The news spread through Blackwood Press like wildfire.
The CEO is coming in today.
By eight in the morning, the office no longer felt like itself. Desks were wiped clean. Coffee cups disappeared. Voices lowered. Even the air seemed tighter, heavier.
Lena felt it the moment she stepped inside.
Something was wrong.
"Why does everyone look like they're about to be fired?" she asked one of the assistants as she set her bag down.
The woman leaned closer, eyes wide. "You didn't hear? Ethan Blackwood is coming in today."
Lena froze.
"Ethan… Blackwood?" she repeated.
"Yes. The CEO," the assistant whispered. "Apparently, he hasn't shown his face in months. They say when he does, someone always loses their job."
Lena forced a laugh. "That's… comforting."
But unease settled in her chest.
She glanced toward Ethan's desk.
Empty.
Ethan stood in the underground parking garage, staring at his reflection in the dark window of his car.
Today, he wasn't wearing plain shirts or borrowed ID cards.
He wore a tailored black suit. A polished watch rested against his wrist. His posture was different. Sharper. Colder.
The mask was gone.
His chest felt tight as he adjusted his cuffs.
This ends today, he told himself.
The disguise had gone too far. He couldn't hide anymore — not when Lena's heart was involved.
But fear crept in.
Would she hate him?
Back upstairs, Lena tried to focus on her work, but her hands wouldn't stop shaking. The elevator dinged, followed by sudden silence.
Then footsteps.
Slow. Confident.
Every head turned.
Lena lifted her gaze — and her world tilted.
The man walking through the glass doors was Ethan.
But not her Ethan.
This Ethan wore power like a second skin. His expression was calm, unreadable. Employees straightened instantly, voices dying in their throats.
Someone whispered, "That's him."
Her heart pounded violently.
No.
No, no, no.
Her mind rejected what her eyes were seeing.
Ethan walked past her desk without looking at her.
The distance felt cruel.
The morning meeting was called immediately.
Lena sat at the far end of the conference room, barely hearing the words being spoken. Her eyes stayed locked on Ethan — on the man who had laughed with her over bad coffee, who had almost kissed her in the quiet office.
He didn't look at her once.
It hurt more than the truth itself.
"This company was built on stories," Ethan said smoothly. "And people."
Lena clenched her fists beneath the table.
You lied, her heart screamed.
When the meeting ended, employees rushed out, buzzing with excitement and fear.
Lena stayed behind.
She stood slowly, legs unsteady, and walked toward him.
"Ethan," she said.
He turned.
The moment their eyes met, his composure cracked.
"Lena," he breathed.
"So this is who you are," she said quietly. "The intern. The friend. The almost."
He stepped closer. "Let me explain."
She shook her head, pain flashing across her face. "How long?"
"From the beginning," he admitted.
Her breath hitched.
"You watched me," she whispered. "You listened. You let me fall."
"That wasn't a lie," he said urgently. "Everything I felt was real."
She laughed bitterly. "Was it?"
"Yes," he said. "I came here to find something real. I didn't expect it to be you."
Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to let them fall.
"You should have trusted me," she said.
"I was afraid," he replied. "Afraid you'd look at me differently."
She stepped back.
"Well, congratulations," she said softly. "You were right."
She turned and walked out.
Ethan watched her go, his heart breaking in slow motion.
That evening, Lena sat alone in her small apartment, staring at her notebook.
The words blurred through her tears.
She had fallen for a man who didn't exist.
Or worse — a man who did, but never let her see him.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
Ethan: Please. Let me explain. I never meant to hurt you.
She turned the phone face down.
For the first time, love felt like betrayal.
And somewhere deep inside, Ethan realized the truth he had been running from:
Finding love had been easy.
Keeping it would cost him everything.