The truth comes out
932 Words
For three days, Naomi Blake avoided Ethan Sinclair completely.
No late-night conversations.
No private messages.
No lingering looks across conference rooms.
Nothing.
And somehow, the distance hurt worse than the scandal itself.
The executive floor felt colder now.
Quieter.
Employees still whispered whenever Naomi walked past, but now their curiosity mixed with pity.
Everyone knew something had happened between her and Ethan.
And apparently, everyone knew it had ended badly too.
Fantastic.
Naomi sat silently at her desk Wednesday afternoon reviewing contracts she hadn’t actually read properly for the past twenty minutes.
Her concentration was nonexistent.
Because every few seconds, her eyes betrayed her and drifted toward Ethan’s office automatically.
The blinds were closed.
He’d kept them closed for days now.
And for some reason, that bothered her deeply.
“You look miserable.”
Naomi looked up tiredly to find Vivian Reed standing beside her.
“Thank you,” Naomi muttered. “Very comforting.”
Vivian placed a coffee beside her anyway.
Naomi blinked slightly. “You bought me coffee?”
“You’re emotionally unstable right now. It seemed necessary.”
Naomi laughed weakly despite herself.
Then the sadness returned almost immediately.
Vivian noticed.
“You really love him,” she said quietly.
The words stunned Naomi into silence.
Love.
Hearing it aloud made everything suddenly feel terrifyingly real.
Because the worst part?
Vivian was right.
Naomi looked down at the coffee cup quietly. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“No one ever does.”
Naomi swallowed painfully. “Do you think I made the wrong decision?”
Vivian hesitated for the first time.
That alone frightened Naomi.
Finally, Vivian sighed softly. “I think both of you are trying to protect each other in the worst possible way.”
Before Naomi could respond, the elevator doors suddenly opened.
And chaos entered immediately.
Several executives rushed onto the floor looking panicked while voices echoed loudly down the hallway.
Naomi frowned. “What happened?”
One employee looked pale. “The board called an emergency meeting.”
Her stomach tightened instantly.
About Ethan.
About them.
About the scandal.
An hour later, Naomi stood outside the executive conference room trying unsuccessfully not to panic.
Raised voices echoed faintly through the closed doors.
The meeting had been going on for almost forty minutes.
And judging from the tension around the office, it was bad.
Very bad.
Then suddenly the doors opened.
Board members exited one by one with grim expressions.
Naomi immediately searched for Ethan.
When he finally appeared, something inside her chest tightened painfully.
He looked exhausted.
More exhausted than she had ever seen him.
Their eyes met briefly across the hallway.
And for one terrible second, Naomi saw heartbreak in his expression.
Real heartbreak.
Then one board member noticed her standing nearby.
His expression hardened immediately.
“Miss Blake,” he said coldly, “you should begin preparing your resignation.”
Naomi froze completely.
Excuse me?
Before she could even process the words, Ethan stepped forward sharply.
“No.”
The entire hallway became silent instantly.
The board member frowned. “Ethan, this situation requires consequences.”
“And you think firing her solves your problem?”
“It protects the company.”
“No,” Ethan said coldly. “It makes her a scapegoat.”
Naomi stared at him speechlessly.
The board member crossed his arms. “Then perhaps you should reconsider your position as CEO.”
Silence crashed heavily across the hallway.
Oh my God.
Naomi’s blood ran cold instantly.
They were threatening him.
Ethan remained perfectly calm somehow.
“If protecting Naomi costs me this position,” he said quietly, “then so be it.”
Her breath caught painfully.
Every person nearby looked shocked.
Including Vivian.
Including the board.
Including Naomi herself.
Because Ethan Sinclair the man who spent years sacrificing everything for this company had just openly chosen her over it.
The realization hit Naomi all at once.
Every warning.
Every attempt to push her away.
Every fear he carried.
It had never been about protecting himself.
It was always about protecting her.
Emotion burned painfully in Naomi’s chest.
“Ethan…” she whispered.
But he barely looked away from the board members.
“I won’t allow any of you to destroy her reputation to save your own.”
The hallway stayed silent for several seconds.
Then finally the board member spoke again.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Ethan’s expression darkened slightly.
“No,” he replied calmly. “I made my mistake the moment I let this company convince me feelings were weaknesses.”
The words hit Naomi harder than anything else ever had.
And suddenly, leaving him felt impossible.
Because despite everything
The scandal.
The gossip.
The danger.
He was still standing there fighting for her.
Without thinking, Naomi stepped toward him.
The board members watched carefully.
Vivian looked stressed enough to develop a migraine.
But Naomi didn’t care anymore.
She stopped directly in front of Ethan, her voice softer this time.
“You idiot.”
For the first time in days, a small real smile appeared on Ethan’s face.
“You came back,” he murmured quietly.
Naomi looked up at him emotionally. “You literally tried sacrificing your company for me.”
“I can buy another company.”
Despite everything, she laughed weakly through tears.
God.
This man was impossible.
Ethan’s expression softened completely then warm and unguarded in a way only she ever saw.
And in that moment, Naomi realized something terrifying.
No matter how complicated this became…
She wasn’t ready to lose him either.
- Writer
