ETHAN'S POV
The door slammed so hard, it rattled the chandelier above me. Ava was gone.
The cold she left behind in that hallway settled into my chest like smoke in a ruined house.
I didn't move. I didn't chase after her.
What could I even say?
That I didn't know until tonight? That I didn't marry her because of some inheritance war?.
That somewhere between the deception and the years of emptiness, I had actually…, fallen for her?.
None of it would matter now.
She had every right to leave. And if she never came back, I wouldn't blame her.
But I also knew something she didn't.
There was more.
I picked up my phone and replayed the email in my head. There had been a final line beneath the scanned letter. I hadn't read it aloud.
> The envelope your mother left for you is hidden in the study safe. Top shelf.
Behind the ledger books. Burn it, or let the world burn. Your choice.
I ran.
