Chapter 5
Ethan and Sophia came home from the country club at two in the morning.
The mansion was dark.
No lights on in the foyer.
No Lila on the carpet, bleeding and broken.
Ethan flipped the light switch, frowning.
The carpet was clean.
No blood.
No belt.
No Lila.
“Where is she?” Sophia said, voice tight, stepping closer to him. “She couldn’t have gone anywhere. She could barely move.”
Ethan walked through the house, yelling Lila’s name.
Every room was empty.
Her clothes were still in the closet.
Her jewelry still in the safe.
Her phone was gone.
That was it.
“Bitch,” Ethan snarled, slamming his fist into the kitchen wall. “She ran. That little bitch actually ran.”
Sophia’s hands were shaking.
“Where would she go? She has no money. No friends. Her mom’s in the clinic—she wouldn’t leave her.”
Ethan pulled out his phone, called his lawyer.
“Lila’s gone,” he said, voice cold. “File a missing person report. Tell them she’s bipolar, that she’s been having episodes, that she ran off with some guy she met on the internet. Get a restraining order against anyone who might be hiding her. And freeze all her accounts. She can’t get to a dime.”
He hung up, turning to Sophia.
“She’ll come back,” he said, smirking. “She always does. She can’t survive without me. She’ll be begging me to take her back by the end of the week.”
But by noon the next day, things started to go wrong.
The police called.
Said they had evidence that Lila had been assaulted in the mansion.
Said they wanted to talk to Ethan.
His lawyer called five minutes later, voice panicked.
“Someone filed a civil suit against you this morning. For embezzlement. Forgery. Assault. They’re asking for a temporary restraining order keeping you away from Lila Carter, and a full freeze on all your assets.”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
“Carter?” he said. “That’s her maiden name. Who’s doing this?”
“Her legal team is led by Mark Torres. The best civil litigator in the state. And they have a witness list a mile long. Your old house staff. The bank managers who handled the transfers. Even your ex-lawyer—he’s testifying against you in exchange for immunity.”
Ethan threw his phone across the room.
It hit the marble fireplace, shattering into a hundred pieces.
Sophia was sitting on the couch, face white.
“Asset freeze?” she said, voice shaking. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Ethan said, voice low and dangerous, “we can’t access any of the money. The mansion. The cars. The club memberships. All frozen.”
Sophia stood up, hands clenched at her sides.
“You said she was weak,” she said, voice rising. “You said she’d never have the guts to fight back. You said we’d be married by next month!”
Ethan stepped toward her, fast.
He backhanded her so hard she fell onto the couch, lip split open.
“Shut up,” he snarled. “This is your fault. You had to count every strike. You had to humiliate her. You pushed her too far.”
Sophia stared up at him, hand pressed to her bleeding lip, eyes wide with fear.
In that second, she saw him clearly.
Not the charming, rich man who’d swept her off her feet.
But a monster.
The same monster Lila had lived with for three years.
She stood up, grabbing her bag off the floor.
“Where are you going?” Ethan said.
“Away,” she said, voice trembling. “I’m not staying here to go down with you.”
She walked out the front door, slamming it behind her.
May you like
Ethan stood alone in the big empty foyer.
For the first time in his life, he was scared.
