The Truth Beneath the Glass
1665 Words
Sleep never came.
I sat in bed, my phone screen still glowing with that message — the picture of Damon and Mr. Hayes Sr. shaking hands. It burned behind my eyelids even when I closed them.
By morning, my body moved on habit. Coffee. Shower. Pretend to function. But inside, everything was splintering. Damon’s words from last night echoed in my chest, tangled with that photo like a cruel echo — I didn’t plan you.
Lies always start that way. With almost-truths.
The rain had stopped, but the air felt heavy. My reflection in the mirror looked unfamiliar, distant. A woman learning, again, that love and betrayal could wear the same face.
When my phone rang, I didn’t need to check who it was. Clara.
“You sound like death,” she said.
“I feel worse.”
“Tell me.”
I told her everything. The photo. The message. Damon’s silence.
Clara cursed under her breath. “You can’t let this slide. You need answers.”
“I don’t even know what’s real anymore.”
“Then find out,” she said. “You have a right to know what game you’re in.”
Her words cut through the fog. She was right. Hiding wouldn’t fix this.
So I called Damon. Once. Twice. No answer.
By noon, I was standing in front of Cross Enterprises, the glass tower that carried his name.
The receptionist’s eyes widened when she saw me. “Ms. Hayes, Mr. Cross is in a meeting—”
“I’ll wait.”
Her lips parted, as if she wanted to stop me, but something in my voice made her step aside.
The elevator ride was silent except for the thud of my heartbeat. The higher it climbed, the more I doubted what I was about to do. But I’d spent too many years staying quiet while men lied to my face. Not this time.
When the doors slid open, Damon’s office loomed at the end of the hall — tall glass, cold light, and silence that felt heavy enough to shatter.
Lucas Ward was standing by the door. His usual calm broke the moment he saw me. “Amara.”
“I need to see him.”
“He’s in with someone.”
“Good,” I said. “Then I won’t have to wait long.”
Before he could stop me, I pushed the door open.
Inside, Damon stood beside the wide window, hands in his pockets, while Mr. Hayes Sr. spoke in that low, commanding tone I’d heard too many times before.
“…the board expects results,” Mr. Hayes was saying. “You wanted access, you got it. Don’t tell me now that you’ve changed your mind because of—”
His voice cut off when he saw me.
The air went still. Damon turned, his eyes dark with something unreadable — regret, anger, maybe both.
“Amara,” he said quietly.
I ignored him. “Don’t stop on my account. I’d love to hear how this deal works.”
Mr. Hayes smirked. “So this is the reason you’re hesitating,” he said to Damon. “The woman who ruined my son.”
My nails dug into my palm. “Your son ruined himself.”
He chuckled, dry and cruel. “And now you’re ruining this one too.”
Damon stepped forward. “That’s enough.”
“No,” I said. “Let him speak. Seems like the only honest man in the room.”
Damon’s eyes flickered, sharp and pleading. “Amara, don’t do this here.”
“Then tell me the truth here.” I lifted my phone, the photo still on the screen. “How long have you been working with him?”
Mr. Hayes smiled faintly, watching Damon’s silence like it was his victory. “She’s smarter than my son ever gave her credit for.”
My throat tightened. “So it’s true.”
Damon exhaled, stepping closer. “It started months ago. Before us. Before any of this. He wanted me to acquire your ex’s company quietly. I agreed—”
“You agreed?” My voice cracked. “You said no to Ethan, but yes to his father?”
“Because I wanted to protect you,” he said, desperate now. “Ethan was going to drag you back into his mess. I made sure that didn’t happen.”
“That’s not protection,” I said, my voice shaking. “That’s control.”
“It’s the only way I knew how to keep you safe.”
“By lying to me?”
He took another step forward, eyes burning with something raw. “By keeping you out of a war you didn’t start.”
I looked between him and Mr. Hayes. “And what’s in it for you?”
“Business,” Mr. Hayes said smoothly. “Nothing more.”
