Chapter 5 – The Man He Became
919 Words
Chapter 5 – The Man He Became
****Lara’s POV****
The first day always feels the hardest.
But nothing could’ve prepared me for this — for walking into the office of the man who used to hold my heart, and now only looks at me like a stranger.
The glass walls of Montrose Corporation shimmered in the morning light. The air smelled like polished ambition — sleek, cold, professional. I clutched my folder against my chest, forcing my steps to stay steady even though my heart was a trembling mess inside me.
I had waited years to rebuild myself. I’d learned to survive, to push through, to smile even when the ache never really left. And now, here I was — the new secretary to Ethan Montrose, my first love… and my last heartbreak.
When I walked into his office that morning, he was already there — standing by the window again, like the first time we met weeks ago for the interview. But this time, he didn’t bother to hide the edge in his voice.
“Good morning, Ms. Dela Vega,” he said flatly, without turning.
I forced a polite smile. “Good morning, sir.”
“Coffee. Black. Two sugars,” he added. “And don’t make it too strong. I hate when it’s bitter.”
My breath caught. He still remembered how I used to make it for him back in college.
But I said nothing. I couldn’t afford to.
“Yes, sir,” I managed, and turned away before he could see the tears gathering in my eyes.
When I returned with his cup, he finally looked at me. His gray eyes lingered — cold, assessing, almost searching for something he couldn’t admit aloud.
“You’re early,” he said.
“I wanted to make a good impression.”
He let out a soft, humorless laugh. “You always did.”
There it was again — that sting beneath the surface. That quiet accusation in his tone. As if every word I spoke carried a lie he could see through.
I lowered my gaze. “If there’s nothing else, sir, I’ll return to my desk.”
But before I could walk away, he said quietly, “I thought you’d left this city for good.”
I froze. “I had to. Things changed.”
“Things always do,” he said. “Some faster than others.”
When I turned, his eyes flicked briefly to the thin silver chain around my neck — the one holding the small pendant he once gave me. A flash of emotion crossed his face, gone in an instant.
I left the office without another word.
But as I sat at my desk outside his glass doors, my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
Because for the first time in years, I was close enough to see him again — and yet further than ever from the boy I once loved.
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****Ethan’s POV****
The sound of her voice still did something to me — something I hated.
Lara Dela Vega.
The woman who taught me how to love… and the woman who taught me how to lose.
When I saw her walk into my company weeks ago, something in me fractured. She was supposed to be gone — out of the city, out of my life, buried in the past I’d spent years trying to erase. But fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.
She hadn’t changed much. Still graceful, still quiet, still with that look in her eyes that made you want to confess everything. But now there was something else too — a distance.
And when I heard her mention she had a child during the interview… everything inside me went cold.
A child.
The timeline played like a curse in my head. She’d moved on fast, hadn’t she? Barely months after leaving, she must’ve found someone else.
While I was drowning in memories, she was building a life with another man.
So yes, I hired her.
Not because I forgave her.
But because I wanted answers.
I wanted to see if the guilt in her eyes matched the betrayal I’d felt for years.
As she handed me my coffee, I caught the faint scent of her perfume — the same one from our college days. The nostalgia clawed at me, but I forced myself to stay still, to wear the mask I’d perfected over the years.
I wasn’t the same Ethan anymore.
After she left, my father died — a sudden heart attack that left me inheriting everything: the company, the fortune… and the underground empire he’d built behind closed doors.
Montrose Corporation was the face of legitimacy. But beneath it ran something darker — the network my father created, one that dealt with favors, debts, and silence.
And I learned to control it.
Money. Power. Fear.
Three things that never betrayed you the way people did.
I became the man I swore I’d never be — ruthless, unfeeling, calculated.
And yet, when Lara Dela Vega stood before me again, all that control faltered.
Because no matter how much power I’d gained, she remained the one person I could never truly erase.
I leaned back in my chair, watching her through the glass wall as she worked quietly at her desk.
If she thought she could walk back into my life like nothing happened, she was wrong.
This time, I wouldn’t let her leave without answers.
Even if I had to tear apart the truth myself.
- Writer
