Chapter 4

Clara's temper flared instantly at my words.

People who are close to getting caught always react violently to cover up the truth. Too bad Clara didn't even realize how guilty she looked.

Watching her defensive posture gave me a twisted sense of petty satisfaction. I steered the conversation toward work.

Over the past few days, Clara had used her status as my fiancée to visit my corporate office multiple times.

In the past, she only cared about enjoying luxury and never set foot in my company. I knew Chad must have put her up to it.

At the mention of the office, Clara perked up immediately. "Ethan, there's a safe in your office. What's the passcode? I tried using my birthday, but it didn't open!"

I hadn't expected her to bring it up so directly.

Then again, I had loved her so unconditionally in the past, giving in to her every whim, that she never felt the need to hide anything from me. Now, that former devotion was a blade stabbing right through me.

"The code is the date we first met."

I looked straight into her eyes as I spoke. Clara froze, likely because she had no clue when that day actually was.

"My family was dirt poor back then. After my parents passed away, my older brother raised me. He was an Ivy League student at the time, and he worked as your private tutor. He brought me along. September third, fifteen years ago—that was the first time I ever saw you."

I kept my voice dead calm. "You probably don't even remember that day. But from the moment I laid eyes on you, I never forgot you. That was the first time I ever knew what it felt like to fall in love."

Clara looked down, avoiding my gaze.

The only reason I brought that up was because a tiny, naive part of me still hoped she had a lingering shred of genuine feeling left for me.

The brutal truth crushed that fantasy entirely.

The moment she left, she handed the passcode right over to Chad.

She loved Chad so much that she was willing to burn down everything I built just to help him.

Luckily, I had already seen through her. Otherwise, if I woke up ruined one day, I wouldn't have even known who stabbed me in the back.

That very night, Chad snuck into my office with Clara.

During my days in the hospital, I hadn't been sitting idle; I had thoroughly investigated Chad's background.

He started working as my driver a year ago and had been doing a decent job. But my digging revealed that he was actually the illegitimate son of my biggest business rival, Richard Walker.

If he could steal my company's confidential files, Richard would officially acknowledge him as a legitimate son of the Walker family.

I combed through all the security footage and discovered that he and Clara had hooked up about six months ago. Since his driver gig wasn't yielding any corporate secrets, he had shifted his target to Clara.

Realizing it took him only six months to wrap Clara around his finger made me feel utterly pathetic. It had taken me ten years of secret longing and five years of open devotion just to get a shot at marrying her.

And now, that chance was completely gone.

Through the live surveillance feed, I watched Clara and Chad enter my office.

On screen, they leaned against each other intimately, laughing and talking. They looked like two lovebirds planning their bright future together.

Too bad they wouldn't have one.

The second they cracked the safe open, I pushed through the door with my security team.