Seducing the Ice-Cold CEO

Chapter 2

Leah

The rain had long since soaked through the seams my dress by the time I was the only one left outside the venue. My heels now felt like dead weight, sinking slightly into the wet pavement with every shift of my stance. I rubbed my arms, trying to ward off the cold, but it was useless. The chill had seeped into my bones.

Still, I stood there, waiting. Worry gnawed at my insides. It had been almost an hour since Ethan was supposed to pick me up. My initial frustration had gradually twisted into unease. I kept checking my phone, watching the minutes tick by, my mind playing out the worst scenarios.

What if something had happened to him?

The roads were treacherous in weather like this. Accidents happened all the time. The thought sent a pang of fear through me. If Ethan had been caught in a wreck while coming to pick me up…

I shook my head, refusing to entertain the idea any longer. Still, my pulse didn’t slow until I finally saw the familiar headlights cutting through the downpour. Ethan’s car pulled up to the entrance, the windshield wipers working overtime to clear the heavy rain. Relief flooded through me.

As soon as the car stopped, I rushed to get in, barely sparing a second to shake the water off my arms before settling into the passenger seat. My first instinct was to study him, my eyes scanning his face for any sign of injury, any indication that he had been in trouble. But there was nothing.

His blond hair was slightly mussed, his hazel eyes alert and clear. If anything, he looked more relaxed than I expected.

“You’re late,” I said, though there was no real bite to my words. Now that he was here, safe and unharmed, I didn’t have the energy to be upset.

Ethan gave me a sheepish grin. “Yeah, sorry about that. I was at Glen’s place. He threw a last-minute birthday thing for a friend.”

I blinked. A birthday party? That was the reason he had kept me waiting in the rain for an hour?

Before I could say anything, he continued, “I was going to leave earlier, but Glen insisted I stay inside when the rain got heavier. I had a couple of beers, so he didn’t want me driving right away.”

That made me pause. “You were drinking?”

“A can or two, nothing serious.” He waved off my concern. “I’m fine. Sober.”

I studied him carefully. His voice was steady, and there was no slurring in his words, no glazed-over look in his eyes. He didn’t seem drunk.

After a moment, I sighed, deciding to let it go. It wasn’t as if he had been recklessly endangering himself. If anything, I should be grateful Glen, his brother, had been cautious enough to stop him from driving in heavy rain.

I leaned back against the seat, exhaling. “I was worried, you know.”

Ethan reached over, briefly squeezing my hand. “I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Something about the way he said it felt a little too easy, like he wasn’t taking it as seriously as he should. But I was too exhausted to dwell on it.

Instead, I launched into a frustrated ramble about the night’s true disappointment; how I never got to interview Dante Kerlsen despite waiting all night. I vented about the missed opportunity, the effort I’d put into preparing for this moment, only for it to slip through my fingers.

Ethan, in supportive boyfriend mode, hummed in acknowledgment at the right moments and threw in the occasional, “That’s unfair,” or “You deserved better,” which was all I needed to keep ranting.

By the time we pulled up to my building, I had mostly talked myself out of my bad mood. Ethan parked, and as I reached for the door handle, he leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek.

“I’ve gotta go,” he murmured. “Need to get some sleep before my flight tomorrow.”

I nodded, giving him a small smile. “Right. Safe travels.”

He smiled back before pulling away, and I stepped out into the now-light drizzle, making my way into my apartment. Once inside, I peeled off my soaked clothes and immediately headed for the shower. The hot water felt like heaven against my cold skin, washing away the exhaustion of the night. I closed my eyes, letting the steam wrap around me like a comforting embrace, and stayed under the spray longer than necessary.

When I finally stepped out, my disappointment had dulled into something more manageable. I wrapped myself in a robe, towel-drying my hair as I reached for my phone, only to realize it wasn’t there. I frowned, retracing my steps mentally. I had used it at the event, then checked it while waiting outside…

Then I remembered. I had set it on my lap during the ride, distracted by my ranting, and must have left it in Ethan’s car. Sighing, I considered calling him. But he had mentioned his flight early in the morning, and I didn’t want to wake him over something as trivial as a forgotten phone.

