Chapter 3 – The Beginning of the End
1052 Words
Chapter 3 – The Beginning of the End
****Ethan’s POV****
My father’s voice echoed in the study, cold and final.
“You will end it, Ethan.”
I stood rigid before him, the oak shelves and marble floors of Montrose Manor closing in like prison bars. My father — Jonathan Montrose — had a way of making even silence sound like judgment. He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, eyes sharp behind his glasses.
“You think you’re in love,” he continued, his tone sharp enough to cut. “But that girl—what’s her name? Dela Vega? She’s beneath you.”
My fists tightened at my sides. “She’s not beneath me.”
He looked at me with the kind of pity that burned. “You’re blinded by sentiment. You’ll learn that love doesn’t pay the price of power.”
“She doesn’t care about power,” I snapped. “She’s not like—”
“Like your mother?” he interrupted smoothly.
That shut me up. Because deep down, I knew he’d drawn the cruelest comparison he could.
He stood, walking to the window overlooking the estate grounds. “We’ve worked for decades to build the Montrose name. And you would throw it away for a girl who serves coffee?”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood.
“She makes me happy,” I said quietly.
My father turned, a bitter smile curling his lips. “Happiness fades, son. Legacy doesn’t.”
He picked up a folder from his desk and tossed it toward me. Inside were photographs — grainy, intrusive — of Lara walking home, of me meeting her after class. Someone had followed us.
A surge of anger shot through me. “You had her watched?”
“I protect what’s mine,” he said simply. “End it before it gets ugly.”
I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to storm out and prove that I wasn’t his puppet.
But that was the thing about my father — he didn’t give commands. He built cages you didn’t realize you were trapped in until it was too late.
That night, I drove to Lara’s apartment with the weight of the world on my chest.
---
****Lara’s POV****
I could tell something was wrong the moment I saw him.
Ethan stood outside my small apartment building, his usual calm replaced by something I couldn’t name. His eyes were stormy, his hands shoved into his pockets as if holding himself together.
“Ethan?” I said softly. “What’s going on?”
He didn’t answer right away. He just stared at me — the kind of stare that felt like goodbye before the words even came.
“My father found out,” he said at last.
I froze. “About us?”
He nodded once. “He… he doesn’t approve.”
A shaky laugh escaped me. “Of course he doesn’t. I mean, I didn’t expect him to—”
“He had you followed, Lara,” he cut in, voice breaking. “He knows where you live, where you work. He said if I don’t end it, he’ll ruin your scholarship. He’ll make sure you never work in this city again.”
For a moment, all I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat. I tried to speak, but my throat felt tight.
“So… what are you going to do?”
He stepped forward, taking my hands in his. “I’ll protect you. I’ll find a way.”
But I saw the fear behind his eyes — not for himself, but for me. I knew the power his father held. And as much as I wanted to believe his promise, I could already feel the world closing in around us.
“Ethan,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Maybe this isn’t—”
“No.” His grip tightened. “Don’t say that.”
I wanted to. I should have. But instead, I stayed silent as he pulled me close, his arms wrapping around me like a shield against everything waiting outside.
That night, we stayed together for hours — not speaking, just holding on. Because deep down, we both knew love wasn’t the problem. The world was.
---
Ethan’s POV
I tried to fight it. For weeks, I tried.
I ignored my father’s calls, the threats, the company’s board members whispering about my “poor judgment.” But then the university dean called me into his office — told me Lara’s scholarship was under review due to “financial discrepancies.”
I knew instantly what that meant.
That night, I drove until my hands ached on the steering wheel. Every streetlight blurred into one long streak of regret. When I reached her apartment, I didn’t even know what to say anymore.
She opened the door, smiling faintly despite her exhaustion. “Ethan—”
I kissed her before she could finish. It wasn’t gentle this time. It was desperate — a memory I was already losing.
When I pulled back, I couldn’t meet her eyes. “You have to leave the city for a while,” I said hoarsely. “My father’s not stopping.”
“Ethan—”
“He’ll destroy you if you stay. Please, Lara, just—go. Let me fix this.”
She looked at me for a long time, her eyes glistening. “And what about us?”
I wanted to tell her I’d come back for her. That this was temporary. That love could survive anything. But my voice wouldn’t come out.
So I kissed her one last time instead.
And walked away.
---
Lara’s POV
He didn’t come back.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. I waited, prayed, hoped that one day I’d see him again — maybe walking into the café like before, maybe smiling that quiet smile that made everything okay.
But he didn’t.
Instead, rumors spread — that Ethan Montrose was engaged to someone else.
Someone from his world. Someone his father approved of.
I stopped checking my phone after that.
It hurt too much to look.
So I packed my things and left the city, carrying with me the memory of the man I once loved — and the heartbreak I couldn’t forget.
- Writer
