Chapter 25
The air outside was cooler, scented with garden roses and early summer wind. The music inside faded behind the glass, and the stars above blinked as silent witnesses to the unraveling.
She crossed her arms. “What is it, Ethan?”
“I…” He exhaled hard, pushing a hand through his perfectly styled hair, undoing the last thread of composure. “You’ve changed.”
Serena tilted her head. “You mean I’m no longer your obedient little shadow?”
He looked away briefly. “I mean… this isn’t you. That dance, the headlines, him...” his voice broke slightly. “You’re not that kind of woman, Serena.”
“And what kind is that?” she asked coldly. “The kind who doesn’t crawl back after being pushed off a cliff?”
His gaze snapped to hers, stunned. “That’s not fair. You don’t even know what really happened.”
“Oh, I do,” she said sharply. “I just don’t think you expected me to live long enough to remember it.”
Silence exploded between them.
Ethan stepped closer. “Look, I made mistakes...”
“No. You made decisions,” she corrected. “Don’t dress them up.”
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said quietly, voice cracking. “I swear. Things got complicated with the company, with Lila...”
Serena scoffed, taking a step back. “With Lila? Oh, you mean the woman who wore the same dress as me to this gala, only in white?
The one who had her lips on yours the night I was planning to say goodbye to my name for yours?”
He said nothing.
She laughed bitterly. “You’re not here because you miss me. You’re here because you can’t stand the fact that someone else is standing where you used to.”
Ethan’s face twisted in frustration. “Lucien’s using you. Don’t be naive.”
Serena’s chin lifted. “Funny. That’s what people said about you. And I believed them.”
“I’m trying, Serena.” His voice rose. “I’m trying to fix this.”
“You can’t fix what’s already buried,” she said. “Go back to Lila.”
Ethan’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She’s not you.”
And for a moment, just one brief flicker of time, his pain was real.
But Serena had seen real. And this… this was too late.
She stepped back, shaking her head. “Good night, Ethan.”
And with that, she turned on her heel and walked back into the ballroom.
Lucien was right where she left him, hands in his pockets, a knowing look in his eyes.
He said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
As she walked up to him, Lucien extended his arm again wordlessly and she took it.
Together, they walked back into the golden blaze of light.
Inside, Ethan stood alone beneath the stars, the weight of his regrets sinking heavier than the wind around him.
The laughter and music from the gala still echoed faintly from the grand ballroom behind him, but Ethan couldn’t hear any of it, not anymore.
He stood frozen on the terrace, fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles blanched.
She had walked away.
Again.
Not hesitated.
Not second guessed.
Not even blinked.
Serena had looked him dead in the eye and left, as if everything they’d shared meant nothing. As if he meant nothing.
The echo of her heels against the marble floor haunted him long after she disappeared back inside.
Ethan’s breathing came sharp and uneven, his heart pounding against the cage of his chest. He braced his hands against the stone railing of the terrace, head bowed low.
“Damn it,” he muttered, his voice strangled with frustration.
A flicker of pain crossed his face, shame, confusion, disbelief, all tangled into one. He had thought tonight might change something. That seeing her again, talking to her, would make her realize this was a mistake. That they still had something left between them.
But she had chosen Lucien.
She had chosen him, over Ethan.
And not just chosen him. She had let him touch her. Hold her. Dance with her like they were in love.
And the worst part?
Ethan had seen her smile.
A real one.
He shoved a hand through his hair and let out a low, guttural sound. “What the hell are you doing, Serena...?”
He turned and paced the empty terrace like a caged animal. Everything felt off kilter now. His pride, his plans, his vision for the future, it had all hinged on Serena being there. Always being there. Waiting. Forgiving.
She always forgave.
Except this time.
This time, she’d danced with the devil in a tux and let the whole damn city watch.
“Fk!” he barked and slammed his fist into the stone wall, the pain grounding him for a brief second before fury surged again.
It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
He was supposed to be the one in control.
He had done what he had to do. Lila... Lila had helped. She had understood what the company needed, what he needed. It wasn’t supposed to destroy Serena. Not like this. Not completely.
But now… she wasn’t broken.
She was reborn.
And it terrified him.
“This is all Lila’s fault,” he muttered, jaw clenched tight. “She pushed. She planned. She told me Serena would never find out...”
But Serena had known everything.
Things she shouldn’t have.
Shell companies. Backroom deals. Paper trails. The kind of things that were buried so deep not even auditors could sniff them out.
That had rattled him more than anything.
How had she known?
Was she bluffing?
Or had someone, Lucien, told her?
He gritted his teeth.
Of course Lucien was behind this. He always had his hands in things. Always one step ahead.
And now he had Serena on his arm.
Ethan leaned against the railing, staring out at the city lights like they might offer clarity. The soft glow blurred as his eyes burned. With anger. With regret. With confusion.
He had screwed up. Maybe too far to fix.
But there was still one thing he knew for certain. Lucien Feng wasn’t serious.
He wasn’t capable of it.
The man had always treated women like temporary ornaments, useful for an occasion, easy to discard when they stopped being entertaining. That’s all this was. A game. An elaborate, vindictive play meant to get under his skin.
And it was working.
But games ended.
And when Lucien got bored?
He’d leave.
Ethan could wait. He could bide his time, rebuild his image, and be there when Serena realized the truth, that Lucien was just a rebound, a revenge tactic. That no matter how much she tried to run from what they had, she’d never feel for Lucien what she felt for him.
Not really.
Not deep down.
“I’ll be waiting,” Ethan said under his breath, almost a vow. “And when you come back... I’ll be ready.”
His phone buzzed. Lila.
He didn’t pick up.
Not tonight.
Not when the woman he loved was still dancing in someone else’s arms.