Chapter 819
[ 520 words ]
Chapter 819:
Since there was nothing requiring my attention, I absentmindedly browsed through the system records. While skimming the activity logs, something unexpected caught my eye. The CEO’s encrypted conference room was currently marked online. Curiosity got the better of me. I entered the access code that only Ethan and I knew and slipped into the meeting with my microphone muted.
Only two participants were inside. One belonged to Ethan. The other appeared simply as “Visitor.”
Before I had time to make sense of it, Ethan spoke first. His voice was distant and emotionless. “The security team has already been deployed, and the money has arrived in your account. Now it’s your turn to deliver what you promised.”
A woman’s calm reply followed. The instant I heard it, an icy shiver shot through every inch of me.
“Relax, Ethan. As long as my family stays protected, Lianne won’t come to any harm either. This arrangement benefits you more than anyone. You have nothing to worry about.”
𝘠о𝘂𝘳 𝖽𝖺𝗶𝘭𝗒 𝖽o𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝗇о𝗏elѕ on g𝗮l𝗇𝗈ve𝗅ѕ.cо𝘮
It was Melisa!
Everything in my head seemed to stop. The warmth drained from my body, and my fingers shook so badly around the mouse that I could barely hold it steady.
Ethan had actually opened the highest-level conference channel in Voss Group’s internal network just so he could speak with Melisa in complete secrecy, hidden from everyone else.
The voice indicator on the screen stopped moving as soon as Melisa finished speaking.
Ethan had clearly realized another listener had entered. Without hesitation, he removed Melisa from the conference and shut the session down.
It happened so quickly that it looked less like ending a meeting and more like destroying evidence before anyone could see it.
Barely a few seconds passed before my phone buzzed nonstop.
Ethan’s name glowed across the display. I stared at it for several moments, my fingers stiff with hesitation, before finally accepting the call.
“Lianne… what you just heard…” His tone stayed calm, but that forced steadiness only made the ache inside me worse. “Melisa contacted me because her family’s finances have collapsed. Some of what we discussed involves confidential business matters, so I couldn’t hold the conversation through normal channels.”
I laughed quietly, though my eyes already burned with tears. “Confidential business matters? Ethan, if this were nothing more than work, there’d be no reason to hide it from me. Out of everyone, you know exactly how much she bothers me.”
Silence filled the line. Maybe he was trying to think of something more convincing. In the end, all he managed to say was, “You’re reading too much into this. It’s only business.”
Those empty words scraped painfully across my heart.
There had been a time when he told me everything. Even decisions involving the company’s greatest secrets were never kept from me. Now Melisa had become the one thing he refused to let me see.
I said nothing else. I simply ended the call.
His name kept flashing across my screen as more calls came in. Without expression, I switched my phone to silent mode and buried it beneath the sofa cushions.
I believed in Ethan. I knew he would never betray me. Even so, I couldn’t convince myself to accept this.
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