Serafina POV:
I checked into a hotel near the airport, a sterile, anonymous room that felt like a sanctuary. I thought I had a day. I was wrong.
The next morning, a sharp knock echoed from the door. It was Ethan. A cold dread coiled in my stomach—the tracker he'd put on my car years ago. A relic from a time I was naive enough to trust him, a detail I had completely forgotten.
"What the hell is this, Fina?" he demanded, gesturing around the soulless room. He wasn't angry, not really—just inconvenienced.
He didn't even try to deny stealing my work. Instead, he tried to buy me.
"Look, when 'City of Echoes' takes off, I'll make you a star architect," he said, his tone dripping with condescension. "I'll even give you a massive bonus. A wedding gift."
I stared at the man I had once loved and felt only a profound, hollow emptiness. "I am not your future wife, Ethan. And you stole that blueprint."
He laughed it off. His threat was simple: if I didn't play the part of the devoted fiancée at that night's industry party, he would ensure 'City of Echoes' was buried forever, taking my career with it. So I went, paraded on his arm like a possession he'd just retrieved from the lost and found.
Olivia was there, draped in diamonds and smugness. She stumbled near me with theatrical clumsiness, spilling a glass of champagne all over the front of my dress. Ethan immediately fussed over her, dabbing at her arm with a napkin while I stood there, cold and dripping.
Across the crowded room, my eyes met a pair of calm, intelligent gray ones. Liam Sterling. He'd seen the whole thing. He gave me a subtle, almost imperceptible nod. It was a silent acknowledgment. I see you.
Ethan saw it, too. His fingers dug into my arm. "Stay away from him," he hissed. "He's the competition."
He dragged me into a shadowed alcove, his face contorted with a jealousy that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with ownership. "Are you planning to leave me for him? Is that it?" he snarled, his face inches from mine. "You are mine, Serafina. You belong to me."
"Ethan, darling, don't upset yourself." Olivia materialized beside us, a smile that was pure venom curving her lips. She looked at me, her eyes glittering with malice. "He only keeps you around because you're convenient, you know. You don't challenge him."
Then she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper meant only for me. The killing blow.
"He told me he was relieved when you lost the baby. Said it cleared the path."
The world tilted. The noise of the party faded to a dull roar. I turned to Ethan, my voice barely a whisper. "Is it true?"
He faltered, his gaze skittering away from mine. That was all the answer I needed.
"He said it was a relief," Olivia confirmed, a flicker of cruel triumph in her eyes. "One less complication."
Panic flared in Ethan's eyes, quickly consumed by rage. He wasn't angry at Olivia for her cruelty. He was angry at me for hearing the truth.
"Stop it!" he yelled, his voice cracking with a frustration that felt like a cornered animal's. His hand shot out, not to strike, but to dismiss. A sharp, angry gesture to push me out of his space. The force of it was enough. I stumbled backward, my heel catching on the rug. I crashed in a heap on the polished floor. The entire party went silent.
Ethan didn't even look at me. He turned to Olivia, who was now clutching her pearls with a mask of distress, and wrapped an arm around her. "Let's get you out of here," he murmured, leading her away and leaving me on the ground for everyone to see.
