Chapter 6- UnholyAlliance
1118 Words
The sunlight streaming through Lily’s window felt like a lie. She painted the apartment in warm golds and soft yellows, pretending everything was fine—pretending her life wasn’t unraveling thread by thread.
Ryan had already left, leaving behind nothing but a crumpled blanket and a handwritten note:
“Didn’t want to wake you. I’ll check in tonight. Stay safe. —R.”
It was oddly sweet. She hadn’t expected tenderness from him, not anymore. And yet… the cocoa. The way he looked at her last night. The whispered almost-confession that still echoed in her mind.
“I think I loved you that night.”
She pressed her palm into her chest. Stop it, Lily. There were bigger things to worry about. Like the baby. Like the box. Like Ethan.
Especially Ethan.
She arrived at her office just past ten, hoping to slip in unnoticed. But as soon as she stepped into the sleek marble lobby of Reid Industries, the receptionist stiffened.
“Mr Reid would like to see you immediately,” the woman said, eyes wide. “He’s been… waiting.”
Lily’s stomach dropped. “Did he say why?”
The woman shook her head, but the look on her face said everything.
Trouble.
Ethan’s office was dimmed when she entered, blinds drawn against the bright day. The scent of cinnamon coffee lingered in the air, but it did nothing to ease the tension that slithered through her spine.
He was standing by the window, back turned.
“Lily,” he said without facing her. “How lovely of you to finally show up.”
Her breath hitched. His voice was calm, but laced with ice.
“I had a doctor’s appointment,” she lied, though it was half-true. She had one later that day.
Ethan turned, his blue eyes like polished steel.
“You lied to me,” he said softly. You said you were single. That there was no man in your life.”
She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
He stepped closer. “Don’t insult my intelligence. Aiden Blackwood has been asking about you in boardrooms. And Ryan Hastings? Showing up at your apartment?”
Her blood ran cold. “Are you spying on me?”
“I care about you,” Ethan said, his voice low. “But now I’m wondering if that was a mistake.”
Lily held her ground. “You don’t get to monitor my life, Ethan. You’re my boss, not my keeper.”
“Oh, I think I’m much more than that.” He moved behind his desk and tossed a thin manila folder toward her. “Take a look.”
She opened it—and her heart stopped.
Photos. Grainy ones. Of her with Ryan at her doorstep. Of her and Aiden arguing outside a café. Even one of her was holding her stomach with both hands while entering a pharmacy.
“You’ve been watching me?” she whispered.
Ethan leaned in, his smile tight. “No. Your father has.”
She stormed out of the office in a daze, her heart hammering so hard it hurt. Outside, the world looked the same—cars zooming by, people sipping coffee, New York buzzing as usual—but nothing felt real.
Denzel Galloway.
Still pulling strings.
Still manipulating.
Still treating her like a pawn in some sick, secret game.
She walked for blocks without noticing where she was going. It wasn’t until her feet ached that she stopped in front of the one place she swore she wouldn’t go back to.
Blackwood Towers.
She stared up at the glittering skyscraper that cut the sky like a blade. And then, by instinct, she went inside.
Aiden looked up as she entered his private floor. His ice-blue eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t rise from behind his obsidian desk.
“Lily.”
She crossed the room, slammed the folder down in front of him.
“Your deal with my father was over,” she hissed. But somehow, I’m still being watched. Still being handled. You said you were different.”
He opened the folder and skimmed it, jaw tightening.
“This wasn’t me,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to Denzel in weeks.”
“Then explain this.”
He set the folder aside and finally stood. Towering, broad-shouldered, the shadows of his past etched into every line of his face.
“I think it’s time I told you everything.”
Lily swallowed. “Everything?”
Aiden nodded. “Not just about Denzel. About your mother.”
They sat side by side on the leather couch in his office, the skyline behind them glimmering like a painting.
“She’s alive, Lily,” he said. Your mother. Cecilia.”
Her world tilted.
“No,” she breathed. “She died in childbirth—my father told me—”
“He lied,” Aiden said gently. She was placed in a psychiatric hospital. Traumatized. Broken. But alive.”
Lily felt the floor give way beneath her.
“I met her when I was twelve,” Aiden continued. My mother worked at the facility. I used to go there after school. And there was this woman—sad, quiet, always asking for her baby. Your mother.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“She said your father took you. That you died. But something never added up. I promised her—one day—I’d find you.”
Lily covered her mouth, her heart shattering all over again.
“I agreed to marry you because I saw it as a way to keep my promise,” he said. But then I met you—and I fell in love. Truly. Not because of obligation. Because of you.”
She couldn’t breathe.
“I didn’t tell you because I was afraid,” Aiden whispered. Afraid you’d think it was manipulation. That you’d hate me.”
Lily stood, trembling. “I—I need time.”
“I understand.”
He didn’t stop her when she walked out. But he didn’t need to.
Her world was already burning.
Back in her apartment that night, Lily found a letter taped to her door.
No name. Just a single line written in blocky, all-caps handwriting:
“HE KNOWS WHERE YOUR MOTHER IS. AND SO DOES ETHAN.”
She backed away, pulse racing. Suddenly, every room in her apartment felt like a trap.
The walls were too thin. The windows open too.
The truth was clear.
Her father was hiding more than just shame.
Ethan had made a deal with the devil.
And Aiden… he may have saved her. But she wasn’t sure if he was ready to truly set her free.
- Writer