Damon shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. “This isn’t your game anymore.”
Mr. Hayes smirked. “It always was, son. You’re just too blinded by her to see it.”
The word son hit me before I could process it. “What did you just call him?”
Damon froze.
Mr. Hayes’s smile widened. “Oh, he didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Damon’s jaw clenched. “Don’t.”
But Mr. Hayes kept going, savoring it. “You really don’t know who he is, do you? Damon isn’t just a rival, Amara. He’s family. My nephew.”
The room spun.
I stared at Damon, waiting for him to deny it. He didn’t.
Every breath I’d taken since I met him felt like it had been stolen. “You’re his nephew?”
“Yes,” he said finally, his voice low. “But that’s not what you think—”
I stepped back, shaking my head. “I don’t even know what to think anymore.”
“Amara, listen to me,” he said. “He wanted me to use you, yes. To get to Ethan. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
“You mean you wouldn’t until you got what you wanted,” I whispered.
His face twisted. “That’s not true.”
“Then what is?”
“I fell for you,” he said simply. “That’s the truth that ruined everything.”
For a moment, no one spoke. Even Mr. Hayes seemed satisfied with the damage.
“You think she’ll forgive you for that?” he said quietly. “You’re more naive than I thought.”
Damon turned to him, eyes cold. “You should leave.”
But Mr. Hayes only smiled. “You can’t protect her from what’s coming. You both made enemies. And when this falls apart, she’ll blame you again — just like before.”
He walked out, the door closing with a quiet click that felt final.
The silence left behind was heavy. Damon stepped toward me. “Amara, please.”
I didn’t move. “You could’ve told me.”
“I was going to,” he said. “After I cut ties with him. But he found out about us first.”
Tears blurred my vision. “You said you didn’t plan me. You were right. You planned everything else.”
His voice broke. “Don’t walk away.”
“I have to.”
He reached for my wrist, not roughly, but enough to stop me. His touch burned — familiar and foreign all at once. “You said you didn’t want to fall again,” he said. “Neither did I. But I did. And now I’m asking you not to give up on something real because of how it started.”
I looked up at him, my pulse hammering. “Then prove it, Damon. Prove I’m not just another pawn.”
Before he could answer, Lucas burst in, face pale. “Sir, you need to see this.”
Damon turned. “Not now.”
“It’s urgent.” Lucas handed him a tablet. His expression was grim.
Damon’s eyes scanned the screen. The color drained from his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer right away. Then he turned the screen toward me.
A breaking news headline blazed across it — Cross Enterprises Under Investigation for Fraud and Insider Trading.
Below it was a photo. Damon, standing beside Ethan, shaking hands. Dated three months ago.
My stomach dropped. “What is this?”
“That’s fake,” Damon said quickly. “I swear to you, that meeting never happened.”
“But it’s public now,” Lucas said. “And they have emails, documents — everything. Someone set us up.”
Damon’s eyes met mine, panic flickering in them for the first time. “It’s him. Mr. Hayes. He’s burning everything.”
I backed away, my heart breaking in a way words couldn’t touch. “You said you could protect me.”
“I will,” he said. “But you have to trust me.”
“Trust,” I whispered. “That’s the one thing you already broke.”
He reached for me again, desperate, but I pulled back.
The elevator doors opened behind me. I stepped inside before I could change my mind.
As the doors closed, Damon’s voice echoed — low, raw, almost pleading.
“Amara, don’t walk away. Please.”
I didn’t answer.
When the elevator reached the lobby, my phone buzzed again. Another message.
Unknown: He’s not the only one who lied to you.
Attached — another photo.
Me. Standing with Ethan. Last night.
I hadn’t even known he’d been watching.
The timestamp read ten minutes before Damon showed up at the gallery.
And beneath it, a single line:
“You think you chose the right man, but they both chose you first.”
The phone slipped from my hand.
Somewhere above me, thunder cracked, and the city lights flickered.
Everything I thought I knew shattered.
- Writer
