Chapter 15: The man behind the mask
1359 Words
Serena couldn't sleep.
She sat at the edge of her bed, staring at the closed laptop on the desk.
The original file.
That was what Damien's mysterious callers wanted.
But what exactly was it?
And why had Ethan sounded so certain that she was connected to it?
She looked toward the bedroom door.
Damien was asleep.
Or at least pretending to be.
She couldn't tell anymore.
Everything about her husband had become a question.
Everything about Ethan had become another.
And somehow, she was caught between both men.
Serena quietly got out of bed.
She needed air.
She slipped into a robe and walked onto the balcony.
The city glittered beneath her.
For the first time in years, she felt completely alone.
Then her phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Ethan Blackwood.
Her heart skipped.
She answered.
"Hello?"
"You shouldn't be outside."
Serena frowned.
"What?"
"I can see your balcony."
She immediately looked across the street.
A black car sat beneath a streetlight.
Her breath caught.
"Ethan?"
"I'm not there to frighten you."
"Then why are you watching my house?"
"Because someone else is."
Her expression changed.
"What?"
"Go inside, Serena."
His voice was calm but firm.
"Lock the balcony door."
She did exactly that.
"Now what?"
"Stay away from the windows."
"You're giving orders again."
"I'll apologize later."
Despite everything, a tiny smile touched her lips.
"You're impossible."
"And you're reckless."
"I wasn't doing anything."
"You followed your husband to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night."
"That's different."
"How?"
"I was investigating."
"So was I."
She paused.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"You knew I was there?"
"I found out too late."
There was something in his voice.
Concern.
Real concern.
Serena leaned against the wall.
"Why do you care so much?"
Silence.
"Ethan?"
"I don't know."
Her heart beat faster.
"You don't know?"
"No."
His voice softened.
"But I know that when I thought those men had caught you..."
He stopped.
Serena waited.
"What?"
"I realized I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to you."
Her breath caught.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence between them suddenly felt different.
Heavier.
More intimate.
Serena closed her eyes.
"You're dangerous, you know."
"How?"
"You make me forget I'm supposed to be afraid."
Ethan was silent for several seconds.
"That's because you shouldn't have to be afraid of me."
Something inside Serena tightened.
She whispered,
"I don't know who I can trust anymore."
"Then don't trust me."
She opened her eyes.
"What?"
"Not yet."
His voice was low.
"Let me earn it."
---
The next afternoon, Serena arrived at Blackwood Global.
Ethan had asked her to come.
She wasn't sure why.
Perhaps she wanted answers.
Perhaps she simply wanted to see him again.
That thought embarrassed her.
She entered the executive office to find Ethan standing beside his desk, jacket removed, sleeves rolled up.
He looked up.
For a moment, neither spoke.
His eyes lingered on her.
"You came."
"You asked me to."
"I know."
"Then why do you look surprised?"
"Because I wasn't sure you'd come."
Serena raised an eyebrow.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you don't trust me."
She walked closer.
"Maybe I'm trying to."
Something flickered across his face.
He looked away first.
"I found something."
He handed her a folder.
Inside were several photographs.
Serena's eyes widened.
They showed Damien entering different buildings.
Hotels.
Restaurants.
Private offices.
Then she saw something that made her stomach twist.
Damien was standing beside the woman from the hotel.
But this photograph was different.
The woman wasn't kissing him.
She was handing him an envelope.
"What is that?"
"I don't know yet."
Ethan pointed to the background.
"Look."
Serena zoomed in on the photograph.
Behind them was a company logo.
She recognized it immediately.
"That's the company I used to work for."
Ethan nodded.
"Exactly."
Serena looked up.
"Why would Damien be meeting her there?"
"That's what we're trying to find out."
She stared at the photograph.
Then suddenly...
A memory surfaced.
A meeting room.
Five years earlier.
A stack of financial reports.
A man telling her to ignore a discrepancy.
And a black folder with a strange symbol stamped across it.
