Chapter 4: Other Woman.
723 Words
One Month Ago
The Esquivel Empire State building was silent. It was already eleven at night, and all the employees had gone home—everyone except William.
The CEO.
The owner of the building.
He was still in his office, together with the woman he had been secretly involved with for weeks now.
Sophia—his assistant.
The night was so quiet that the only sound filling the room was their breathing. Sophia was bent over the desk, her hair spilling over her shoulders, her hands gripping the edge of the table as if she needed something solid to hold on to.
William stood behind her.
His touch lingered longer than it should have. Every movement was deliberate, every second a choice he knew he shouldn’t be making. He felt the warmth of her body, the closeness, the dangerous familiarity that no longer felt accidental.
“William…” Sophia breathed, her voice trembling.
The office—where contracts were signed, where futures were decided—had turned into a place of secrets. Outside, the city slept. Inside, boundaries were being crossed.
William leaned in, his voice low, almost rough.
“This shouldn’t be happening,” he murmured—yet he didn’t stop.
And that was the betrayal.
Not just the physical closeness, but the fact that he stayed.
That he let it continue.
That he chose the silence of the night over the truth waiting for him at home.
When it was over, they stayed there for a moment—breathing hard, not touching, both aware of what they had done.
Satisfied, yes.
But also marked.
Because once a line is crossed, it never truly disappears.
And that night was not the last.
GRANDE HOTEL
The light in the hotel room was dim, cast only by the lamp beside the bed. The city lights glowed faintly through the curtains, blurred and distant—just like the life William had left behind for the afternoon.
After a lunch “meeting,” he hadn’t gone home.
Instead, he came here.
To her.
A week had passed since that first night in his office. Work had kept them busy, but whenever there was an opening, a pause, an excuse—he found himself drawn back to Sophia.
He told himself it was stress.
Loneliness.
A moment of weakness.
But moments don’t repeat themselves like this.
He missed her.
Missed the way she looked at him without judgment.
Missed how easy it was to forget that he was a married man.
And that terrified him.
He lay beside her now, the weight of what they were doing pressing heavier than the sheets. His mind betrayed him even as his heart resisted.
He loved his wife.
That truth hadn’t changed.
But there was a wall between him and Elisse—one built from grief, silence, and words never said. He didn’t know how to tear it down anymore.
Sophia had slipped through the cracks.
“I tried to stay away from you,” he admitted quietly, more to himself than to her.
“But I failed.”
Sophia traced slow patterns on his chest, her expression unreadable.
“Do you still love her?” she asked.
The question landed where it hurt most.
William searched his own heart—and found no clear answer. Not because the love was gone, but because guilt had buried it too deep to reach.
He stayed silent.
Sophia smiled, but it wasn’t a happy one.
“You do,” she said softly. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t hesitate.”
“I’m sorry,” William whispered.
She let out a breath that sounded more tired than angry.
“Then I guess I should accept what I am to you,” she said.
“Just this. Someone you come to when you need warmth. Someone you hide. Someone who exists only in shadows.”
Her words cut deeper than any accusation.
Because they were true.
And because he let them be true.
That night ended the same way the others did—quietly, without promises, without clarity.
Only with the heavy knowledge that every lie he told his wife, every secret he kept, was building toward something that would eventually destroy them all.
And somewhere, far away from the hotel room, Elisse slept—unaware that the betrayal had already taken root.
- Writer
