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Chapter 68
Splinters of SilenceClara didn’t sleep that night. She couldn’t. The echo of Ethan’s words — “I don’t know if I can forgive this” — kept replaying in her head like a cruel melody. She lay awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling while Ethan remained in his study, the door closed, his presence a ghost in the penthouse.When dawn broke, the tension was still thick enough to choke on. Ethan emerged, perfectly dressed, crisp suit, immaculate tie, as if the night had left no mark on him. His eyes flicked toward Clara once — cold, unreadable — before he grabbed his briefcase.“You’re leaving without saying anything?” Clara whispered, her voice hoarse from silence.He paused at the door, his back to her. “There’s nothing left to say right now.”Her heart crumbled at the finality in his tone. “Ethan—”“Don’t.” He didn’t raise his voice, but the weight of that single word slammed into her chest like a hammer. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”And then he was gone.The sound of the
Chapter 67
Fractured TrustThe silence in the penthouse was heavier than any argument they had ever endured. Ethan sat in the armchair near the window, his jaw tight, his gaze fixed on the city lights below. Clara stood by the closed door, her hands still trembling from the confrontation. The air was sharp, filled with words unsaid, questions unasked.For a long moment, she couldn’t breathe. His silence was worse than any explosion of anger. Ethan Sterling was not a man who fumed or shouted — when he went quiet, it was like a blade pressed to the throat.“Say something,” Clara finally whispered, her voice cracking.Ethan’s gaze slid toward her, his eyes dark and unyielding. “What do you want me to say, Clara? That I didn’t see what I saw? That the woman I married isn’t sneaking around behind my back in my own home?”Clara flinched as if he’d struck her. “It’s not what you think. I wasn’t—”“Wasn’t what?” His voice cut through her like ice. “You weren’t spying? You weren’t following a thread you
Chapter 66
The FalloutClara’s footsteps echoed faintly in the corridor as Ethan steered her away from the locked room, his grip on her elbow firm but not rough. She fought the urge to wrench free, her whole body trembling from what she’d seen—the photos, the ledger, the locket now burning like fire in her pocket.Her chest heaved as she finally tore herself away once they reached the main hall. “Stop touching me!” she snapped, her voice cracking.Ethan froze, his jaw tightening, but he let go. For a long moment, they stood staring at each other in the dim light, silence stretching heavy and unbearable.Her eyes blazed with fury. “You’ve been spying on me. Watching me. For years. Was any of this real, Ethan? Was it all some kind of setup?”He didn’t flinch at her words, but something in his expression wavered—a flash of pain quickly hidden behind his usual steel. “It’s not what you think.”She laughed bitterly, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Not what I think? Do you have any idea how that sou
Chapter 65
Secrets behind closed doors The key felt like it had grown heavier overnight. Clara kept it hidden in the pocket of her robe as though someone might steal it if they caught even a glint of its tarnished surface. Every time she slipped her hand into the pocket, her pulse jumped, her chest tightening with anticipation and fear.She knew she should wait. She knew opening that door meant crossing a line Ethan had drawn, a line he had reinforced with every clipped word, every half-truth, every silence that hung between them. But the more he locked her out, the more the mystery gnawed at her.It wasn’t just Kane’s warning anymore. It was her own instincts screaming that the man she loved, the man she had agreed to build a life with, was hiding something monumental.And secrets didn’t stay buried forever.The opportunity came late at night. Ethan had been called out unexpectedly—something urgent at Sterling Enterprises that couldn’t wait until morning. Clara had watched from the balcony as
Chapter 64
Behind Locked DoorsClara had never felt more out of place in Sterling Manor than she did that night. It was as though Kane’s words had seeped into the wallpaper, reshaping every corner of the house into something colder, darker, and filled with secrets.Ask him about the fire. Ask him why he locks the doors.Those sentences looped in her head like a curse she couldn’t shake off.She had promised herself she wouldn’t let paranoia rule her, that she wouldn’t give Kane the satisfaction of watching her unravel. Yet here she was, padding silently down the dimly lit hallway, barefoot, her pulse hammering with each creak of the floor.Ethan’s study door was closed. She knew he’d been in there earlier—he always retreated there after late dinners, his fortress of solitude. Sometimes, she thought he hid in that room to avoid her questions, her gaze, her touch. Tonight, she prayed he was still buried in paperwork and not roaming the halls.Clara stopped in front of a locked door she’d walked pa
Chapter 63
The Note in the DarkClara stared at the folded paper lying on the floor like it was a serpent coiled to strike. The dim glow from the bedside lamp made the white sheet look sharper, colder, as if it didn’t belong to her world at all.Her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to reach for it, to tear it open, to know what Kane had chosen to slither into her sanctuary—but her hand hovered uselessly in the air. Because once she touched it, once she read it, nothing could be undone.The house was silent except for the soft hum of the air conditioner and the occasional groan of wood settling into the night. Ethan’s study was two floors below; she had no idea if he was still awake, locked in the fortress of his secrets, or if he had fallen asleep on the sofa again like he often did after long nights.Clara slid off the bed slowly, the cool floor biting against her bare feet. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the envelope. She picked it up as though it might burn her, turning it ove
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