The news dropped early in the morning, spreading across every business platform like wildfire. Liana didn't even check her phone at first; she was too busy finalizing the last documents for the pitch. The deal they'd been working on for months, her first major project under Adrian Hale had reached its final hour. If they won this, it would shift market dynamics across half the sector. It would also, quietly yet unmistakably, strike directly at Ethan's empire.
She hadn't planned it that way. Not at the beginning, at least.
But revenge had a way of twisting every victory into a knife.
When the announcement finally came through, Hale Industries secures the multi-billion partnership over Cole Enterprises, the conference room erupted in applause. People hugged. Others cheered. Adrian turned to her, the corner of his mouth lifting in that calm, understated way he had. "You did this," he said softly.
Liana forced a smile because everyone around her was watching, expecting the confident, brilliant woman she had become. But the truth was, victory didn't feel like triumph. It felt like a weight pressing harder against her chest.
"You led this, Liana," Adrian added, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "This is your win."
She nodded, thanking the team and shaking hands, but her mind drifted in and out of the chaos around her. The celebration faded into muted echoes as she walked out of the room, needing just a moment of air. The hallway was quiet, empty, a perfect place to breathe.
Except she didn't feel better when she exhaled.
She felt worse.
Because she knew what this deal meant for Ethan. It wasn't just a lost contract. It was one of his pillars. A partnership he'd nurtured since the very beginning of his career. It wasn't just a loss, it was a blow.
And she had delivered it.
Was this what she wanted? To hurt him until she had nothing left of herself?
She pressed a hand against her temple, closing her eyes, fighting off the ache inside her. She told herself it was justice, that after everything he had done, he deserved to feel even an ounce of the pain she once drowned in. But her heart… her heart didn't obey logic. It remembered too much. And somehow, hurting him didn't erase the pain, it amplified it.
"Hey." Adrian's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She opened her eyes to find him leaning against the wall, watching her with that steady, grounded gaze he always offered her. "You disappeared from your own victory party."
"Just needed a second," she said.
His brows knit slightly as he stepped closer. "Are you alright? You look… conflicted."
She tried to shrug it off, but something about Adrian made honesty slip out too easily. "I just… thought I'd feel happier about this."
He studied her quietly. "Because it affected Ethan."
It wasn't a question. He already knew.
Liana's lips tightened. "It was business. But it still feels like… like I crossed a line."
"You didn't." Adrian's tone was gentle but firm. "You fought fairly. You won fairly. And you didn't target him, he simply happened to be on the other side."
"But I still hurt him."
Adrian held her gaze for a moment, then sighed. "I know you're trying to heal. And I don't think revenge suits you, Liana. Not really. But this win wasn't revenge, it was proof of what you're capable of."
His words settled somewhere deep inside her, but they didn't ease the ache completely. Because no matter how much she tried to be strong, there was still a piece of her that hadn't let Ethan go.
Later that day, while she was reading over documents in her office, her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. She almost ignored it, until the preview caught her attention.
He won't survive another hit like this.
Her breath hitched as she unlocked the screen. It wasn't a threat. It wasn't an insult. It wasn't even anger.
It was Ethan's mother.
Liana, please. Please talk to him. He hasn't been himself in weeks. He listens to no one but you. I'm begging you.
A second message appeared moments later.
Before it's too late.
Her body went cold, her fingers tightening around the phone. She read the messages again and again, as if the words might change. Ethan's mother had always been kind, always warm. She had treated Liana like a daughter even after the divorce. But this, reaching out like this, meant something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Liana stood abruptly, pacing as unease crawled through her chest. What was happening to him? He hadn't appeared publicly in days. He hadn't shown up at the office since the leak of the contract. Even the media was questioning his sudden silence. And now… his own mother was begging her to check on him.
Did he break that badly?
Was she responsible for this too?
Her breath trembled as she stopped pacing, gripping the edge of her desk. She didn't want to feel this. She didn't want to care. She didn't want her heart to twist with worry every time his name came up. But it did, and she couldn't help it.
She typed back slowly.
Is he hurt? What do you mean "before it's too late"?
There was no response.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. Her heart was racing, her mind spinning with possibilities she didn't want to imagine. She tried calling, straight to voicemail. She tried texting again, no reply.
A familiar voice broke through the tension. "Liana?"
Adrian had entered her office without knocking, face drawn tight, his phone in hand. Something about his expression instantly set off alarm bells in her mind.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Adrian hesitated, then held out his screen.
It was a news alert.
Cole Enterprises CEO missing. Staff reports he hasn't been seen or heard from in 72 hours.
Her pulse stopped.
No.
No, no, no.
Her breaths turned shallow, her knees weakening beneath her. Ethan—missing? The man who was always in control, always present, always holding his empire together, gone?
"Liana, sit down," Adrian said, reaching out as if afraid she would collapse.
But she shook him off, her throat tightening. "Do they know where he went? Did someone find him? Did he-"
"We don't know yet," Adrian said gently. "This just went public."
Her vision blurred for a moment. Her heart thrashed painfully against her ribs. She didn't realize she was shaking until Adrian placed his hand on her arm.
"He'll be fine," he said softly. "Cole has too many resources. He probably just..."
But even he didn't sound convinced.
Liana felt the panic rising uncontrollably. She had wanted him out of her life. She had wanted distance. She had wanted to forget.
But she had never wanted this.
The thought of something happening to Ethan, truly happening, made something inside her collapse entirely.
She whispered his name, barely audible.
And then the world around her blurred into noise as the only clear fact remained:
Ethan was gone.
And no one knew where he was.