Ethan didn't say a word as Ava walked out of the conference room.
He just stood there, fists clenched at his sides, watching the door close behind her like she had done all those years ago.
Again, she left him without answers.
Again, she carried that same look in her eyes—like regret wearing lipstick.
He didn't know what he expected. A confession? An apology? Something that would explain why she ghosted him without warning, without mercy?
But all she gave him were cryptic words and a silence that filled the room long after she was gone.
He turned back toward the window, staring down at the city he ruled by day and was haunted by at night.
Ava Bennett.
Her name still burned when he thought it. Not softly. Not like nostalgia. Like fire. Like betrayal.
He should've thrown her résumé away the second he saw it. Hell, he should've walked out of that boardroom and told HR to find another candidate. But instead? He gave her the job. Gave her access to his building. To his world.
Maybe he wanted answers more than he wanted closure.
Maybe he still wanted her.
And that… terrified him more than anything.
---
Ava shut the door to her office, leaning against it just like she had her apartment door the night before. Only this time, she didn't have the bracelet to hold.
She had her son's photo on her desk now. That was enough.
It had to be.
Because Ethan's words still echoed in her head:
"Tell me. Start now."
She could've.
She almost did.
But the truth wouldn't just shatter him. It would complicate everything. For him. For Liam. For herself.
And she'd promised—promised—that she wouldn't let her past screw up her son's future.
This job was a lifeline. She couldn't afford to lose it, not when every paycheck meant rent, food, and a safer life for Liam.
Her phone buzzed.
Jasmine.
> Jasmine: Tell me you didn't cry in the conference room.
Jasmine: Or worse… punch him.
Jasmine: Coffee tonight. You're not dodging this.
Ava allowed a smile, small and fleeting.
If anyone could still make her laugh through heartbreak, it was Jasmine Carter.
---
Later that evening, the café was quiet and dimly lit, the perfect escape from the chaos of Manhattan. Ava stirred her coffee absently while Jasmine studied her with raised brows and zero patience.
"So?" Jasmine finally demanded. "How did it feel seeing him again?"
Ava let out a breath. "Like swallowing broken glass."
Jasmine winced. "Still that bad?"
"Worse. He looked at me like I was a stranger. And then like I was the enemy."
"Well," Jasmine said carefully, "you did disappear. No contact. No closure. Just—poof."
Ava met her best friend's eyes. "You think I don't know that? You think I haven't replayed it a thousand times? I left to protect something. Someone."
Her voice caught, but Jasmine softened.
"Hey, I know. You did what you had to do. But Ava… sooner or later, you're going to have to tell him."
Ava glanced down at her hands, fingers curled tight around her coffee cup.
"I know," she whispered. "But I'm not ready."
Jasmine leaned back, eyes gentle. "Then be careful. Because love like that? It doesn't stay buried."
---
Back in his penthouse, Ethan stood at the bar with another glass of scotch he wasn't tasting. The TV played in the background, muted. His mind wouldn't stop racing.
He remembered the first time he'd met Ava. She was all spark and stubbornness, challenging his ideas in a meeting she wasn't even supposed to be in. He remembered how she laughed when she finally let her guard down. How she whispered his name like it meant something.
And then, just as quickly, she was gone.
Now she was back—but she wasn't the same.
Neither was he.
There was a knock at his door.
Lucas, again.
Ethan opened it with a sigh. "You really don't know how to text first?"
Lucas smirked. "I live to be a menace. Besides, Lauren told me Ava's officially on payroll. You gonna tell me why you hired your heartbreak?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Lucas walked in, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and plopped on the couch.
"You want my opinion?" he said. "You're not mad because she's back. You're mad because she still makes you feel something."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
Lucas shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not wrong."
Ethan sank into the armchair across from him, rubbing his temple.
"She's hiding something," he muttered. "I don't know what it is. But I see it in her eyes."
Lucas grew serious for once. "Then be careful. Secrets don't stay buried forever."
---
That night, as Ava tucked Liam into bed, she kissed his forehead and smoothed the blanket over him.
He blinked sleepily. "Mommy?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"Are we staying here forever?"
Her throat tightened. "Do you want to?"
He nodded. "I like my new school. And I made a friend. His name is Marcus. He has a Spider-Man lunchbox."
Ava smiled. "Then we'll stay."
Liam snuggled his bunny close. "Promise?"
She hesitated—because the real promise she had to keep was that his world would stay peaceful. That no one, not even Ethan, could take it from him.
"I promise," she whispered.
But even as the words left her lips, her heart stung.
Because the truth was getting harder to
hide.
And Ethan's name still burned in her soul.