Chapter 35 A Dangerous Decision

Chapter 35 A Dangerous Decision
Ava Sinclair had never been a woman who liked losing control.
It was one thing to face competition in business. That was expected. Calculated. Manageable. But what she was witnessing now was something entirely different, something far more dangerous because it was not confined to boardrooms or contracts.
It was personal and that made it unpredictable.
She sat in the quiet luxury of her penthouse apartment, the city lights stretching endlessly beyond the glass walls. The room was dimly lit, the soft glow from a single lamp casting shadows across the polished marble floor. A half-filled glass of wine rested on the table beside her, untouched for several minutes.
In her hands was her phone and on the screen were photographs. Grainy, taken from a distance, but clear enough.
Emily Hart and Ethan Blake together again and again. Different nights. Different angles. The same undeniable truth.
Ava’s jaw tightened as she swiped through them slowly. One photo showed them stepping out of a restaurant, Emily holding a folder close to her chest while Ethan walked beside her, his posture relaxed in a way Ava had not seen in years. 
Another captured them seated at a table, documents spread between them, but their focus was not entirely on work. There was something else there…Something softer.
Something Ava recognized immediately and hated even more for recognizing.
She dropped the phone onto the table with a sharp exhale.
“No,” she muttered under her breath. “No, this is not happening.”
But it was and she knew it.
For weeks now, she had been receiving updates. Quiet messages from people inside the merger team, individuals who owed her favors or feared crossing her. They told her everything she needed to know, sometimes more than she even asked for.
At first, it sounded harmless. That it was professional and a necessary collaboration but the tone of the reports had changed.
“Late-night meetings continuing.”
“Private sessions without a full team present.”
“Noticeable improvement in communication between both parties.”
Ava had read those lines over and over again, her fingers tightening around her phone each time.
There was improvement and communication. Words that should have meant progress for the company. Instead, they felt like a threat.
She reached for another document lying on the table. This one was a schedule, forwarded to her from someone within Ethan’s office.
She studied it carefully.
‘Shorter office hours, Evening blocks labeled as meetings but with no detailed notes, Weekends marked as “personal.”
Ava let out a low, humorless laugh. “Personal?” she whispered. She did not need anyone to explain what that meant.
She had known Ethan long enough to understand his patterns. He was not a man who took time off lightly. Everything in his life had always been structured around work.
Except when it came to one person. “Emily.”
Ava closed her eyes briefly, leaning back into the couch. This was exactly what she had feared from the very beginning.
Even when she had returned to Ethan’s life, even when she had inserted herself back into his world under the guise of business, she had known there was one variable she could never fully eliminate. ‘Emily Hart.’
Because Emily was not like her. Ava had always understood that.
Where Ava was strategic, Emily had been sincere. Where Ava calculated every move, Emily had simply… loved. And that had always been the problem.
Because that kind of love did not disappear easily. It lingered and it survived even when it should not.
Ava’s eyes snapped open, a cold edge settling into her expression. “No,” she said again, more firmly this time.
She reached for her phone and scrolled to a contact. ‘Sabrina’.
The line rang twice before it connected. “Ava?” Sabrina’s voice came through, slightly surprised. “It’s late.”
“I need to see you,” Ava said without preamble.
There was a pause. “Now?”
“Yes.” Another pause, longer this time.
“Alright,” Sabrina said finally. “Give me twenty minutes.”
Sabrina arrived exactly on time. She stepped into the apartment, her eyes immediately taking in the tension in the room.
“You look like you’re about to start a war,” she said, setting her bag down.
Ava did not smile. She simply gestured toward the table. “Look.”
Sabrina walked over and picked up the phone, scrolling through the photos.
Her expression shifted slightly as she went through them. “Oh,” she said quietly.
“Yes,” Ava replied.
Sabrina set the phone down carefully. “This has been going on for a while?” she asked.
“Long enough,” Ava said.
Sabrina crossed her arms. “And what exactly do you want to do about it?”
Ava did not hesitate. “I need to act.”
Sabrina frowned immediately. “Ava—”
“No,” Ava cut in sharply. “Do not start with caution. I have been cautious. I have been patient. And look where that has gotten me.”
Sabrina held her gaze. “It has kept you from destroying yourself,” she said evenly and Ava let out a bitter laugh. 
“Public opinion is already against you after the launch incident,” Sabrina continued. “You know that. If anything else happens, if there is even a hint that you are involved in something questionable—”
“I do not care about public opinion anymore,” Ava snapped and the room fell silent.
Sabrina studied her carefully. “That’s a dangerous place to be,” she said quietly.
Ava’s expression did not change. “I care about one thing,” she said.
“And what is that?”
Ava’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Making sure Emily Hart does not win.”
Sabrina exhaled slowly. “Ava, listen to yourself,” she said. “This is not a competition you can control. If Ethan is choosing—”
“He is not choosing,” Ava interrupted coldly. “He is slipping. There is a difference.”
“And what are you planning to do about that?” Sabrina asked.
Ava did not answer immediately. Instead, she walked over to the window, staring out at the city below.
Her reflection stared back at her, composed and sharp. “I need something clean,” she said finally.
Sabrina’s stomach dropped. “Ava…”
“Something that cannot be traced back to me,” Ava continued, as if she had not heard her. “Something that looks like an accident.”
Sabrina stepped closer. “No,” she said firmly. “Absolutely not. You are not thinking clearly.”
Ava turned to face her. “I am thinking more clearly than I have in weeks.”
“This is not a game,” Sabrina said. “You are talking about crossing a line you cannot come back from.”
Ava’s gaze hardened. “I crossed that line a long time ago.”
Sabrina stared at her. “Then do not cross it again.”
Ava said nothing and that silence said everything.
Sabrina shook her head slowly. “I am telling you this as your friend,” she said. “Walk away. Let this go. If Ethan wants to ruin his life, let him. You do not need to go down with him.”
Ava’s lips curved into a faint, cold smile. “I am not going down,” she said. “I am making sure no one else gets what should have been mine.”
Sabrina closed her eyes briefly. “This could destroy you,” she whispered.
Ava did not respond because she no longer cared.
—
Over the next several days, Ava became quieter and more focused.
She stopped reacting emotionally and began thinking strategically again. It was almost calming.
She sat at her desk, reviewing information. Emily’s schedule, her routines, the route she took to pick Liam up from school and the car she drove.
Every detail mattered.
She considered different options and discarded them one by one. “Too obvious! Too messy! Too easy to trace!”.
“I need something more precise. Something that would raise no questions. Something that would look like an unfortunate incident.”
Finally, she picked up her phone. There was one contact she had not used in a while.
A man who did not ask questions. A man who did not leave evidence.
The line connected after a single ring. “Yes?” the voice on the other end said.
Ava’s tone was calm and measured. “I have a job for you,” she said.
A pause, then the voice says, “I’m listening.”
She walked slowly toward the window, her reflection steady in the glass.
“It needs to look like mechanical failure,” she said.
Another pause. “Understood.”
“I want it done within two weeks.”
The man did not hesitate. “It will be handled.” The line went dead.
Ava lowered the phone slowly. For a moment, she stood there in silence.
Then she walked back to the table and picked up her wine glass. She took a slow sip with a calm expression as if she had simply made another business decision.
She sat by the window, watching the city below with the calm, controlled expression of a woman who had decided that if she could not have what she wanted, then no one else would either.