CHAPTER THREE
565 Words
Chapter 3: A Heart on the Edge
Isabella Montgomery sat in the quiet stillness of her penthouse, the weight in her chest easing—if only slightly—now that Ethan was here. He stood just a few feet away, hands in his pockets, his steady gaze fixed on her.
The room felt smaller with him in it. Not in an uncomfortable way, but in a way that made it impossible to ignore the emotions she had spent years suppressing.
“You going to tell me what’s wrong?” Ethan finally asked, his voice low, calm.
She turned away from him, pretending to be absorbed in the city lights beyond the glass walls. “It’s nothing.”
He let out a quiet sigh. “You don’t call me after months of silence for ‘nothing.’”
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the kitchen island. She hated how well he knew her. Hated that she couldn’t brush him off like she did everyone else. But most of all, she hated how much she wanted him to stay.
“It’s just… been a long day.”
“Isabella.”
The way he said her name sent a shiver down her spine. He wasn’t demanding answers, wasn’t pushing her the way others would. He was just there, waiting, giving her space while making it clear he wasn’t going anywhere.
She exhaled sharply and turned to face him. “Fine. It’s my father. As usual.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What did he do this time?”
She shook her head. “Nothing new. Just the same old expectations, the same pressure. The constant reminders that I’ll never be enough.”
His expression darkened. “That’s not true, and you know it.”
“Do I?” She let out a hollow laugh, rubbing her arms as if to ward off a chill. “Because every time I think I’ve proven myself, he finds a way to remind me that I’m still just a girl playing in a world that doesn’t belong to me.”
Ethan took a slow step forward, closing the distance between them. He didn’t touch her—he never did unless she let him—but his presence was enough. Solid. Unwavering.
“You built an empire, Isabella,” he said quietly. “Not him. You. No one can take that away from you.”
She wanted to believe him. She really did. But the voice in her head—the one that had been planted there by years of her father’s disapproval—was louder.
“I called you because…” She hesitated, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Because I didn’t want to be alone.”
Something flickered in his eyes. Understanding. Something deeper. Something she wasn’t ready to name.
“You never have to be,” he said simply.
The words settled heavily between them, a truth she wasn’t sure she could accept. Because needing someone meant giving them power over her. And she had sworn never to let that happen again.
But tonight, with Ethan standing in her living room, she allowed herself one moment of weakness.
“Stay,” she whispered before she could second-guess herself.
Ethan didn’t hesitate. He nodded once, as if he had been waiting for her to say the words.
And for the first time in a long time, Isabella let herself breathe.
- Writer
