Symphony of a Broken Heart

Ethan Martinez, the CEO of MZ Apparels, was sitting in his luxurious office. Under the soft glow of LED lights, his sharp features seemed more pronounced. With brown hair, chiseled jaws and a gentle stubble, Ethan looked like a slightly rugged version of a Greek Model. His eyebrows drew together in deep concentration as he studied the latest proposal sent in by the Wangs. The sombre mask of indifference he wore made it difficult to figure out what he was thinking. “This is just too much,” he mumbled, stamping the words ‘Approved!’ across the face of the last page. “It’s high time that I found a way to keep the Wangs under check!” The handset kept on the table rang, causing his lips to twitch with irritation. Scrawling the initials at the end of the page, he picked up the phone with his left hand and grunted, “What is it?” “Sir, this is Clara from the front desk. Someone called Aria Smith is causing a ruckus in front of the designing department. She is saying that our designer has plagiarised her work.” “Aria Smith?” Ethan leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Brushing the pad of his thumb along his lower lip thoughtfully, he asked, “Who is that?” “No idea Sir. There is no information in the Collective Archives.” “I see….” Ethan mumbled, switching the tab of his computer to the CCTV access page. Dressed in simple jeans and a sweatshirt, the woman looked pretty ordinary. A glint of anger flitted across his features. “Just a nobody seeking attention. Threaten her with legal consequences. She will leave.” “We already tried that, sir, but she keeps insisting that she is the one who designed the Scorched Love Series.” “Tell the….” Ethan was about to ask the guards to drag her out of Shengri La, but then his gaze landed on the footage from the entrance. The panel of assessors from the International Accreditation Agency were getting out of their cars. If they bumped into Aria, it would inadvertently delay the process of certification. Rapping his fingertips on the table, he instructed, “Send that woman to my cabin. I will deal with her myself.” There was a stunned pause before Clara finally asked in a hesitant voice, “Are you sure, sir?” “Just do what you are told, Clara.” Five minutes later, there was a hesitant knock on the door. “Come in,” Ethan mumbled, without looking up from the computer. “What do you want? Money, position or some other favour.” “Sorry?” a mellow voice sounded. “I think you are misunderstanding me, Mr. Martinez. I am here to tell you that….” “You can drop the act now.” Ethan raised his head to look at the woman with a frosty expression. “Just tell me whatever you want. I’ll grant it.” His jaws clenched and his eyes narrowed. “I am in the middle of something important and can’t afford to waste my time dealing with your drama.” “You think I am putting up an act?” Aria shook her head incredulously and rolled her eyes. “Seriously?” Aria’s expression turned serious and her voice grew a notch louder. “I am here, telling you guys that your artist has plagiarised my design and all you can think is I am putting on an act? Is this how big companies work these days?” She ran her fingers through her hair and muttered, “I shouldn’t have bothered coming here. Arrogant and snobbish people like you deserve to be sued.” The blue tooth device plugged into Ethan’s ears beeped and an anxious voice sounded, “The lift stopped at the 16th floor instead of 15th. I think the assessors want to meet you first.” “Dang!” Ethan grabbed the receiver and dialled the number of his reception. “Don’t let the assessors in. Find a way to stall them…. Umm… tell them I am in a meeting or something.” “But, sir…. I already let them pass through. Hadn’t you given a standing instruction that we shouldn’t stop the assessors no matter what time they arrive?” “f**k!” Ethan jumped to his feet and pinched the bridge of his nose. What was he going to do now? Ethan Martinez had gone through a lot in his life and rarely lost his composure. But this matter was very important to him. A delay in obtaining certification would inadvertently delay all his future endeavours. Seeing him flustered, Aria decided that it was the perfect time to get back at him. She drew closer and gripped the headrest of the chair facing Ethan’s table. “You said something about assessors? If I am not wrong, they must be from the panel in Paris, right? That suits me perfectly fine. Since you don’t want to investigate this matter, I will just tell them about it.” “You….” The rest of his words were drowned by a loud knock. Ethan’s anxious gaze drifted from Aria to the door. With a frustrated grunt, he took off his tie as he closed the distance between