5 YEARS

The Truth Unveiled

Isabel had reached her breaking point

The humiliation, the pain, the torment—she had endured it all in silence for five years. But no more.

Not after what Samuel had done. Not after the way he used her, discarded her, mocked her.

She stormed into his office, slamming the door behind her so hard the walls shook. Papers fluttered off his desk, and his pen slipped from his fingers, rolling onto the floor.

Samuel barely looked up, his expression cold and unimpressed. “Get out.”

Isabel stood her ground, breathing heavily. Her hands curled into fists. “No.”

Samuel’s eyes darkened, his jaw tightening. “Who the hell do you think you are, barging in here like this?” He leaned back in his chair, his voice dripping with venom. “You’re nothing, Isabel. A filthy stain on my past. A pathetic woman still clinging to the ghost of what we were. Get out before I—”

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH!” Isabel screamed, slamming her hands onto his desk. The rage in her voice startled even her. “Five years, Samuel! Five damn years I kept silent, let you ruin me, let you throw me into the dirt. But not today. Not anymore!”

Samuel exhaled sharply, shaking his head with a mocking chuckle. “Oh, here we go. The emotional manipulation. What is it now, Isabel? You want sympathy? Money? Another night in my bed?”

Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I left you because I had no choice!” she snapped. “Your father threatened to kill you if I didn’t!”

Samuel stilled. His smirk faltered.

Isabel pulled out her phone, her hands trembling as she scrolled through her gallery. And then, she turned the screen to him.

Message after message.

Threats.

Warnings.

"Leave Samuel, or he dies."

"If you think you can have him, you’re mistaken. You will watch him die."

"I will destroy everything you love if you don’t walk away."

Samuel’s face went blank.

“That wasn’t my boyfriend, Samuel,” Isabel said, her voice shaking. “That was a man your father arranged for me. He wanted you to be like him. Ruthless. Cold. Merciless. But you weren’t. And because of that, he thought I was making you weak.”

She stepped closer, her voice cracking. “I had no choice, Samuel. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was saving you.”

Samuel stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back. “You’re lying,” he whispered, but his voice lacked conviction.

“Call him,” Isabel challenged, her chin trembling. “Ask him. Confront him. I dare you.”

He clenched his fists. “This is just another excuse. Another lie.”

Isabel let out a bitter laugh. “Then why are you shaking, Samuel?”

His entire body was trembling.

He wanted to deny it. He wanted to call her a liar. But deep down, something inside him already knew.

His father had always been controlling.

His mother had never supported their relationship.

And Isabel—Isabel had never looked at him the way she did now.

Like she was breaking right in front of him.

“You could have told me,” he said, his voice raw.

“I couldn’t,” Isabel said. “They threatened my mother. They knew where she was. What did you expect me to do? Stay and let them kill you? Let them kill her?”

Samuel slammed his fist onto the desk. “DAMN IT, ISABEL!” he roared. “Do you know what you did to me? Do you know how I spent five years hating you? How I destroyed myself thinking I wasn’t good enough for you?”

Tears streamed down Isabel’s face. “And do you know what it felt like watching you move on with my own twin sister? To hear you call me a w***e? To have you throw money at me like I was nothing?” Her voice cracked. “You want to talk about pain, Samuel? Do you even know what pain is?”

Samuel’s breathing was ragged.

He turned away, running a hand through his hair.

“Get out,” he whispered.

Isabel’s heart clenched. “Samuel, please…”

“I said GET OUT!” He grabbed the first thing in reach—a glass paperweight—and hurled it across the room. It shattered against the wall, the sound like a gunshot in the tense silence.

Isabel flinched.

She had come here hoping for closure. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, Samuel would listen.

But there was no saving this.

There was no undoing the years of hatred, the scars they had left on each other.

She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and wiped her tears.

“Fine,” she whispered. “I’ll leave.”

She turned to go but paused at the door.

“I’m resigning,” she said, her voice firm.

Samuel didn’t respond.

She nodded to herself, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I loved you, Samuel,” she said softly. “Even when you hated me.”

And then she walked out.

Leaving behind the man who had once been her entire world.