Chapter 29 Chapter 29
Chapter 29
“What made me say sorry?” Ethan muttered to himself.
He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling as if it could answer him. The words kept ringing in his head. “Sorry.” It wasn’t something he said easily. Especially not to anyone from work. Especially not to her.
He turned to his side, then to the other. Sleep wasn’t coming. Hedoesn't sleep well as usual but tonight felt worse. His mind wouldn’t stop running.
He thought of the look on Celine’s face earlier the quiet shock when he apologized.
Why did he even care?
He rubbed his face roughly with both hands, sat up, and reached for the pills on the nightstand.
He took the bottle, stared at it for a moment, and let out a low breath. The pills were supposed to help him sleep, help him keep his head straight, keep the memories away.
He opened the bottle and swallowed two with a sip of water. The bitter taste clung to his tongue.
He leaned back on the bed again, eyes fixed on the dark ceiling.
His room was silent except for the faint hum of the fridge. It felt too quiet.
He hated nights like this.
“I should have never done that to you, Isabelle,” he whispered. His voice came out low and broken, almost like someone else’s.
The guilt had never left. He could pretend it did.
He could bury it under work, under silence, under anger — but it always found its way back at night.
He reached for his phone to distract himself.
The screen’s light hurt his eyes, but he didn’t care. Notifications, emails, a few work messages… and one unread text.
From an unknown number.
He frowned and opened it.
“Hi Ethan Castellan, I just wanted to let you know that Amelia Drake is behind Ella’s death. She thought you two had something together.
But the case had gone cold — you know how influential the Drakes are here in Monterey. It has been buried. You have to be very careful with everything you do. She’s obsessed and would do anything.”
Ethan froze.
His eyes ran over the words again. And again.
He sat up straight on the bed, heart thudding hard against his ribs. Amelia?
He clenched the phone in his hand.
The text didn’t make sense at first — but deep down, it did.
He’d always suspected Amelia had something to do with Ella’s death, but there was never proof. The investigation had been fast, too fast, and then it was gone — no noise, no follow-up, just silence.
Everything about the case disappeared within days.
The police said it was an accident. The files were sealed. No investigations.
He tossed his phone on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. His mind was a mess pieces of the past mixing with things he’d ignored for too long.
Amelia had always been manipulative, even when they were together. She had this way of twisting everything, making him feel like he was the problem.
But Ella had nothing to do with it. She was just caught in the middle, someone who didn’t deserve what happened to her.
And now this message.
Who sent it? How did they know?
He sat back down, staring at the phone again. No name. No clue. Just that text.
He typed a quick reply — Who is this? How do you know?
He waited.
No answer.
He waited longer, still nothing.
After a few minutes, he threw the phone down again, more frustrated than before.
Ella was never even close to him. She was just a Co business partner who had once asked him to lunch, nothing more.
But Amelia had seen that as a threat—because in her world, everyone belonged to her or no one did.
Amelia had always been like that beautiful and sharp, also dangerous in ways people didn’t see until it was too late.
Following him, showing up uninvited, acting like she still had a right to him.
He’d told her it was over. He’d told her to move on. But she never listened.
The pills weren’t helping tonight.
Even if he tries, he knows there’s nothing he could do about Amelia because of her criminal of a father.
Drake was powerful, too powerful. He had control over everything the police, the press, and anyone who tried to stand in his way. Even the law bowed before him.
Ethan knew what that meant. He coul
dn’t go against people like them.
It wasn’t fear it was knowing how things worked in their world. People like Drake Monroe never faced consequences. People like Amelia learned from him.