Chapter 3

The next day, a note was slipped under my door. It was from Ethan. "Meet me at the construction site of the new city library. 3 p.m. We need to talk." My first instinct was to tear it up. I wanted nothing to do with him. But a darker, more painful curiosity took hold. I needed to understand why. I needed to hear it from him.

The construction site was a skeleton of steel and concrete, a place of future dreams that felt like a tomb to me. Ethan was waiting for me on the unfinished top floor, the wind whipping around us. He looked perfectly calm, dressed in an expensive suit that seemed out of place among the dust and debris.

"I'm surprised you came," he said, not bothering to turn around as I approached.

"What do you want, Ethan?" I asked, my voice flat.

He finally turned, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "I wanted to make things clear. So there are no misunderstandings. You need to understand your role in all this."

My fists clenched at my sides. "Your role? What are you talking about?"

"Olivia," he said, the name rolling off his tongue with a sense of ownership. "She's always been a bit... dramatic. But her heart is in the right place. It's always been with me." He took a step closer, his eyes glinting with malice. "She told me everything, Liam. How she had to keep you close, keep you satisfied. How she had to play the part of a lover to get your best ideas for me. It was all for me. To make sure I won the Sterling Grant."

Every word was a hammer blow. I knew it was true, I had seen the emails, but hearing it said so bluntly, so proudly, was a different kind of pain. It was a deep, soul-crushing humiliation.

"You're a talented guy, I'll give you that," Ethan continued, circling me like a predator. "Your concepts were brilliant. A little rough around the edges, but with my polish, they became a winning proposal. Olivia knew I was the better architect, the one who truly deserved it. She just... helped level the playing field."

"She loves you," I said, the words tasting like poison.

Ethan laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Love? Olivia doesn't love anyone but the idea of winning. She's been obsessed with me since we were kids, yes. She'd do anything for me. Anything."

To prove his point, he pulled out his phone. "You think her passion for you was real? Look at this." He tapped the screen and held it out for me to see.

It was a video. The setting was a dark office. Olivia was on her knees. On her knees in front of Ethan, who was sitting in a large leather chair, looking down at her. She was crying, begging him.

"Please, Ethan," her voice wavered on the video. "Just tell me you'll consider it. I did everything you asked. I got his designs. I even slept with him, just like you wanted. Please, just give me a chance."

Ethan's voice in the video was cold and bored. "We'll see, Olivia. Now get out."

The phone screen went dark. The world around me tilted. The wind howled, but I couldn't hear it. All I could hear was Olivia's pathetic begging. All I could see was her on her knees for him. The passion, the desire, the secret moments I had cherished... it wasn't even her own idea. It was his. She had debased herself with me at his instruction. I wasn't just a pawn. I was a task. A disgusting chore she had to complete for the man she truly desired.

Something inside me snapped. A raw, guttural sound of pure agony escaped my lips. I stumbled back, away from him, away from the hideous truth. My legs gave out and I fell to my knees on the rough concrete, the sharp gravel digging into my skin. The pain was nothing compared to the desolation that ripped through my soul.

"Now you see," Ethan said, looking down at me with utter contempt. "You were never even in the game."

He turned and walked away, leaving me there on the floor of the unfinished building, surrounded by the ruins of my life. I stayed there for what felt like hours, the cold wind a poor substitute for the icy despair that had frozen my heart. In that moment of complete and total collapse, I made a decision. I would not just leave. I would disappear. I would erase every trace of Liam Davies from their lives and sever every tie to my past. There was nothing left for me here but pain.