Isabella's Point of View
Ethan's office looks exactly the same as three years ago. Big windows. Expensive furniture. Pictures of buildings he owns on the walls. The only thing missing is our wedding photo that used to sit on his desk.
"Take a seat," Ethan says. He indicates the chair positioned in front of his desk. The identical chair where I sat when I delivered him lunch. Once I believed I was the central focus of his existence.
I stay standing. "Simply let me know what you need from me so I can leave this place."
"Constantly rushed."
Ethan walks around his desk. "Some things never change."
"Everything changed, Ethan. You made sure of that."
He stops walking. For a moment, pain flashes across his face. Then his business mask comes back.
"The job is simple. We are opening five new hotels across the country. I need a marketing campaign that will make people choose our hotels over everyone else's."
"Fine. Send me the details and I will work from home."
"No."
"No?"
"You will work here. In this building. Every day."
My hands clench into fists. "That was not part of the deal."
"Read your contract. All work must be done on company property under direct supervision."
"Whose supervision?"
Ethan grins, yet his eyes remain devoid of expression. "Belongs to me."
I feel like hurling something at his self-satisfied face
But I need this money. Oliver needs this money.
"How many hours a day?"
"Nine to five. Sometimes later if we have important meetings."
"I have a son, Ethan. I need to pick him up from daycare."
"I know about your son." His voice gets soft. "Our son."
"He is not your son. You gave up that right."
"Actually, according to these papers, I have visitation rights starting this weekend."
Ethan picks up a folder from his desk. Court papers. Official looking.
"The judge already signed the order?"
"Emergency hearing. This morning. While you were getting ready for work."
My legs feel weak. I sat down in the chair after all.
"You cannot be serious."
"I get Oliver every Saturday from nine in the morning until six at night. Starting tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? He does not even know you exist."
"Then tonight would be a good time to tell him about me."
The room spins around me. Ethan planned everything perfectly. The job. The custody papers. Even the timing.
"You are sick."
"I am a dad eager to learn about his son."
"You are a person seeking to dominate all."
Ethan perches on the side of his desk. Too near to me. I can smell his cologne again.
"Isabella, this does not have to be a war."
"You started the war when you filed those papers."
"I started trying to fix what I broke three years ago." "Some things cannot be fixed."
"We will see."The office door opens. Veronica walks in carrying coffee and files.
"I brought the quarterly reports you asked for." She sets everything on Ethan's desk. Then she looks at me. "How nice to have you back, Isabella. Just like old times."
Old times. When I found her in Ethan's arms. When my whole world fell apart in this very office.
"Hello, Veronica."
"I hope you will be comfortable working here again. I made sure to set up a nice workspace for you."
"Where?"
Veronica's smile gets bigger. "Right outside Ethan's office. So you two can collaborate closely."Of course. She wants me where she can watch me. Where she can make sure I remember who really belongs here.
"That seems ideal," I reply. My voice appears serene, yet internally I am shouting.
"Fantastic." "Allow me to take you to your new desk."
I leave Ethan's office behind, following Veronica. She escorts me to a tiny desk directly in front of his door. Anyone passing by will notice me sitting here.
Everyone will remember that I used to be Mrs. Blackwell. Everyone will wonder why I came back.
"I had them bring all the supplies you might need," Veronica says. She points to pens and notebooks and a new computer. "And I put some fresh flowers on your desk. Welcome home."
Welcome home. Like this place was ever my home. Like I ever belonged in this world of glass towers and business suits."Thank you."
"Oh, and Isabella?" Veronica leans closer. "Just so you know, things run differently here now. Ethan and I work very closely together. Very closely."
Her words feel like little knives. She wants me to know that she has taken my place. In his office. In his life."I am sure you do."
"We understand each other perfectly. We always have.""Good for you."
Veronica walks away. Her high heels click on the marble floor. Click. Click. Click. Like a timer counting down to something bad.
I sit at my new desk and turn on the computer. People walk past me all morning. Some I recognize from when I used to come here with Ethan. They nod and smile but their eyes are full of questions.
Why is she back?
What happened between her and Ethan?
Where has she been for three years?
I try to focus on work. But every few minutes, Ethan's office door opens. He walks out to get coffee or talk to someone. Each time, he stops at my desk.
"How is everything going?"
"Fine."
"Do you need anything?"
"No."
"Are you hungry? We could have lunch together."
"No, thank you."
He wants to talk. About Oliver. About us. About what happened three years ago. However, I have nothing to express to him.
I call to inquire about Oliver at noon
"Hi, Mrs. Chen. How is he doing?"
"He is fine, dear. Playing in my garden. But he keeps asking when you are coming home."
"Tell him I will be there for dinner."