Instead, I grabbed my tablet and opened the tracking app to check my phone’s location. I expected it to be at Ethan’s house, but I could have also left it at the event venue and forgotten.

It wasn’t at either place. My brows furrowed as I zoomed in on the blinking dot.

Was that a hospital?

I stared at the screen, my heart beginning to thud against my ribs. Why was my phone at a hospital? Had Ethan gone there? But why? He had seemed fine when he dropped me off. Had something happened after he left me? God, I should have invited him in. A dozen possibilities ran through my mind, each one more unsettling than the last. Had Glen gotten hurt? Was there an accident Ethan hadn’t told me about?

A pit formed in my stomach, twisting into something unpleasant. I needed answers.

Without hesitating, I grabbed my coat and wore it over my pajamas, shoved my feet into a pair of sneakers, and snatched my keys from the counter. I was going over there.

The ride to the hospital felt like the longest of my life.

Rain still drizzled lightly, pattering against the windows of my cars, blurring the outside world into a mess of streaking lights and darkened streets. My thoughts ran in circles, tangled between fear and confusion.

What if something happened to Ethan?

Maybe he had started feeling unwell after dropping me off and drove himself to the hospital. Maybe Glen got into an accident, and Ethan had to rush there to be by his side. Maybe—

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to breathe. But then another thought crept in, one I didn’t want to acknowledge. If Ethan was sick, why hadn’t he told me? Was he scared to confide in me?

I slowed the car as I pulled into the hospital parking lot, and got out, clutching the tablet in my hands. How was I supposed to find Ethan in such a huge place? Should I ask for him at the front desk? Would they even tell me anything?

Before I could decide, my eyes caught something a few feet away; Ethan’s car. My breath hitched. Oh my God, he really was here. He couldn’t be feeling too sick if he managed to drive himself here right? I took a step toward it, but before I could get any closer, movement near the hospital entrance caught my attention.

It was Ethan. Relief crashed over me, until I saw the woman walking beside him. She was young, with delicate features and long, dark hair that clung slightly to her damp skin. But it wasn’t her appearance that made my stomach twist. It was the fact they were holding hands.

My feet turned to lead as I stood frozen in place. It means nothing, I told myself harshly. It could be a friend, a cousin…

Then Ethan turned to her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. The world tilted. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. It felt like something sharp had lodged itself in my chest, like the cold from the rain had seeped into my bones and frozen me solid. Ethan’s lips lingered against hers, the kind of touch I had once believed belonged only to me.

I forced myself to look away, my eyes landing on the hospital band circling the woman’s wrist. She was sick. And Ethan had come here to take care of her. The pieces of the night—the waiting, the excuses—clicked into place like a cruel puzzle.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, refusing to let the burning in my eyes turn into actual tears. I had come here fearing for Ethan’s health. Instead, I had found something far worse.

My boyfriend wasn’t the man I thought he was. I had been deceived. Ethan pulled away from the kiss, a soft smile still lingering on his lips, and that was when he saw me.

Our eyes met. A rush of emotions slammed into me all at once; betrayal, anger, disbelief. But I refused to let a single one of them show. I stood frozen in place, gripping my damp dress with trembling fingers, my chin tilted up just enough to feign indifference.

I didn’t look away. I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to know that I knew. His deception had finally reached its ugly end.

Ethan stared back, and for a split second, something crossed his face—surprise? Annoyance? I wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, it was gone just as quickly as it had come, replaced by something far colder.

Indifference. Without so much as a flinch, he turned away from me and pulled the woman into his arms, holding her close as if I wasn’t even there.

Something inside me cracked. It was one thing to find out he had betrayed me. It was another to see him act like I didn’t even matter.

Like our years together, our memories, our love had meant absolutely nothing to him.