Chapter 58: Unexpected Encounter–1
Chapter 58: Unexpected Encounter
(Ethan’s POV)
The drone of yet another airplane engine still echoed in my ears as I stared out the
car window. These past weeks had been nothing but a blur of hotel rooms, conference tables, and rejection after rejection.
“No investment opportunities in Harbor City at all?” Jason asked, breaking the silence
as he navigated through evening traffic.
I rubbed my temples, exhaustion seeping into my bones. “Not a single one. The Grey
name might as well be poison right now.”
The scandals had hit us hard. My mother’s schemes, Cassandra’s manipulations, and
y own mistakes had tarnished our reputation beyond immediate repair. Now I was
orced to travel to neighboring cities, practically begging for investment.
“The meeting tonight looks promising though,” Jason offered, ever the optimist.
I nodded absently, my mind elsewhere. My fingers moved automatically to my phone,
opening the photo gallery I’d been obsessing over for weeks. There she was–Olivia,
her amber eyes bright with happiness, her honey–brown hair catching the sunlight as
she smiled up at me.
The photos were from happier times, before I’d ruined everything with my blindness
and stupidity. Before I’d lost her to Connor Rivers.
(Jason’s POV)
I glanced over at Ethan as we waited at a traffic light. He was scrolling through
photos again–always the same ones of him and Olivia. The sight made something
twist uncomfortably in my chest.
This wasn’t the confident, sometimes arrogant Ethan Grey I’d known for years. This man was hollow–eyed and desperate, clinging to memories like a drowning man to
driftwood.
Suddenly, he leaned toward me with a wistful smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
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“Look how happy we were back then.”
+8 Points >
He held up his phone, showing a picture of them at some garden party. Olivia’s smile was radiant, while Ethan looked distracted, his gaze not quite meeting the camera.
I said nothing, remembering the platinum promise ring he’d asked me to source from France. “For when I win her back,” he’d said with such conviction. Yet he’d also once declared that pursuing another man’s fiancée was dishonorable.
The contradiction was just one more sign of how far he’d fallen. At social gatherings, he now drank alone in corners, sometimes calling Olivia’s name in his drunken haze. It was painful to witness.
I wanted to ask about the ring–whether he’d given it to her during their confrontation at the hospital–but something in his fragile smile stopped me. Instead, I just sighed heavily, watching my friend deceive himself with memories of happiness that, looking at the photos more carefully, might never have been as perfect as he remembered.
(Ethan’s POV)
The light changed, and Jason eased the car forward into the congested city center. Rush hour traffic crawled along, giving me too much time with my thoughts.
I leaned back, staring blankly out the window at the passing storefronts and pedestrians. My mind drifted to the investment meeting ahead, wondering if this would be another dead end or if-
My heart stopped.
“Stop the car!” I blurted out, sitting bolt upright.
Jason hit the brakes, startled. “What? What is it?”
I didn’t answer, my eyes locked on the sidewalk where two figures walked side by side. One was unmistakable–Olivia, her honey–brown hair catching the streetlights, her delicate profile turned up toward her companion.
And beside her walked a tall man with an imposing presence, impeccably dressed in what was clearly a custom suit. Even from this distance, his aristocratic features and commanding aura were unmistakable.
“She recovered pretty quickly. Tough luck, that one,” I muttered bitterly, unable to tear
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Chapter 58 Unexpected E
my eyes away from the sight of them laughing together.
Without thinking, I flung open the car door and stepped out into the evening air.
“Ethan, wait-” Jason called after me, but I was already striding toward the pair, drawn by some magnetic pull I couldn’t resist.
(Olivia’s POV)
“I can’t believe you convinced me to let you out of the house,” I said, shaking my head as Connor and I walked toward the restaurant.
His recovery had been slower than either of us wanted, the silver poisoning lingering in his system despite my careful nursing. For a week, I’d kept him on a strict diet of healing broths with special herbs, watching his every move to ensure he didn’t reopen his wound.
“If I had to eat one more bowl of that bland broth, I might have howled in protest,” Connor teased, his ice–blue eyes twinkling with mischief.
I couldn’t help but smile. “It was for your own good.”
“I know,” he said, his voice softening as he placed his hand gently at the small of my back. “And I appreciate your care more than you know.”
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