By the end of the week, the rumors were everywhere.
Some said Ethan was getting fired.
Others said he'd already packed up his things.
I couldn't breathe under the weight of it.
I tried to talk to HR. Tried to tell them it was all a setup—that Jason was lying, that he was doing this because of me.
But they just smiled politely, told me to focus on my work, and shut the door in my face.
I was powerless. And Ethan… Ethan was silent.
He didn't answer my messages. He didn't come to work. He vanished.
My chest felt hollow.
Was this it?
Had I just watched the man I broke everything for be destroyed by the one I thought I loved?
And then—he came back.
On Monday morning, Ethan walked into the building like he owned it.
Literally.
He was in a suit—not his usual black-on-black, but something custom, sharp, intimidating. And flanking him were three men in dark gray suits who looked like they belonged to a boardroom, not IT support.
The office went still.
Ethan didn't glance at anyone. He walked straight past HR, past the glass offices, and right into the conference room at the top floor.
Ten minutes later, company-wide emails started flying.
Jason had been terminated.
Effective immediately.
For falsifying documents, attempted corporate sabotage, and personal misconduct.
I stood frozen in the hallway as whispers erupted like wildfire.
"He was the boss's son?"
"Since when?"
"No wonder he never got fired for ignoring every Friday deadline…"
I turned slowly.
Ethan was standing behind me, his eyes calm, his voice lower than I'd ever heard it.
"My name is Ethan Hart."
Hart.
As in CEO Benjamin Hart's only son.
The heir.
The shadow prince no one ever knew existed.
And now, he looked at me—not with warmth. Not with affection. But with something colder.
Calculating.
"You should've told me the truth from the beginning," he said. "About how much Jason meant to you. About what you were willing to risk."
I swallowed hard. "I didn't know—"
"Didn't you?"
Silence.
"I don't mix emotions with business, Vanessa. You should know that by now."
My heart cracked. "So this is business now?"
His jaw tightened. "It always was."
But his eyes—those eyes said something else.
Something aching.
Something he couldn't bring himself to say.
Not yet.