them. “M… Mr. Martinez….” Aria stuttered and backed away, startled by his sudden move. “What are you trying to do?” Without bothering to give her a response, Ethan grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the adjacent room. “I will deal with you once the panel has left.” Tying her wrists to the hoop of a cabinet, he smirked. “You can shout and kick all you like, but nobody is going to hear you. This room is soundproof.” “Mr. Martinez! Ethan!” she shouted, “This is illegal! You can’t just…” The rest of the words got drowned as Ethan slammed the door shut. Aria kept staring at the closed door for a long moment, completely bewildered by the sudden turn of events. She couldn’t believe that the CEO of such a reputed brand would lock her up like this. “He just didn’t….” Aria’s jaws hung open, and she shook her head, assessing her surroundings. “Martinez! You bastard! You will have hell to pay once I get out of here!” She shouted, struggling to free her wrists. “What certification? What brand? I will destroy the essence of your Spirit! I will…” Suddenly, she started wheezing as if she was having difficulty in breathing. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and her eyes started watering. Her chest heaved, and she gasped, “I… I can’t breathe.” By the time Ethan finished his meeting and opened the door, Aria had already passed out cold. “Miss Aria,” Ethan called out as he unlocked the door. “I got a bit flustered earlier. So, I might have acted a bit out of….” The rest of the words froze in his mouth as his gaze landed on the limp form lying on the ground. “I was going to apologise but now…” His face flushed with anger and he snorted. “Seems like you are not done playing tricks.” When Aria didn’t respond, he drew closer to her and crouched beside her. “Miss. Aria, you don’t need to put so much effort into acting. As long as you sign an NDA, I will compensate you well. If have any other demands, you can tell me about them.” “Miss Aria?” His face turned a shade paler as he turned her over and brushed her hair out of her face. She had really fainted. Untying her quickly, he picked her up in his arms. “Sasha, send an urgent message to Mattias. Tell him to come to my office immediately,” he commanded his voice assistant as he carried Aria to the couch. Setting her down, he adjusted the cushion behind her head. Looking at Aria closely, Ethan realised that she wasn’t as plain as he thought. Long wavy hair, soft curves and a gentle expression that could strike a chord in anyone’s heart. His eyes darkened as his gaze landed on her cherry red lips. He inched closer as if he were going to kiss her, but at the last moment, pulled away. Shaking his head, he muttered, “What was I even thinking? How could I….” He ran his fingers through his hair and bit the inside of his cheek, trying to focus on the hatred he had been harbouring against women over the years. A few more moments and his expression returned to the indifferent mask he always wore. “Miss Aria?” He called out again, patting her face. “If you are pretending, it is not too late to get up. Out of all the things in the world, I hate being fooled the most. If I find out that you have been acting, you will have a hell to pay.” “What is the matter, Ethan?” Mattias gasped, barging into the office. His eyes widened as his gaze landed on Aria. “What is wrong with her?” “I locked her up in the adjacent room. She fainted, or maybe she is just pretending to be unconscious.” He narrowed his eyes at Aria. “Figure it out yourself.” “You….” Mattias was rendered speechless by Ethan’s nonchalance. He looked from Ethan to Aria with a stunned expression. “How can you be so reckless?” “The assessors were here, and she was hell bent on creating a scene.” Ethan shrugged. “I had no choice.” “Ethan, you__” “As my assistant, it is your job to deal with such situations.” Ethan dismissed whatever Mattias wanted to say with a wave of his hand. “Take her to the hospital and run a background check on her. Find out what she really wants and deal with it.” “Fine,” Mattias let out a sigh of resignation as he helped Aria to her feet. “I guess this is the price I have to pay for working as your assistant. How I wish I had taken up CEO Wang’s offer? He might not be very successful, but at least he isn’t a barbarian like you.” “Of course,” Ethan’s expression turned frosty, and he muttered, “She is the epitome of righteousness.” Mattias wanted to say something in reply, but kept quiet when he saw Ethan’s bitter expression. It was more important to stay alive that win an argument. “One more thing,” Ethan called out from behind. “Make sure that the guards never let her inside Shengri La again. Looking at her makes me sick.”