Chapter 6 - The Ultimatum
I burst through the double doors of the executive suite, entirely ignoring the receptionist.
Ethan was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the same news broadcast on his private monitor.
"He knows," I gasped, throwing the heavy black folder onto his pristine glass desk.
"He's known about you for years, Ethan, he planned all of this."
Ethan didn't look surprised as he turned away from the window.
He walked over to the desk and calmly opened the dossier I had stolen from Adrian's apartment.
He barely glanced at the surveillance photos of himself before looking up at me.
"I know," Ethan said softly.
"You knew?" I stepped back, feeling a fresh wave of betrayal wash over me.
"When did you find out?"
"Yesterday," Ethan confessed, his eyes filled with a desperate apology.
"My security team raided his offshore servers and found everything he's been planning."
Ethan stepped closer, completely abandoning the professional distance we had maintained for a year.
He gently reached out and cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing carefully away from my healing bruises.
"I am so sorry I pulled you into my nightmare, Ava."
My breath hitched at his touch, the warmth of his hand sending a shockwave through my chest.
"We are leaving the city tonight," Ethan declared, dropping his hand and returning to his commanding tone.
"My private jet is fueled and waiting on the tarmac, we are going somewhere Adrian can never find us."
"I can't just disappear, Ethan," I argued, though a part of me desperately wanted to say yes.
Before he could convince me, the heavy oak doors to the office swung open.
Three uniformed police officers marched into the room, their hands resting on their holstered weapons.
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"Ava Bennett," the lead detective said, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
"You are under arrest for the embezzlement of five million dollars from Children's Heart Hospital."
