"After everything I gave up for you… you still destroyed me."
Now she knew what he meant, now it made sense.
He hadn't walked away because he didn't love her, he walked away because he was forced to choose between his family and her and her parents had made that choice for him.
The sound of her mother's voice in the recording echoed louder than anything else
"Maya's always loved you. Long before you started chasing Lara."
Lara froze, It hit her all at once. Everything they ever did, every lie, every manipulation it wasn't just to save the Alden name...It was to hand Ethan to Maya, her little sister.
The favorite, the one they always bent the rules for.
But why? Why was Maya always enough?
Why was I never the one they stood up for?
Lara slowly lifted her head.
That thought, the one she'd never dared say out loud was suddenly screaming inside her.
Am I even their daughter?
Her chest rose and fell in a trembling rhythm, because it wasn't only just betrayal now, It was rejection. All the times her parents brushed Maya's mistakes under the rug. All the times they told Lara to be mature, be quiet, be smart, she was told to sacrifice, to lead, to hold it together while Maya got what she wanted....Even Ethan.
Lara didn't remember picking up her phone, her hands moved before her brain could.
Her thumb hovered over the screen, e names, most of which meant nothing to her anymore until Nina's name popped up.
She just hit call and it rang for a while before she picked.
"Lara?" Nina's voice was sharp with surprise, maybe even concern because Lara rarely called, not like this.
Lara tried to speak but nothing came out.
"Lara?" Nina said again, almost immediately. "What's wrong? Where are you?"
Lara swallowed hard, her voice came out cracked and too small.
"I need you."
"Just hold on, I'm coming."
Fifteen minutes later, Lara sat on the floor, her knees tucked against her chest, back against the couch. She hadn't moved since she made the call.
The knock on the door came soft, but urgent.
"Lara. It's me."
She didn't answer.....she couldn't. The door opened anyway and Nina stepped in, her heels clicking softly across the floor. The room was dim, lit only by the faint city lights leaking through the blinds. She spotted Lara almost instantly on the floor, looking pale.
Her expression changed. She shut the door behind her and walked straight over, crouching down without saying a word. Nina didn't ask questions, she just sat beside her, shoulder to shoulder.
A few long seconds passed before Lara whispered, "They knew."
Nina turned slightly towards her.
"My parents, Ethan....All of them." Her eyes were glazed but dry now. "They forced him to marry Maya."
Nina blinked. "What? Who told you this?"
Lara nodded slowly. "I heard it. I found a recording or maybe someone sent it to me... My father and mother threatened Ethan. They said they'd let his family drown if he didn't leave me."
Nina didn't speak, not yet. She could tell Lara needed to finish.
"They said Maya loved him first before i did, that he had to choose her to protect his family's name and business. And if he told me the truth, they'd make sure they destroy us both."
Nina's jaw clenched. Her hand tightened into a fist, but she stayed still.
"And I..." Lara's voice cracked, "I ruined him publicly Nina. I dragged him through hell.... And he..."
She broke off, and Nina waited.
Lara looked down at her hands. "He really did love me, Nina. He fought for me, he begged them. He didn't leave because he stopped loving me..... He left because they made him."
Nina let out a breath through her nose, steady. Then finally spoke.
"You didn't know, Lara."
"But I should've."
"You reacted like anyone would've. You were left humiliated and hurt and i even pushed you at a point."
Lara shook her head. "No, I was blind also."
She leaned her head against Nina's shoulder just for a moment.
"I spent all this time trying to hurt him, to make him bleed the way I did. But he was already suffering."
Then Nina's voice, quiet but steady: "So what now?"
Lara didn't answer right away, she stared ahead at the dark TV screen across the room, her mind spinning.
"I don't know."
The room was still dim. Nina hadn't moved far, she sat beside Lara on the couch now, watching her carefully. Lara hadn't said much since explaining everything. Her phone sat on the table, facedown, then it started ringing. Nina took the phone and they both stared at each other.
"your mum's calling." The screen lit up with the name.
"You don't have to pick." She added
Lara said nothing, the phone kept vibrating.
Nina sighed gently. "She doesn't know, does she?"
Lara shook her head, slow and slight. It rang again.
"I think you should answer," Nina said quietly. "Even if you don't say a word. Just… listen. It might help you decide what to do next."
Lara took the phone, hesitating just before her thumb hit accept.
Then she tapped it, putting it on speaker. her mother's voice came through, surprisingly warm.
"Lara, My darling. You picked up."
Lara stared at the wall, her face unreadable.
"I just saw the news. What you did… exposing the Vale family like that... I'm proud of you."