"Isabella, he misses you. Maybe this new job is too much."
"I need the money."
"Money is not everything, dear."
But sometimes money is the only thing that matters. Money for lawyers. Money for rent. Money to keep Oliver safe.
I hang up and see Ethan standing by my desk."Checking on Oliver?"
"None of your business."
"Actually, it is my business. He is my son too."
"Not yet. You get one day a week. That does not make you his father."
Ethan's face gets hard. "We will see about that."
He walks back into his office and slams the door.
The afternoon goes slowly. I work on hotel designs and marketing ideas. Numbers and pictures and words that mean nothing to me. All I can think about is Oliver. Is he wondering where I am? Is he scared because I am not there to pick him up from daycare?
At five o'clock, I save my work and get ready to leave."Going somewhere?" Veronica appears beside my desk.
"Home. It is five o'clock."
"Actually, Ethan wants to see you before you go."
"Can it wait until tomorrow?"
"I do not think so. He seemed quite urgent."
I knock on Ethan's office door.
"Come in."
He leans against the window staring at the city. The sun is setting behind the tall buildings.
"You wanted to see me?"
"How was your first day back?"
"It was a day. Can I go now?"
"Have dinner with me."
"No."
"Not a date. Business dinner. We need to discuss the marketing strategy."
"We can discuss it tomorrow."
Ethan turns around. "Isabella, you are going to be working here for six weeks. We need to find a way to be civil to each other."
"I am being civil."
"You are being cold."
"Can you blame me?"
Ethan walks closer. "I know you hate me."
"I do not hate you. I just do not trust you."
"Then let me earn your trust back."
"It is too late for that."
"Is it? What if I told you my love for you never faded? "The words struck me like a blow." I gaze at him. His green eyes appear earnest. Unhappy. Perhaps even truthful.
"Then I'd say you have a peculiar manner of expressing affection."
"I committed errors, Isabella." Major errors. "However, losing you was the most terrible event that ever occurred in my life."
"You haven't lost me."
. You threw me away."
"That is not true."
"Then what do you call choosing work over me every single day? What do you call never coming home? What do you call letting Veronica come between us?"
"I call it being young and stupid and scared."
"Scared of what?"
"Scared of how much I loved you. Scared of losing myself in you completely."
I laugh but it sounds bitter. "So instead you lost me completely."
"Yes. "I've felt remorse about it every day since."
I'm not sure what to express. A part of me wishes to trust him. The piece that still recalls the sensation of being loved by Ethan Blackwell. Yet the larger part recalls the hurt. The solitude. In the evenings I anticipated his return.
"It's irrelevant at this point."
"It's important to me."
"Indeed, it should have been significant three years ago." I begin to walk in the direction of the door. Ethan lightly takes hold of my arm
"Isabella, wait."
I look down at his hand on my arm. The same hand that used to touch me with love. Now it feels like a trap.
"Let go of me."
"Not until you listen."
"I am not interested in anything you want to express."
"Too bad. Because I have six weeks to say it."
He is right. Six weeks of working together. Six weeks of him trying to win me back. Six weeks of fighting these feelings I thought I buried.
"This is not going to work, Ethan."
"It has to work. For Oliver."
"Leave Oliver out of this."
"I cannot. He is the reason I am fighting so hard."
"You mean he is the reason you want to control me."
"I mean he is the reason I want our family back."
Our family. Like we are still married. Like the last three years never happened.
"We are not a family anymore."
"We have a son together. We will always be connected."
"Connected does not mean together."
Ethan lets go of my arm. "Go home, Isabella. Kiss Oliver goodnight. And tomorrow morning, tell him about me. Because on Saturday, I am picking him up at nine o'clock sharp."
"And if I refuse?"
"I will contact my lawyer and request sole custody rather than joint custody."
The danger lingers in the space between us
Full custody. Ethan could take Oliver away from me completely.
"You would not."
"Try me."
I stare into his green eyes. I see determination. I see love. I observe a man willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his desires.
What he desires is Oliver.
And possibly me as well.
"I despise you," I murmur.
"Indeed, you don't." "That is what frightens you the most."
I left his office, not saying another word. Waiting for the elevator, I heard Veronica on the phone, saying, Yeah, everything's going as planned.
Isabella accepted the position.
She will be working here every day now." She pauses. "No, Ethan does not suspect anything. He thinks he is so smart, manipulating her into coming back. He has no idea we are manipulating him."
The elevator doors open. I step inside but I can still hear Veronica talking.
"Trust me, brother. When this concludes, Ethan Blackwell will have nothing left. His business, his child, and the lady he adores
And it will all be thanks to Isabella."
Brother?
The elevator doors close before I can hear any more.