📖 CHAPTER 2: The First Move
809 Words
Aria’s POV
Revenge isn’t loud.
It doesn’t scream.
It doesn’t announce itself.
It smiles… and waits.
“I want to work here.”
Silence filled the room instantly.
Ethan stared at me like I had just said something completely absurd.
“You what?”
“I want a job,” I repeated calmly, crossing one leg over the other as I sat down without being invited.
Confidence unsettles men like him.
Especially when it comes from a woman they once thought they had control over.
His lips curved into a short, disbelieving laugh.
“You disappear for years… then show up and ask to work for me?”
“Yes.”
“No explanation?”
I shrugged slightly.
“Does it matter?”
His gaze sharpened.
It did matter.
But I wasn’t about to give him answers.
Not yet.
He walked around his desk slowly, stopping just a few steps away from me.
“You expect me to trust you?”
I looked up at him, my expression soft… almost innocent.
“You trusted me once.”
That did it.
I saw it in his eyes.
That flicker.
Regret.
Guilt.
A crack in his perfect control.
Good. !!!
He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
For a moment, he said nothing.
He was thinking.
Calculating.
Trying to understand me again.
Trying to figure out what had changed.
Everything had.
“Fine,” he said at last.
One word.
But it carried weight.
“On one condition.”
I raised a brow slightly.
“You don’t get special treatment.”
I smiled faintly.
“I wouldn’t want it.”
Because what I wanted…
Was access.
The job itself didn’t matter.
The position didn’t matter.
What mattered was being close to him.
Close enough to observe.
Close enough to influence.
Close enough to destroy everything… from the inside.
Three days later—
I was officially part of his company.
And everything was going exactly as planned.
“Good morning, Miss Aria,” one of the staff greeted politely as I walked into the office.
I returned the greeting with a soft smile.
Polite.
Warm.
Approachable.
That was the version of me they saw.
Not the one beneath it.
By the end of the first week—
Things began to shift.
Subtly.
Quietly.
Almost unnoticeably.
A major client suddenly pulled out of a deal.
No warning.
No clear explanation.
Just… gone.
A few days later—
Confidential information from an important meeting leaked.
Not enough to cause panic.
But enough to create tension.
Doubt.
Questions.
Then came the real hit.
Stock values began to drop.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
The company wasn’t collapsing.
Not yet.
But it was bleeding.
And no one knew why.
No one…
Except me.
“Something isn’t right.”
Ethan’s voice cut through the silence as he stood by the window, staring out at the city.
We were alone again.
Just like before.
Only this time…
I wasn’t the one feeling small.
“Business always has risks,” I said calmly, flipping through a file as if nothing was wrong.
“This feels different,” he muttered.
Of course it did.
Because it was.
I watched him quietly.
The tension in his shoulders.
The slight crease between his brows.
The frustration he was trying to hide.
He was starting to feel it.
The pressure.
The uncertainty.
“Do you trust your team?” I asked softly.
The question hung in the air.
Simple.
But dangerous.
He didn’t answer immediately.
That hesitation…
That tiny pause…
That was all I needed.
Doubt is powerful.
Once it enters…
It spreads.
Slowly.
Silently.
Until it destroys everything.
“I do,” he said finally.
But his voice lacked certainty.
And we both knew it.
I stood up slowly, walking toward the window where he stood.
The city lights reflected against the glass.
Bright. Beautiful. Fragile.
“Be careful, Ethan,” I said gently.
He turned slightly, his eyes narrowing just a bit.
“About what?”
I met his gaze, my expression calm, unreadable.
“Sometimes…”
I paused, letting the moment stretch.
“…the people closest to you are the ones who ruin you.”
Silence. Heavy. Uncomfortable.
For a second—just one second—
Suspicion flickered in his eyes.
Then it disappeared.
Gone as quickly as it came.
He still didn’t see it.
Didn’t see me.
Not really.
Good. !!!
That made everything easier.
Because this was only the beginning.
Let him focus on the business.
Let him chase the problems.
Let him question everyone around him.
While the real threat…
Stood right beside him.
Smiling.
Let him trust me again. Let him open up.
Let him depend on me.
And when he finally does—
When he looks at me like I’m the only one he can rely on…
That’s when I’ll break him.
Completely.
- Writer
