ETHAN
The door closed behind her, and for the first time in years, the silence felt unbearable.
I stood there, watching the space she had just occupied, the faint trace of her perfume still hanging in the air.
She was still chaos wrapped in beauty, the same woman who had walked into my life and turned it inside out. Still, I let her walk away again.
My fingers brushed the edge of the desk where her hand had been moments ago. She was trembling when she left, though she tried to hide it. Eva never could mask her emotions, she just learned how to weaponize them.
I sat down slowly, staring at the city skyline beyond the glass wall. Three years of pretending I didn't care, three years of watching from a distance, and one impulsive night ruined it all.
She thought I humiliated her. Maybe I did. But if she knew how much it cost me just to look at her again without pulling her into my arms, she would understand that humiliation was the only language I had left.
My gaze fell to the drawer on my left. I opened it and pulled out the worn envelope I have always kept hidden for three years, her signature still there in neat black ink.
She had signed it without even looking.
It was supposed to be a simple business agreement, an act to secure my grandfather's final approval of the CEO position that had been dangling in front of me like bait.
My grandfather had believed I needed a wife to complete the image of responsibility, and Eva… she had been the perfect choice.
At the time, she was my closest ally, the only woman who didn't jump at my name or my reputation. She was young, ambitious, and full of light. She had only come to the company for a job but I proposed this which fortunately she didn't decline then.
I thought I could keep it purely transactional. One signature, one favor, and when the board was mine, she could walk away free.
But then, the moment she smiled at me in that ridiculous courthouse dress, something in me shifted.
I had fallen before I realized I was falling and when the contract became real.
I suppressed my feelings and made her think I never cared about her and that was my first mistake.
My second was believing I could keep her without breaking her.
I remembered the day she left, there was no argument, just a note on the counter that read.
"I signed the divorce papers, Have a nice life with your right one." That was when regret washed through me. She had seen the divorce papers where I kept them, she didn't even bother asking any questions but just signed them.
I had searched everywhere for her but it was like she vanished from this earth entirely.
I told myself it was for the best, that she deserved the freedom I stole from her. But it didn't stop me from watching quietly, from behind the curtain of my influence.
I made sure her name stayed clean in the business circle, that no one blacklisted her after she resigned. I paid off the debts she didn't even know she had.
I told myself it was protection. But the moment I saw her again two months ago stepping off that plane, laughing with that same rival who had once tried to ruin me every lie I told myself fell apart.
"Henry Scott." Of all the men in the world, it had to be him.
The prodigy with a golden surname and a silver tongue. The man who had spent years trying to tarnish my company's image. The one who never played fair, and now… he wanted her.
I let out a dry laugh, running a hand through my hair.
I am very sure Henry didn't care about love. He cared about winning and what better way to humiliate me than to steal the one woman I ever cared about?
I wanted to believe he didn't know she was still mine, after all I never announced her as my wife for the three years we had been together.
My secretary had tried to convince me to sign the papers, my lawyers had begged me, but I couldn't do it because I couldn't bear to let her go and it was only bound that would keep us together.
I still can't accept the idea of her being someone else's. I leaned back in my chair, exhaustion pressing against my ribs. For three years, I had convinced myself I could move on but the truth was simpler and crueler.
I had built empires, destroyed competitors, expanded my name across continents, and still, she was the one thing I couldn't conquer.
A soft knock came at the door. My assistant, Linda, stepped in carefully, holding a tablet against her chest.
"Sir?"
I didn't look up right away. "Yes."
"About the event last night," she began cautiously. "The press is still requesting a statement. They want confirmation
"They will have to wait," I replied smiling.
She hesitated before speaking. "Should I prepare the usual response that you don't comment on personal matters?"
"Yes, and call the legal team," I said. "Tell them to prepare a cease-and-desist for any publication using Eva's name without consent."
She nodded but lingered, clearly debating whether to speak. "If I may, sir… do you want to proceed with the divorce documents now that she's back?" The question hung in the air.
I looked up slowly, meeting his uncertain gaze. "No."
"Sir?"
"I said no." My tone was low but it left no room for argument.
"I understand," She answered, lowering her eyes as he turned to leave, I added,
"Linda"
"Yes, sir?"
"If Henry tries to contact the media again, silence it before it spreads. I don't care what it costs."
"Yes, sir."
The door clicked shut behind him.
I stared at the city again, the clouds rolling in over the skyline. The reflection in the glass showed a man who looked composed, successful, untouchable.
But inside, everything burned when my thought flashed at how Somewhere in that hospital, she would be sitting beside Henry now, probably holding his hand, her brows furrowed with worry.
I hated how easy it was to picture it. I should let her go. She deserved peace, happiness but I couldn't.
Because no matter how far she ran, or who she tried to love, the truth wouldn't change.
She was still mine and this time, I wasn't going to watch from afar.
I will make sure to bring her back home.