A raven.
Serena's breathing changed.
"Ethan..."
"What?"
"I've seen that symbol before."
He stepped closer.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Think."
She closed her eyes.
The memory came in fragments.
A corridor.
A locked office.
Someone shouting.
A folder being carried away.
Then...
A man's voice.
"If anyone asks, you never saw it."
Serena opened her eyes.
"I think I was there."
"Where?"
"At the beginning of all this."
Ethan's expression hardened.
Before he could respond, Serena swayed.
He caught her.
His hands settled around her waist.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Serena looked up.
They were impossibly close.
She could feel his breath.
Ethan looked down at her lips.
Then back into her eyes.
"Serena..."
She swallowed.
"Yes?"
His grip loosened immediately.
He stepped away.
"I shouldn't."
Her heart fluttered.
"Why?"
"Because you're married."
The words brought reality crashing back.
Serena looked down.
"I know."
"And because if I cross that line..."
He paused.
"...I won't be able to pretend it means nothing."
She looked at him.
"What if it doesn't mean nothing?"
Ethan stared at her.
The tension between them became almost unbearable.
For one reckless second, Serena thought he might kiss her.
Instead, he reached up and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
His fingers lingered for barely a second.
Then he stepped away.
"Go home."
She frowned.
"You're dismissing me?"
"I'm trying to do the right thing."
Despite herself, Serena smiled.
"That's annoying."
His lips curved slightly.
"Good."
---
That evening, Serena returned home to find Damien waiting.
He was sitting in the living room.
Alone.
His expression was unusually serious.
"Where were you?"
"Work."
"With Ethan?"
Serena froze.
Damien stood.
"You don't have to lie."
"I wasn't aware I owed you an explanation."
"You do."
His voice cracked.
"You are my wife."
Serena laughed bitterly.
"Your wife?"
She stepped closer.
"After everything you've done?"
Damien flinched.
"I know I've hurt you."
"You don't know anything."
"I know more than you think."
She stared at him.
"Then tell me."
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
"That's what I thought."
She turned away.
Damien grabbed her wrist.
She immediately pulled back.
"Don't."
He released her.
"I'm sorry."
She looked at him.
For the first time, Damien looked genuinely broken.
"I never wanted this."
"What didn't you want?"
"Any of it."
His voice trembled.
"Not the lies. Not the secrets. Not what happened."
Serena stared at him.
"What happened, Damien?"
He looked toward the staircase.
Toward Lily's room.
Then back at Serena.
"I can't tell you."
Her eyes hardened.
"Then don't expect me to forgive you."
She walked upstairs.
Damien remained downstairs.
His phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
One message.
«Ethan is getting too close.»
Another appeared.
«If you don't control Serena, we'll do it for you.»
Damien's hands curled into fists.
He typed a response.
«Leave her alone.»
The reply came instantly.
«Then give us the file.»
Damien stared at the words.
His eyes closed.
He whispered,
"I don't have it."
Three dots appeared.
Then:
«But Serena does.»
Damien's eyes snapped open.
Upstairs...
Serena stood inside her bedroom.
She opened her wardrobe.
At the very back was an old box containing memories from five years ago.
Wedding photographs.
Letters.
Old documents.
She pulled everything onto the bed.
Then stopped.
One photograph caught her attention.
It was from her wedding day.
Damien stood beside her, smiling.
But behind them...
Half-hidden in the reflection of a glass cabinet...
Was something else.
A black folder.
Stamped with a symbol she hadn't thought about in five years.
A raven.
Serena's fingers trembled.
She turned the photograph over.
There was handwriting on the back.
Three words.
YOU FORGOT, SERENA.
Her blood ran cold.
And suddenly...
She remembered the room.
The folder.
The voice.
And the man who had placed it in her hands.
It wasn't Damien.
It wasn't Ethan.
It was someone Serena had trusted completely.
Someone she never imagined could be connected to Glasshouse.
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