Chapter Three – Part One: Regret Has a Name
1275 Words
Three months had passed.
Three painfully long months.
Yet Ethan Kingston still found himself looking toward the empty desk in the marketing department every morning.
Emily Carter's desk.
It had remained untouched since the day she left Kingston Group.
Officially, Human Resources had already assigned another intern to the position. But somehow, every replacement asked to move elsewhere within a week. Some claimed the desk was too isolated; others simply wanted to work closer to their teams.
None of them knew why Ethan had quietly refused to let the desk be removed.
It reminded him of a mistake he wasn't ready to admit.
Outside his office window, the city glittered beneath the evening lights.
The board meeting had just ended.
It should have been a victory.
Kingston Group had secured another international contract worth millions.
The directors congratulated him.
Investors praised his leadership.
Business magazines called him "the most brilliant CEO under thirty."
None of it mattered.
He picked up a report lying on his desk.
It wasn't a financial statement.
It wasn't a contract.
It was a marketing proposal.
Emily's proposal.
The one she had prepared months ago.
He had no reason to keep it.
Yet he had read it countless times.
Every page reminded him of her determination.
Every handwritten note in the margins reminded him of the way she always questioned everything.
"Why settle for good when great is possible?"
She had written that sentence in blue ink.
He could almost hear her voice.
A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
His assistant, Victoria Hayes, entered with a folder.
"Sir, tomorrow's schedule."
Ethan nodded without looking up.
"You have breakfast with investors at eight."
"Mm."
"A press interview at ten."
He remained silent.
"And dinner with the Hamilton Group executives."
"No."
Victoria blinked.
"They've already confirmed."
"Cancel it."
"They'll be disappointed."
"I said cancel it."
His voice wasn't loud.
It never needed to be.
Victoria quietly nodded.
"Yes, sir."
As she turned to leave, she noticed the report in Ethan's hand.
Again.
The same report.
She recognized Emily's handwriting immediately.
Her fingers tightened around the folder.
Even after all these months...
He still couldn't let her go.
Meanwhile...
Across the city...
Emily stood behind the counter of a small neighborhood café.
The morning rush had finally ended.
She wiped the coffee machine before checking the clock.
Ten minutes until her university lecture.
Her manager smiled.
"You've worked two shifts already."
Emily laughed.
"I still have tuition to pay."
"You need rest."
"I'll rest after graduation."
The older woman shook her head.
"You remind me of myself twenty years ago."
Emily smiled politely.
Inside...
She was exhausted.
Losing her internship had hurt more than losing the income.
Kingston Group had been her dream.
Ethan's words still echoed inside her mind.
"I can't keep someone I can't trust."
She had replayed that sentence every night.
Not because she hated him.
But because she wished...
Just wished...
He had believed her.
University became her refuge.
She buried herself in assignments.
Research.
Group projects.
Anything to stop thinking about the man who had broken her heart without ever realizing it.
One afternoon, after class, her professor stopped her.
"Emily."
"Yes, Professor?"
"I submitted your research paper to a national business competition."
She looked surprised.
"You... what?"
"It won."
Emily blinked.
"...Won?"
"First place."
She stared at him.
"I didn't even know it was entered."
"I knew you'd refuse."
He smiled.
"So I took the liberty."
She laughed for the first time in weeks.
The professor handed her an envelope.
"There's more."
Emily opened it.
Inside was an invitation.
National Innovation Summit.
Guest speakers.
Leading CEOs.
Government officials.
International investors.
And...
One keynote speaker.
Kingston Group CEO.
Ethan Kingston.
Emily's smile disappeared.
That same afternoon...
At Kingston Group...
A junior IT technician nervously approached Ethan's office.
"Sir..."
Ethan looked up.
"What is it?"
"We've completed the security audit you requested."
Months ago, Ethan had quietly ordered an internal review of every digital record connected to the failed partnership presentation.
He had never told anyone.
Not even the board.
He simply couldn't shake the feeling that something hadn't added up.
The technician placed a flash drive on the desk.
"We found something unusual."
Ethan's expression sharpened.
"Explain."
"The presentation files were modified."
"When?"
"The night before the meeting."
His heartbeat slowed.
"By whom?"
The technician hesitated.
"The login belonged to Miss Emily Carter."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Of course.
That was exactly what everyone believed.
Then the technician continued.
"But..."
Ethan looked up.
"The login originated from another workstation."
"What?"
"The account was accessed remotely."
He stood.
"That's impossible."
"It isn't."
The technician opened his laptop.
"Someone cloned her login credentials."
Ethan stared at the screen.
Time stamps.
Access logs.
Security records.
Everything was there.
Emily hadn't altered the report.
Someone else had.
His voice became almost a whisper.
"Can you identify who?"
The technician nodded slowly.
"We're ninety-eight percent certain."
Silence filled the office.
Finally...
"The login originated from Executive Administration."
Ethan's heart sank.
Only a handful of people worked there.
One name immediately entered his mind.
Victoria.
No...
It couldn't be.
Could it?
That evening...
Victoria noticed Ethan standing outside her office.
He had never visited her workspace before.
"Sir?"
"Close the door."
Her smile faded.
She obeyed.
Ethan placed the printed audit report on her desk.
"Explain."
Victoria glanced down.
Her face lost all color.
She recovered quickly.
"I don't understand."
"You altered Emily Carter's presentation."
"I didn't."
"You accessed her account."
"No."
He remained perfectly calm.
Too calm.
"The IT department recovered deleted records."
She swallowed.
"They're mistaken."
"They also recovered security footage."
Victoria's breathing became uneven.
"There must be—"
"Eighteen cameras."
Her lips parted.
"Three witnesses."
Silence.
"And your fingerprint on Emily's workstation."
Victoria slowly sat down.
She realized there was no escape.
Her voice barely emerged.
"I... only wanted her transferred."
"You destroyed a business partnership."
"I didn't think—"
"No."
His voice remained cold.
"You didn't."
She lowered her head.
"I loved you."
The words hung in the air.
"I thought..."
She wiped away tears.
"...if she disappeared..."
"...you'd finally notice me."
Ethan looked at her with eyes emptier than she had ever seen.
"I trusted you."
"I know."
"You framed an innocent woman."
Victoria sobbed.
"I'm sorry."
"So am I."
She looked up hopefully.
"Ethan..."
He interrupted quietly.
"Your employment ends today."
Everything inside her shattered.
"You can't..."
"I can."
"I've given five years to this company."
"And today you lost everything."
She cried openly now.
"I loved you."
He answered without anger.
"Love never asks someone else to suffer."
Then he turned and walked away.
The office door closed softly behind him.
It sounded louder than any slam.
That night...
Ethan drove through the city without knowing where he was going.
Rain poured across the windshield.
Traffic lights blurred into streaks of red and gold.
His mind replayed every conversation with Emily.
Every smile.
Every late-night discussion.
Every moment she had looked at him expecting him to believe her.
And every time...
He had failed.
He remembered her final words.
"One day... you'll regret not believing me."
She had been right.
He finally understood.
His regret didn't begin today.
It had begun the moment she walked out of his office carrying nothing but her dignity.
For the first time since becoming CEO...
Ethan Kingston cried.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Alone.
In the privacy of his car.
Because no amount of money...
No successful business deal...
No achievement...
Could undo the pain he had caused the woman who had only ever wanted one thing from him.
Trust.
And he had given her doubt instead.
- Writer
