My Husband, My Enemy

ISABELLE POV I expect today to be an eventful day. It has been one I have been looking forward to. Five years ago, I walked away from Ethan Blackwood without giving him a reason. And tonight, I came back to him with a plan. I gazed around my surroundings, watching as the ballroom glittered beneath hundreds of crystal lights, filled with people who had never known what it felt like to lose everything. I stood among them in a black evening gown that hugged my body figure perfectly while holding a glass of champagne I had no intention of drinking. My mind was fixed on one person. Ethan. The one person I had wanted and still want. The very same person I came here for. It's been five years. Five years. That was how long it had been since I had seen him. Five years since I had walked away from the man I loved. I scoffed at the word love. Love? How foolish I was. The dumb young lady who once believed the world was all rainbows and unicorns. How naive that girl had been. If only she had known earlier how things would turn out, maybe things wouldn't have come to this. Then I saw him. Ethan stood near the center of the ballroom, surrounded by executives and influential guests. He wore a black suit that fit his broad shoulders perfectly, his expression as controlled and unreadable as I remembered. I had imagined this moment so many times that I thought I would be prepared for it. I wasn't. I wasn't? I almost wanted to smack some sense into my head. I was prepared. More prepared than I had ever been. I kept telling myself that. I took it upon myself to remember why I was here and what I'd come to do. I wasn't the same lady of five years ago. I was stronger, smarter. Nothing about him seemed to have changed. Except perhaps his eyes. They looked colder. I looked down at my champagne. Five years ago, I had loved Ethan without knowing his real identity. To me, he had simply been Ethan, someone who made me laugh, someone who remembered how I liked my coffee, someone who I had thought I would spend the rest of my life with. Then it all changed after my father died because of the Blackwoods. And I got a double heartbreaking discovery of the truth. Ethan wasn't simply Ethan. He was Ethan Blackwood—the heir to Blackwood Group. And my father, Daniel Blake, had spent his final days in prison after being accused of stealing from that same company. I didn't know what was true anymore. I only knew that the man I loved belonged to the family responsible for destroying my family. Ethan suddenly turned. Our eyes met. I caught a glimpse of the shock on his face. The reaction was immediate. His eyes widened slightly before his expression hardened. He took a careful step toward where I stood. “Isabella?” My heart clenched at the sound of my name in his voice. I smiled. “Hello, Ethan,” I responded with a calm, collected voice. He stared at me as though he couldn't decide whether I was real. I stared back at him with the most polite smile. There was no warmth in his face. Only disbelief and something far more painful. Resentment? Good! Because I felt the exact same way. But I knew what I was embarking on wasn't going to be easy in any way. "How have you been?" he asked. For a moment, I thought he cared or worried, but the way his jaw tightened showed otherwise. "Good," I answered. "We haven't formally introduced ourselves yet," I said, still keeping my business smile while feeling like anything but smiling. "Isabella Blake. Co-partner and founder of B&C Investment Company." I stretched out my right hand for a formal handshake. Ethan stared into my eyes for a long time before taking my hand. "Ethan Blackwood. CEO of Blackwood Group." How strange. A once-close couple are now strangers, greeting each other like complete strangers. We appeared formal. Too formal, if I must say. Just how I wanted it if I wanted this whole thing to go as planned. "Congratulations on your company's award. You guys are always the best at what you do. So I get why you are always on top," I said, starting up a conversation. With dark eyes gazing deeply at me, he said, "You sound jealous. Do you, by any chance, want to take that spot?" I let out a chuckle. "Tell me, anyone in this room who doesn't want that?" "I, for starters, don't." I paused at his response but let out a scoff at his latter words. "But it just can't keep following me. I guess I'm that good." He smirked at his statement. "If you say so." Then his face became serious. "You came alone? Or did you bring someone who doesn't have an idea of the type of woman he's with?" Still putting on a smile that I was beginning to see pissed him off, I asked slowly, "What type of woman do you think I am, Mr. Blackwood?" He moved closer to me, so close that I could smell his expensive, masculine cologne. He whispered into my ear, almost like a sneer, "A fox." I moved my head back, putting on a surprised look. "You're the first man to get that right." I chuckled, looking at him deep in his black-colored eyes. "I'm a fox. And you happen to still be my prey." His jaw tightened, then his face became unreadable. "Maybe then. But never again." I put on a sinister smirk. "Oh, darling. I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. You were, you are, and you will forever be prey to me." Ethan said nothing but gazed at me like he was trying to read me. Trying to understand me. But he was cut off from whatever he was going to say next as the announcement for the ceremony's continuation was made, putting our conversation on hold. Before he left, he spoke in a serious tone. "That's if you don't become my prey instead." Those words sounded like they came from the deepest part of his heart. Like he meant them. I guess he hated me for abandoning him and our relationship. He seemed serious about his hate. But his hate isn't in any way close to the amount of hate I had. Ethan Blackwood, you don't know what's coming to you.