter could be.“I didn't do anything! "It's not like I'm the one controlling people to be against here, they just see something better and want it.” She shrugs.“Don’t tell me that! "I know you did this and, trust me, you really don't know what you're doing to yourself. If her family takes this up with us, we will be buried underground like we never exist at all.” Henry feels frustrated about what she did.It's already done and there's nothing I can do about it. Measures have already been taken, but it's not going to end like that.One thing he learned about t
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Sophia giggles as she finally achieves her aim, she swings her hips in cycles and sits down enjoying the rest of the wine.Brian soon walks in. Sophia had already texted him her location. “You look beautiful, my love.” Brian was amazed at how beautiful she suddenly looked tonight.“Of course I’m and guess what? She said that my fashion sense is great. "I mean look at me, I didn’t even put too much effort into it.” She stood up, turning around for him to see.Brian was unable to say anything. He wondered how he was able to have her as his own because she was just too beautiful. “You look stunning and believe me, right now, I think you’re more beautiful than Miss Zara.”“Oh my goodness, you make me already feel like what I had planned will go well”, Sophia giggles.“What did you plan?” Brian frowns and takes his seat. He could still smell the scent of another person there, and he wanted to believe it belonged to Miss Zara.“Don’t worry, I might be compared to Miss Zara soon, and I will
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“What do you want me to do now?” Zara was on the phone with Ethan.“I don’t know, just find an excuse to leave there early, and I felt stupid having gifted her that necklace now”, Ethan replied over the line.“I can’t do that. "She's like a fan to me and I don't want her causing scandal for me. "I don't trust that bitch. "She can do nonsense and tries to mess with me,” Zara confessed.“Look dear, she is not going to do anything, okay? "Just calm down and talk to her normally and if she asks how you know me, then tell her we just happened to be sitting at the same table that day, and I was a fan too,” Ethan suggested.“Gosh, I don't like this! You know how bad I’m at keeping things in. My facial expression always fails, and I might just end up slapping her” Zara signs.“Don’t do that if you don’t want your career in a trash bin because of her, she’s not worth it, and you know that, right?” Ethan switches the call to a video call.“Where are you?” I’m at the office going through files.
