Ep 6 — The Truth Between Them
835 Words
The silence after Ethan’s words felt heavier than anything before.
“You should’ve stayed out of this.”
Liam didn’t move.
“Too late.”
Zara looked between them, her pulse uneven.
“Enough,” she said. “Both of you.”
Neither answered.
That made it worse.
Zara stepped forward, placing herself between them.
“I’m not leaving with anyone,” she said. “Not until someone tells me the truth.”
Ethan’s expression softened slightly.
“Zara—”
“No,” she cut in. “Stop acting like everything is normal.”
A brief pause.
Then Ethan exhaled.
“You’re confused,” he said.
“Stop saying that.”
“It’s true.”
“What’s true is that you tracked my phone, showed up uninvited, and keep telling me to forget things I don’t understand.”
Ethan’s expression flickered.
Zara caught it.
“Why do you want me to forget?” she asked.
Silence.
Then—
“Because it’s better for you,” he said.
“That’s not your decision.”
“It is if it keeps you safe.”
Zara shook her head.
“Safe from what?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at Liam.
“You’ve already said too much.”
“Not enough,” Liam replied.
Zara turned to him.
“Then say it,” she said. “Whatever this is, just say it.”
Liam hesitated.
That hesitation stretched.
Zara’s frustration rose.
“You both keep talking like I’m part of something I don’t understand,” she said. “I deserve to know.”
Ethan cut in.
“No. You don’t.”
Zara froze.
“What did you just say?”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You don’t need to know everything.”
Her chest tightened.
“That’s not your call.”
“It is when knowing puts you in danger.”
Zara let out a breath.
“I’m already in danger,” she said. “Someone followed me. Someone called me. Someone is sending me messages.”
She stepped closer.
“And somehow, you’re connected to it.”
Ethan didn’t deny it.
That silence confirmed enough.
Zara’s heart raced.
“What did I walk into?” she asked.
Ethan looked at her.
Then said quietly,
“You walked out of it.”
Zara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means last night wasn’t random.”
Her pulse spiked.
“Then what was it?”
Ethan stayed silent.
Liam answered.
“You were being watched.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That’s enough.”
“No,” Liam said. “It isn’t.”
Zara turned.
“Watched by who?”
Neither answered.
That silence said everything.
“This isn’t just one person,” she said.
Ethan looked at her.
“No.”
Her stomach dropped.
“How long?”
A pause.
“Long enough.”
Zara’s chest tightened.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
The word hit hard.
“You knew… and didn’t tell me?”
“I was handling it.”
“By lying to me?”
“By protecting you.”
Zara shook her head.
“This isn’t protection,” she said. “This is control.”
Ethan didn’t argue.
Zara turned to Liam.
“And you?” she asked. “What are you doing in all this?”
“I stepped in when things crossed a line,” he said.
“What line?”
“Last night.”
Zara’s mind raced.
“So you’ve both been watching me?”
“No,” Liam said.
“Yes,” Ethan said at the same time.
Zara looked between them.
“Which one is it?”
Silence.
Then Liam spoke.
“I wasn’t supposed to be involved.”
Ethan nodded slightly.
“That’s true.”
Zara frowned.
“Then why are you?”
Liam held her gaze.
“Because it stopped being observation.”
Her chest tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone decided to act.”
The memory flashed.
A hand grabbing her wrist.
Zara’s breath caught.
“And you stopped it,” she said.
“Yes.”
She turned to Ethan.
“And you knew that would happen?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Zara stepped back.
“You knew,” she whispered.
“I knew there was a risk,” he said.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It’s close enough.”
“No,” she said. “It’s not.”
Silence filled the room again.
But this time, it felt clearer.
Zara looked at both of them.
“You don’t get to decide what I remember,” she said.
Ethan’s expression shifted.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
Her phone buzzed.
Zara looked down.
Another message.
Unknown number.
She opened it.
“You’re asking the wrong questions.”
Her breath caught.
Another message came in.
“Ask what you were about to see.”
Zara’s fingers trembled.
She looked up slowly.
And for the first time—
Both Liam and Ethan looked concerned.
- Writer