"I know I haven't always shown it. I haven't always been… a good mother."
"But you've grown into a woman of power... You're cleaning up messes that aren't even yours and that shows how powerful you are."
Lara didn't blink.
"I just wanted to say I love you. And I hope, after this, you'll finally let go of the pain. Move on from the past...."
Lara just hung up at that point.
She placed the phone face down again, Nina didn't speak, she just watched Lara's visible reaction.
"She's pretending she doesn't know."
Just then the landline rang.
Nina picked it up from the corner table.
"Hello?" She said.
"Good evening, ma'am, security at the main gate....Mr. Ethan Vale is here. He's requesting to see Miss Lara."
Nina's eyebrows lifted slightly. Her voice stayed level.
"Let him in."
"Yes ma'am."
She hung up and turned to Lara, who didn't ask, she just kept staring.
Nina walked over, then knelt in front of her slowly.
"That was the gate," she said softly. "It's Ethan."
Lara's lips parted, just slightly.
"He wants to see you," Nina continued. "I told them to let him in." She said but got no response. Nina placed a hand gently over Lara's.
"You don't have to say anything. But you should listen. You owe yourself that much. And maybe... just maybe..." her voice lowered, "...you owe him that much too."
She gave her a small, warm look.
"I'll be upstairs. I'll give you both privacy."
She stood up, smoothed her skirt, and added like an like advice from a friend.
"Use this moment, Lara. Don't waste it, talk to him. Let him see that you're sorry… and forgive you."
Then she walked away, Lara sat there, waiting until a soft knock came at the door.
The door creaked open slowly and Ethan entered wheeled in by one of the guards, who quietly stepped back and shut the door behind him.
He looked tense and his face was unreadable except for the weight behind his eyes. He scanned the room and saw her on the couch curled into herself.
Her eyes were red and her cheeks damp.
The anger dropped from his face instantly.
"Lara?" His voice cracked slightly as he wheeled closer.
She looked up at him, he rolled forward in a rush, nearly bumping the edge of the coffee table. "Hey..hey..what happened? Are you okay?"
Lara couldn't speak, the moment his hand touched hers, something inside her snapped wide open. She let out a sob and fell into his arms. Her body collapsed against him like she'd been holding everything in for too long. And now it was pouring out, raw and unstoppable.
He held her, tight. His arms wrapped around her back, her shoulders, her head. Like she might slip through his fingers if he didn't.
"Lara…" he whispered, his voice full of confusion and panic. "What happened? What's wrong? Tell me..tell me what happened."
But she couldn't answer. She was crying too hard. Her fists clenched the fabric of his shirt as if it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely and Ethan just held her. His fingers trembled as they moved through her hair.
"It's okay," he whispered again and again. "I'm here...you're safe. I've got you."
He kissed the side of her head without thinking, minutes passed until she finally pulled back, her voice was hoarse.
"I know."
Ethan blinked confused. "You... know what?"
Lara wiped her eyes, not fully looking at him yet.
"I know the truth. About everything."
His whole body stiffened.
"I heard it," she said quietly. "The deal, the blackmail. The way my father and my mother forced you to do it."
Ethan's jaw clenched. He looked away.
"Lara...."
"You didn't leave me, you were taken from me." She said immediately.
He didn't say anything, because what could he say?
Lara looked at him, her face still stained with tears. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they said they'd make your life a living hell" he said, his voice low, rough. "Your father made it clear that if I told you the truth, he'd drag you and your name through everything I was trying to protect you from. And I believed him."
Lara stared at him, shaking her head slightly.
"All this time I thought you chose her. I thought I wasn't enough."
"Don't..." Ethan reached out again, taking her hand. "Don't ever say that. You were always enough. You were too much, that's why they took you from me."
Lara's eyes welled again, but she blinked the tears back this time.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Ethan leaned forward, gripping her hand tighter. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I destroyed you," she said. "Publicly.. I ruined your name, your company...I thought I doing the right thing. But I was punishing the wrong person."
"You were hurt," he said. "And I left you with no explanation. You had every right to hate me."
"But I don't," Lara whispered.
Ethan looked into her eyes.
"I never stopped loving you," she said.
His breath caught in his throat.
"Not even when I wanted to."
He stared at her deeply, the kind of look that remembered every version of her.
Then, finally, he whispered back
"I never stopped either."
"I'm scared," Lara admitted softly.
"Of what?"
"That it's too late."
He cupped her cheek, gently. "We'll fix it"
And for a long moment, they just stayed there in the quiet, in the wreckage, in the love that somehow, impossibly, survived.